The Episcopal Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

Holy Eucharist

Epiphany II, Year B

Narnia; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

The Rev. Lana Farley

January 15, 2006

I Samuel 3:1-20

I Corinthians 6: 11-20

John 1:43-51

IN THE NAME OF THE LIVING GOD: FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT.  AMEN.

     As the lesson from First Samuel was being read today did you let yourselves “get into” the story? Could you see the confusion in the little boy Samuel as he kept going to his master, Eli, thinking he had been called by him? Could you feel with him the sorrow for Eli, and the fear of speaking, as a result of the vision he had been given. During the reading of the Gospel, did you let yourself be drawn into the story of Jesus calling his disciples? Did you see the decision in Phillip’s face when he decided to follow Jesus? And the eagerness with which he went to his brother Nathaniel? Did you see the dis-belief that anything good could come out of Nazareth turn to belief in the Son of God?  Don’t worry. You are not alone.

     The Church, that’s us, has forgotten how to bring to life the passionate drama that is found within the pages of our Scriptures.  These are not just dry, old, meaningless stories to be “got through” on Sunday mornings. It seems that we get so tied up with the every day busy-ness of our lives, the disputes and struggles within our denomination, the attending to the details of lessons and music, and structure of liturgy that we forget that Christianity begins with a story. Before we can care about the divinity of Christ, we must come to believe the narrative of His incarnation, life, death, and resurrection. His story is true, and it should grip the soul. But sometimes in our desire to get to the graduate-level theological detail, we rush over the story; and our tale of the Gospel has all the excitement of a boring history lecture.

     Two of my favorite authors are J.R.R. Tolkein and C. S. Lewis. I have read the Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings, and the Chronicles of Narnia more times than I can count. I have seen the movies and bought the DVD’s. I think that a large part of the reason these books have become so dear to me is that they present the Christian message under the cover of new images; they are exciting, the draw me into the story until I simply can not put them down until the end, no matter how many time I have read them. These stories get past the “filters” that have begun to encase the Gospel. You get to know Jesus in fiction so that you don’t merely acknowledge Him but love Him.

       ^[1]Roy and I just saw the film version of The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe. I am always apprehensive when we go to see the film versions of my beloved stories because I am always fearful that they will be changed by the “creative” influence of the film makers.   Gratefully, the film sticks to the essentials of the book. Although not all the theological issues addressed in Lewis’ book are presented here, probably due to time constraints, the movie is still full of theology.  Lewis’ ideas are clearly presented in a way that catches one up - unlike the Sunday School lessons of my childhood. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is certainly not a watered-down version of the Gospel.  It is a fantasy retelling of the Gospel and all of the elements are there: the slippery slope of sin; the barrier of unbelief; the Suffering Servant; the need for the purity of sacrificial love; the sacrifice of the only one without sin for those caught in the trap of sin; the power of the Resurrection; and the need for faithfulness. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe reminds us why we Christians are called by our Lord to be “witnesses.”

       The Chronicles of Narnia are fantasy, but as in good fantasy, it obeys consistent rules that make sense in order to maintain the illusion of reality. The foundation of Narnia’s moral logic resonates with readers because it reinforces something which we know to be true: the world is riddled with sin. One of sin’s most potent characteristics is that ability to entice us by beginning the wrong doing in the service of something that seems to be right. Edmund is the character in the story who manifests this quality of sin. We first encounter Edmund running back into the house to retrieve a picture of his father while they are trying to get to a bomb shelter. With the bombs falling all around he endangers his family for the sake of a photograph. This is the beginning of the story of Edmund’s struggle with authority, throughout the seven books of the Chronicles. This is the first step, which we are allowed to see, in the slippery slope of sin which Edmund continues to follow. He just gets deeper and deeper; he finds Narnia with Lucy but denies it to the others; he gets in league with the witch because of his desire for TURKISH delights; he betrays, and lies and continues on down the sin slope. He shows us ourselves. He is the vivid picture of how easily we get drawn off the path of holiness. Sin is indeed a “slippery slope” as Lewis demonstrates.

     Susan is the character who most clearly manifests the barrier of unbelief when Lucy reappears with her tale of Narnia, Susan is the first to discount and disbelieve her story. Now this is strange, because Lucy is known to be a truth-teller. And as any good barrier worth  its salt, her unbelief bars Peter from believing Lucy, as well. Professor Kirke reminds Susan and Peter the credibility of the witness is more important than the incredibility of her story. Professor Kirke, who is their uncle, becomes a sort of spiritual director for the children. He tries to help them see the truth in Lucy’s story and guide them to suspend their disbelief. However, it is not until they have actually experienced Narnia for themselves that they know the truth. This is the story of Nathaniel; disbelief in the story, belief found in the encounter with Jesus himself. It is so often that way for Christians. We try to tell others about The Story and we encounter their disbelief. Until they experience the reality of Jesus Christ in their lives they can’t know the truth, they can’t believe in “Narnia.” It is also a fact that many Christians know about “Narnia” but have never been there. They know about God; they know about Jesus, but they are not realities in their lives. They have never encountered them in a real and personal way. Some of that, my dear friends, is our fault. We have told a dead and dry story. They have to see the real, full-of-life story being lived out in our lives and always on the tips of our tongues.

