A Christmas Rat

We went down to Portland for the weekend to celebrate Christmas a few days early. Unfortunately we had to work today, so we didn't get to have a 4-day Christmas weekend.

My family rented Ratatouille and we all watched it on Saturday. It's a great movie. Pixar rocks my socks off. So much quality work is produced by that company.

Anyway, the end of the movie was brilliant. I won't spoil the ending for those of you who haven't seen it, but I do want to hash over the theme of the movie, "Anyone can cook."

Anyone can cook? Even a rat? Well, that's what one of the messages of the movie taught the audience: we shouldn't discriminate against others and give everyone an equal opportunity. Very true.

I also found another message in the movie. Here is a quote from a character in the movie who talks about greatness (this particular example is referring to the artistry of cooking):

"Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau's [restaurant], who is...nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau's soon, hungry for more."

This character is talking about Rémy the rat. Greatness? A rat? That seems pretty far-fetched, right? Well it's not too far from the truth.

Who can you think of who is greater than anyone else? Jesus. He was perfect. And he also came from humble origins, just as Rémy the rat had in the movie. Jesus' mother was a teenage girl and his adopted father was a construction worker. And she gave birth to him in a cave with animals because the hotels in the town were all full. They had to lay the newborn somewhere, so they put some hay in a feeding trough for Jesus to nap in. Can you imagine much more humble origins than those?

And now we still celebrate God's humble entrance into the world. He came in this way because he wanted us to understand that Jesus didn't have to be born into a wealthy or prestigious family. He was born as a humble servant. This is what our humble God does.


Images from hollywoodjesus.com and ratatuee.com