Discovering your Skadoosh Moment

Jeremiah 1:4-10

4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew [a] you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." 6 "Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child." 7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD. 9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."

Today we are talking about discovering who we are: Discovering the Skadoosh moment. -That line comes from the Dream Works movie “Kung Fu Panda.” -It symbolizes the moment in the movie where Po, the Panda, learns who he is Kung Fu Panda Story. In an anthropomorphic China, the Valley of Peace is protected by the Furious Five, Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Viper, and Crane, a quintet of warriors trained in kung fu by the wise tortoise Master Oogway and his protégé, the red panda Master Shifu. One day, Oogway has a premonition that Shifu's former pupil and foster son, the brutal and ruthless snow leopard Tai Lung, will escape from prison and return to the Valley. Shifu decides to hold a martial arts tournament so that Oogway may identify the legendary Dragon Warrior – the one master worthy to receive the Dragon Scroll, which is said to hold the secret to limitless power. Tai Lung had been denied the Scroll years earlier, causing him to decimate the Valley in retaliation and resulting in his imprisonment. Po is a young giant panda and kung fu fanatic who works in his goose father's noodle restaurant. Upon hearing of the tournament, Po tries to attend as a spectator, but his father directs him to take a push cart and sell noodles instead. By the time Po arrives, the gates are closed and the tournament has already started. Desperate to see the tournament, Po straps himself to a set of fireworks just as his father catches him. After admitting that he doesn't like noodles, his dad becomes disappointed. Before Po's father can convince him to go back to work, Po rockets into the sky and crashes into the middle of the arena just as Oogway is about to select the new Dragon Warrior. To the surprise of all, Oogway indicates that Po is the Dragon Warrior. Unwilling to believe that a big, fat, clumsy panda can be the Dragon Warrior, Shifu attempts to berate and humiliate Po into quitting. He subjects Po to a grueling series of challenges and sparring matches against the Furious Five, culminating in a battle between Po and Shifu that ends with Po being thrown from the Jade Palace. Although the Furious Five says he isn't good enough for them and Po feels dejected, Oogway advises him not to quit and Po takes his advice much to Shifu's dismay. In time, he endears himself to the Five (except Tigress) with his impressive tenacity, culinary skill, and good humor, though he is still unable to grasp the basics of kung fu. Tai Lung escapes from his prison and heads for the Valley. Sensing that his death is imminent, Oogway extracts a promise from Shifu that he will train Po and then disappears, ascending to heaven in a swirl of flower petals. Upon hearing that Tai Lung is coming, Po panics and tries to flee the Temple. Shifu refuses to let him go, insisting that he can change Po into the Dragon Warrior, but Po has lost all confidence and Shifu can not explain how he will turn Po into the Dragon Warrior. Hiding nearby and seeing this argument, Tigress leads the rest of the Furious Five to stop Tai Lung themselves. The next morning, Shifu discovers that Po displays impressive agility when he is motivated by food; using the promise of food as a reward, Shifu trains Po into a skilled warrior. Feeling that Po is ready to fight, Shifu gives him the Dragon Scroll, which he opens to reveal nothing but a blank, reflective surface. Shifu, despairing, orders Po and the Five to evacuate the valley while he prepares to delay Tai Lung for as long as he can. During the evacuation, Po finds his father who, in an attempt to console him, reveals that the long-withheld secret ingredient of his famous "secret ingredient soup" is nothing - except the belief that the soup is special. Po realizes this idea is the point of the Dragon Scroll and returns to face Tai Lung. This movie has some very interesting thoughts that really resonate with me. When I compare some of the plot points and themes in this movie to life, some interesting thoughts emerge… 1. Don’t have the Noodle dream. God made us as people of influence, vision, and obedience. But we often get deceived At one point in the movie, Po explains to his father that he has had a dream. Po decides to lie about what is really going on. His father quickly says, “OH my, my son had the noodle dream,” Believing that he has had a dream about joining his father’s noodle making business. When in reality, Po dreamt about kung fu. What vision do you have for yourself? What vision has God placed in you? - We often, while seeking approval from those we deem “important,” we lie and say we had the noodle dream. - We sometimes belittle ourselves too in the process, or think that by setting the bar too low, God will be happy! - We think that by hiding the truth from others, including ourselves that God will make this vision any less. - The noodle dream is about following what the world says. Its about settling for second best. - Sometimes we believe that being nothing but “Noodle Folk” is what God has planned. The reality - God wants us to understand that we are destined for greatness - We are children of God, the head and not the tail - If the vision God put in us easy for us to do, we are having the noodle dream. - We have to plant good things. God has planted a first rate vision in our lives. A vision of fulfilling our destiny in God’s timing and plan. -God built us to be more than “noodle folk” Oogway: My friend, the panda will never fulfill his destiny, nor you yours until you let go of the illusion of control. Shifu: Illusion? Oogway: Yes. [points at peach tree] Oogway: Look at this tree, Shifu: I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time. Shifu: But there are things we *can* control: I can control when the fruit will fall, I can control where to plant the seed: that is no illusion, Master! Oogway: Ah, yes. But no matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach. Shifu: But a peach cannot defeat Tai Lung! Oogway: Maybe it can, if you are willing to guide, to nurture it, to believe in it. Shifu: But how? How? I need your help, master. Oogway: No, you just need to believe. Promise me, Shifu, promise me you will believe. We must stop having the noodle dream and embrace all that God has made us. Jeremiah 1:5 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew [a] you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Psalm 139:15-16 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. “Legend tells of a legendary warrior whose kung fu skills were the stuff of legend. He was so deadly, in fact, that his enemies would go blind from over-exposure to pure awesomeness!” –Jack Black as Kung Fu Panda. Put Aside the Noodles, become the dragon warrior that God has destined us to be 2. It takes “a lot more than dew, and universe juice” Discovering who you are, that “Skadoosh” moment takes a lot of dedication, you have to be willing to give up everything you are. In Kung Fu Panda there’s this amazing line of dialog. It is said that the Dragon Warrior can go for months without eating, surviving on the dew of a single ginko leaf and the energy of the universe. Then I guess my body doesn't know I'm the Dragon Warrior yet. It's gonna take a lot more than dew, and, uh, universe juice. - Sometimes we like the idea of God’s vision more than the actuality of the vision. We don’t want to live out the sacrifice because it, well, hurts! - Circumstances in our lives cause us to question whether we are the dragon warrior or not. - We feel we aren’t special, why would God use us? Why should He? We are sinful people The Reality: - God’s plan for our lives takes sacrifice. - God’s plans are more rewarding and along the way He provides, equips, gives joy, and encourages us to take our rightful place, as his children. - Jesus sacrificed it all, and as Christians, we are to follow him. - “To make something special people just have to believe” - God’s plans require us to trust him, which we find hard… mostly because we can’t see him like I see you. Proverbs 3:1-6 My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, 2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. 3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. [a] Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Matthew 10:37-39 37"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. This is not saying Your parents are worthless, but in order to fulfill our destinies, sometimes we have to be willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING in order to be that SOMETHING God wants us to be. Luke 9:23 23Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. In the end of the movie, Po defeats Tai Lung with the Wushi Finger hold and as he does it, he says “Skadoosh.” Skadoosh is -that moment when you realize that God has plans for you. He always did. He loves you and is there for you. -that moment when you embrace your destiny and follow Christ no matter what the cost. -The time when you realize that you must live off of a “Dew and Universe Juice” (sacrifice everything) to live as the Dragon Warrior God wants us to be. So when the enemy is saying “You can’t defeat me, Your just a big fat panda,” respond, “I'm not a big fat panda. I'm THE big fat panda.” Pray