     Then there is that faithfulness in spite of fear, the Suffering Servant, and the sacrificial love, part. They are thrown into a full out war with the wicked witch. They are afraid, but faithful to Aslan. Things work out for them, not because they are good warriors, but because they are children of prophesy. Their key role is in executing the battle plan they have been given. One of my favorite lines in the whole movie occurred when Peter, surveying the numerically superior forces the White Witch has sent against them, in response to his general telling him that “numbers do not win battles,” his  response is “I bet it helps!” What Peter does not see is the unseen warriors, (the angels, if you will) whom Aslan is gathering at that very moment to come to his aid. Even without Aslan in sight the children conquer their fears and proceed into battle with faith that this is what they are to do for Aslan. The gifts that Father Christmas has given the children earlier are very necessary in the winning of this battle. We are all armed with spiritual gifts. We may not be aware of them, we may need to discover them, we may need to learn how to use them, but they are necessary in the struggle we are waging against the rulers and principalities that are not of flesh and blood.

     In the rescue of Edmund from the power of the White Witch there is the retelling of the death of Jesus in the form of Aslan. Seeing the Great Lion separate himself from all but a couple of trusted companions and solemnly and sadly walk toward his doom injects fresh feeling into the “Jesus died and rose again” story. The final sacrifice is one of the finest juxtapositions of seemingly-triumphant evil and sublimely submissive good ever filmed. The theater was filled with muted crying - an appropriate response for an innocent God laying down His life for the guilty - but not a response often found in Good Friday services. Why the appropriate response in a theater but not in church? Well told stories evoke a response. Sympathy comes when the tale rings true, when we believe.

       Some people feel that the resurrection of Aslan (and some might add, of Jesus)feels like a cheat. But Aslan must return, because the power of the Witch is transcendent and magical, while the power of Peter and his army, though willing, is mundane. Only Aslan has the power to ultimately defeat the Witch. The power of Satan is beyond our pathetic power to defeat; it only through the victory of Jesus over sin and death and His living and working in us  is the power of Satan overcome.

     In the Gospels, Jesus names His disciple as His witnesses. The job of witnesses is to tell what they have seen and heard, to tell the truth about their experiences. The first thing Phillip did after encountering Jesus was run to tell his brother. When was the last time you encountered Jesus and ran to tell others about Him? The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a story about what Aslan did for Edmund, and by extension for everyone else. When we share the Gospel of Christ we should be telling the story of Jesus and of our stories as well. We have to know His Story before our stories begin to make sense. Your story is a personal, spellbinding tale filled with temptations, evil deeds, a Suffering Savior and Triumphant Lord. It is the story in which you participate, fighting your own daily battles while being transformed into the image of Christ. It is a story that needs to be told. Most often people come to Christ as their Lord and Savior because His Story is seen in the story of someone close to them. Use your story to tell His Story.

     I would think, from my own reaction as well as that of others, that we want to believe in a world like Narnia. We need to see with fresh eyes the similarities between the world of Narnia and our own. A really romantic notions, which gets played out in countless novels, is that someone would love us enough to die for us. What an amazing reality to know that Someone actually already has! Not only has that Someone loved us enough to die for us He loved us enough to save us from our sins and bring us to live forever with Him. The believability of our story rests on our credibility as tellers. We can tell the Story well only if we are passionately committed to it and passionately believe it for ourselves. 

     In the pericope immediately preceding our Gospel reading for today, was the story of Andrew’s encounter with Jesus. Immediately afterwards he ran and called his brother Simon Peter and brought him to Jesus. So we have these two stories, one following the other of one person meeting Jesus and running to tell a brother or a friend about Jesus and inviting them to come to meet him too. In the Chronicles, Lucy finds Narnia and immediately goes to tells her siblings. Are you beginning to see a pattern here? This is the way the Gospel is spread. One on one. Friend with friend; brother with brother, sister with sister. A single pebble in the pond sends out many rings in the surrounding water. It is our call to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. That is how we do it. One telling another who tells yet another. The Gospel  is the only chain letter that has any real value.  Pass it on.