Luke 12
“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body and after that can do nothing more. 5 But I will show you whom to fear: fear the one who, after killing, has authority[a] to cast into hell.[b] Yes, I tell you, fear that one! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. 7 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Colossians 2
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
8 Watch out that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental principles[b] of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision,[c] by the removal of the body[d] of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; 12 when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God[e] made you[f] alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14 erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed[g] the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

Lucy van Pelt: Oh, Charlie Brown, I’ll hold the football and you kick it.
Charlie Brown: You *say* you’ll hold it, but what you really mean is you’ll pull it away and I’ll land flat on my back and I’ll kill myself.
Lucy van Pelt: But I feel I have really come to know you. I now understand that you are kind, compassionate, brave, and funny. No one would pull a football away from someone with all *those* qualities.
Charlie Brown: [to himself] She’s right. I would never pull a football away from someone with all *those* qualities. I am gonna kick this ball all the way to the moon. [He starts running up and, as expected, Lucy pulls the football away from him] AAUGH! [Wham!]
Lucy van Pelt: And gullible. I forgot to mention gullible.

It is easy to be deceived. Charlie Brown and Lucy replay this little play of deceit over and over again. This week we watched the movie The Little Mermaid, we watched the Disney version of the movie, which is actually pretty dark, but not nearly as dark as the original one by Hans Christian Anderson that was written in 1837. In the original one the Little Mermaid doesn’t have a name, and she is the youngest of 6 princes mermaids and on their 15th birthday they are able to go to the surface of the water, and on her birthday she goes up to the surface and sees the prince on a ship celebrating his sixteenth birthday and then a storms comes and destroys the ship and she saves the prince, like in the Disney movie. And she sort of stalks him, which is creepy. She then goes to her grandmother and begs to be made a human but she says no because Mermaids don’t have souls but as mermaids they are pretty much immortal but the little mermaid says she would rather be a human for one day and die with a soul than be immortal. But her grandmother in her wisdom says no, she will not help her become human.

So then the little mermaid goes to the sea witch who agrees to make her a human but every step she takes will feel like she is stepping on glass and she has to give up her voice to the sea witch. And even with all of that she still wouldn’t get a soul unless the prince marries her but if he marries someone else she will die. Sounds like a good and fair deal right? But she takes the deal, and she becomes human and goes to the prince who calls her his “little foundling” and allows her to sleep on a velvet cushion outside of his door. Sounds like a great and healthy relationship.
And they enjoy each other’s company but he doesn’t want to marry because he wants to marry a maiden of the temple and that is the daughter of a neighboring King which is also who his parents want him to marry. And her tells the little mermaid she should be happy for him because she’s so devoted to him. This guy totally sounds like he was worth losing her voice and immortality for.

On the day of the wedding all of the little mermaid’s sisters make a sacrifice and cut off all their hair and come to her and tell her that they made a deal with the sea witch on their behalf. They traded their hair for a knife and if the little mermaid kills the prince she can turn back into a mermaid. But she refuses and so when the sun rises she becomes sea foam. But there is a little hope (sort of) she can do good deeds as sea foam and then she might be able to get a soul.

Little Mermaid: the Original Fairy Tale

Thankfully the Disney movie isn’t quite as disturbing though growing up I wasn’t allowed to watch it because in it the Little Mermaid sells her voice and soul for a boy. In fact, let’s watch that scene.
39:35-
Ursula takes her voice, she pretends she has Arial’s best interest at heart but she is all about herself and using people and what she wants even though she says, what she is doing it to help “poor unfortunate souls, she says she’s not asking much…She calls her a sweet child… it’s only an act. She wants power and culture, but we serve a G-d who emptied himself. As Philippians 2 tells us,
2 If, then, there is any comfort in Christ, any consolation from love, any partnership in the Spirit, any tender affection and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was[a] in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
assuming human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.

The major difference between Ursula and Christ is that Christ wants to restore to us our voice. To project our voice. And trusts us to use our voices to share his story. To help others know that their voice has value. He says everyone has value. He is the opposite of the Ursula the sea witch who is deceitful. Our text today reads
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
8 Watch out that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental principles[b] of the world, and not according to Christ.
It’s easy to look at the Little Mermaid and say, who a foolish girl, how could she be so stupid? ! But if we are honest there have been times when all of us have been taken captive by empty deceit and haven’t stood rooted in Christ. I know that’s true for me. What are some examples of empty deceit today, what is holding us captive? The idea that you aren’t loveable or that you aren’t worthy, or you’re too old or too young to really be a disciple of Christ. That your worth is defined by the numbers in your bank account or the numbers on a scale. That the way you do Church is the right way, that because you’ve been here for a long time, your opinions and way of doing things is better then newer members. That you can’t pray. For people struggling with addiction, the drugs or drinks say that they will take away stress but they only add to it. That G-d doesn’t believe in you or care for you? Maybe you think G-d hates the same people you do. That your way of sinning is acceptable, but other’s is not. What empty deceit is taking you captive? How about we let Christ Triumph over them, let him nail them to the cross.
Recently a song came out entitled, “I know Victoria’s Secret,” it is by an artist on TikTok who writes funny songs, but the way she really makes money is by babysitting and she wrote this song for a kid she babysits, and it really took off and resonated with people so she added some more verses and now it’s the number one song in America but I want to play the original video:

Seatbelt, so this is Chelsea, and she’s the kid I babysit. Story time, story time, story time, story time, story time. OK so yesterday I picked Chelsea up from the mall because she’s going to her first boy girl pool party and her and her friends went bikini shopping at Victoria’s Secret. Chelsea literally got in the car hysterically crying to me because this one little brat said something that made me cringe.
She’s going to see this.
Tell them what she said.
She said the bathing suit made me look too fat and too flat.
OK anyway I wrote a song for you because when I was your age I had a lot of eating problems and I wish somebody would have said this to me. Want to hear it?
Fine
God I wish somebody would have told me
When I was younger that all bodies aren’t the same
Photoshop itty-bitty models on magazine covers
Told me I was overweight
I stopped eating, what a bummer
Can’t have carbs and a hot girl summer
If I could go back and tell myself
When I was younger, I’d say, psst

I know Victoria’s secret
And girl you wouldn’t believe
She’s an old man who lives in Ohio
Making money off of girls like me
Cashing in on body issues
Selling skin and bones with big boobs
I know Victoria’s secret
She was made up by a dude (dude)
Victoria was made up by a dude (dude)
Victoria was made up by a dude
I love you kiddo, you’re freaking perfect.
Shut up
You shut up.
Chelsea had been taken hostage by empty deceit, but her babysitter speaks the words of truth to her, and let’s her know her value. This is the work that Christ does for us, and what we are called to do for others.
We can tell something is taking us hostage when it takes away our voice, or makes us doubt our identity, it breaks our heart, and when it deceives us, when it pretends it has our best interest at heart but only uses us. But Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, let us be rooted in him.