PREPARATION

I met a man this week that is totally negative about life. He is miserable; nothing is fun and if by accident you were to have some fun, you should repent.

He goes to church, but just to complain. Some would say he is wasting air.

I think he’s dead, just not buried yet.

In the powerful film, The Sixth Sense, Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) is a successful child psychiatrist who is confronted by a disturbed former patient. The young man shoots Dr. Crowe and then kills himself.

Months later, a distraught Crowe begins counseling Cole Sear, a withdrawn and fearful 9 year-old. In one crucial scene, Crowe asks Cole what he wants most, and the boy answers, “I don’t want to be scared anymore.”

The most famous lines in the movie come from this frightened little boy. He looks into the soul of Crowe and says, “I have a secret. I see dead people.”

Crowe responds, &ldquoead people, like in graves, in coffins?"

Cole continues, “Walking around like regular people. They don’t see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don’t know they’re dead. I see all them the time. They're everywhere.”

When the film was shown in theaters, most viewers were not prepared for the plot twist, but the living metaphor in this movie remains thought-provoking regardless.

The boy had a gift, so do you.

Do you live around zombies? Can you see them? Do you know more than one? Without God we all are “the walking dead.” Zombies have forgotten how to live, but they know how to judge and condemn and belittle those who do.

They are stiff and fun-less. They travel in groups. They’re trapped in themselves, and they want everyone to be as dead as they are. It's time to rock their world.

INSPIRATION

In his book, Dance Lessons for Zombies, Peter Hiett tells about the night Philip and Janet Yancey came for dinner.

They didn’t know the Yancey’s very well and wanted to make a good impression, so they sat their kids down and set up some rules for the evening. “There will be no booger stories, there will be no burping stories, and there will be no passing gas stories." They laid down the law.

The dinner was good and so were the kids, but they were stiff, like little zombies. “I knew why,” said Peter, “in their minds they were reviewing the list of unspeakable words and untellable stories. They were constantly occupied with what they were not supposed to say. They were living by my law and dying by my law. The law was killing them.”

Finally Peter’s daughter, Becky, got caught up in one of Janet’s stories and said, “That’s like the time Coleman….” Then all as once she put her hand over her mouth, her eyes got big, and she said, “Sorry, I’m not supposed to say that.”

Janet responded, “Becky, is there a list of things you’re not supposed to say in front of us?”

“Uh huh.”

“Oh, wow! Becky, tell me everything on the list.”

After that, the rest of the evening was filled with laughter and fun and life! 
 

MOTIVATION

If you feel lifeless and powerless, you may be an undeclared legalist, dying under the burden of judgment, looking good on the outside, but dead on the inside. Remember God is the God of resurrection, the giver of life, so LIVE. He has put Jesus in you. Unwrap Him and set Him free.

Look for dead people this week. You’ll know them when you see them. Don’t walk past them, do something to get their attention. Share a story you’re not supposed to share, something funny, something mysterious, something unexplainable. Invite them to a party; show them what they’re missing. Infect them with life.

Then, put in a good word for Jesus. He is the only one who can give dead people life. Believe it. The initial faith step is surrender. Bury the dead person and let Jesus raise up a new person with an unending, exciting, outrageous, extravagant, and adventurous life worth living.