Sermon Illustrations
"Finding Nemo": Dealing with Denial
In the movie Finding Nemo a clownfish named Marlin teams up with a fish named Dory to find his lost son. As the perilous journey begins, a toothy Great White shark named Bruce slips up quietly behind Nemo and Dory. He invites Marlin and Dory to a meeting. The invitation feels ominous.
Bruce strong-arms Marlin and Dory into coming with him, leading Marlin and Dory through the murky depths and into the wreckage of an old ship. Two other sinister-looking sharks greet them.
Marlin and Dory soon realize they are first time guests at a 12-step recovery meeting for sharks who are trying to stop eating fish. Bruce booms, "This meeting will come to order. Repeat after me."
In unison the sharks say, "I am a nice shark. Not a mindless eating machine. If I am to change this image, I must first change myself. Fish are friends, not food."
Bruce proudly states, "Hello. My name is Bruce. It has been three weeks since my last fish."
Dory says, "Hi, I'm Dory. I don't think I've ever eaten a fish." All the sharks applaud.
"How about you, mate?" they ask Marlin. "What's your problem?"
"I don't have a problem." The sharks all give knowing looks to one another and say, "OK. Denial."
Elapsed time: Measured from the beginning of the opening credit, this scene begins at 00:18:27 and ends at 00:23:04.