Shelved? Series

I. Introduction

It confirmed what every child already knew. They lay motionless and lifeless while we are in their vicinity. They rely on our imaginations to create storylines and adventures for them and our muscles to move them. However, we all knew it. It kept us up at night. One eye on the toy box. Ear trained for the slightest squeak or peep. Toy Story finally confirms the fact that our toys come alive when we leave the room.

Toy Story follows the escapades of the toys in Andy's Room. There are the standard toys found in every boy”s room ... army men, Mr. and finally a Mrs. Potato Head, a slinky dog, a piggy bank, a remote control car and then of course we meet the star of the show . . . a pull string cowboy rag doll by the name of Sheriff Woody Pride. We discover in Toy Story 2 that Woody is a toy based on a 1950's western children's show called "Woody's Roundup." He is the unquestioned top dog, the favorite and most preferred toy owned by Andy and therefore, he is also the unchallenged leader of all the other toys. In Toy Story 1, this title is challenged by an interloper when at Andy’s birthday party, he is given the newest toy on the market . . . an astronaut action figure by the name of Buzz Lightyear. Toy Story 1 chronicles this tenuous relationship as the rank of toys is questioned and finally a friendship/partnership is solidified between the two. However, in Toy Story 2, Woody is once again the featured toy as Andy is about to go on his annual pilgrimage to a week long "Cowboy Camp" . . .

VIDEO

Woody is broken. He is unable to go to camp due to the tear in his arm. So, Andy’s mom shelves Woody. This leads to Woody’s nightmare. The nightmare is that his brokenness has now caused him to be unwanted, unusable, and discarded by Andy. Then, for those of you unfamiliar with the story line, Woody is stolen by a toy collector and temporarily repaired in an attempt by the collector to sell Woody as part of a complete set of Woody’s Round Up toy collection. However, in an escape attempt Woody’s arm is torn again. Finally, Woody, with the help of his toy friends, escapes and returns to Andy's bedroom. When Andy arrives home from camp he picks Woody up and he repairs the doll's arm and peace is restored to Toy Story land.

Broken. Discarded. Useless. Unwanted. For many of us that sounds like our story. It is a nightmare. We find ourselves mishandled and shelved by others who labeled us as broken and beyond repair. Or, in some cases, some of us shelve ourselves and discard our own destiny because of our brokenness. There are certainly a number of accounts in scripture that we could point to to see the story of Woody played out in real life. Perhaps one of the most obvious is found in Exodus.

TEXT: Exodus 2:11-15

One day, many years later when Moses had grown up and become a man, he went out to visit his fellow Hebrews and saw the terrible conditions they were under. During his visit he saw an Egyptian knock a Hebrew to the ground—one of his own Hebrew brothers! Moses looked this way and that to be sure no one was watching, then killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. The next day as he was out visiting among the Hebrews again, he saw two of them fighting. “What are you doing, hitting your own Hebrew brother like that?” he said to the one in the wrong. “And who are you?” the man demanded. “I suppose you think you are our prince and judge! And do you plan to kill me as you did that Egyptian yesterday?” When Moses realized that his deed was known, he was frightened. And sure enough, when Pharaoh heard about it he ordered Moses arrested and executed.

Exodus 4:10-12

Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

He had been shelved by others. Rejected by others. Then as a result becomes identified in his own mind by his brokenness. So, he shelves himself. Convinced that his owner/maker couldn't and wouldn't want to use him he tries to stay out of sight ... shelved. What is shelving you? Is your heart broken? Is your faith broken? Is your confidence broken, trust broken, hope broken?