Narnia: It's Bigger Than You Think Series

“It’s Bigger Than You think”

The Chronicles of Christmas - Week 1

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Introduction to the Series: (After :32 video intro)

According to author, C.S. Lewis, “The Chronicles of Narnia” started very simply. “The Lion, witch and wardrobe began with a picture of a Faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood. This picture had been in my head since I was about sixteen. Then one day when I was about forty, I said to myself: ‘Let’s try to make a story out of it.’”(Radio Times, July, 1960) Now, fifty-five years, 85 million copies in 30 languages and a major motion picture later, we know that there was more to Lewis’ story and mind than just one simple creature. In fact, someone has estimated that there are over 60 creatures alone in “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.” Certainly, that first little faun offered more than meets the eye. What seemed like a simple picture in Lewis’ mind turned out to be “The Chronicles of Narnia,” much more than he expected. Maybe that’s why he begins his story with the smallest of four children, Lucy, spying an ordinary, simple wardrobe. A free standing closest that she thought would hold the expected: clothes, coats, maybe some mothballs and yet once inside was much bigger than she could of ever anticipated!

INTRODUCTION TO THE SERMON: (:42 video clip of Lucy in an out of the wardrobe)

Just a simple wardrobe, yet, once Lucy checked it out she found on the other side, adventure, excitement and a whole new world... so much bigger than she ever imagined! And often times that can happen to us. Oh, I’m not talking about walking through a wardrobe, but I’m talking about our perspective, what we see or are willing to see. Sometimes to us things that seem ordinary, limited, simple, can, once we look at them differently, open us to a whole new way of thinking and living. A house that looks small on the outside turns out to be huge on the inside. A blind date that you look at with drudgery turns out to be the date of a lifetime. A book or movie that seems ordinary turns out to be an all time favorite. And there are many people who look at Christianity or God with a very narrow perspective. They see life as ordinary, mundane, not realizing that God offers so much more, if they would just change their perspective. In fact, over and over again the Bible tries to teach us that the things we cannot see are often the things that are the most important. That if we would look at things from a spiritual perspective, from a God’s eye view, we would find, much like Lucy found in that wardrobe, that what God offers is “bigger than you think!”

A man by the name of Paul, probably the greatest missionary that ever lived, said it like this when he wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:18. “We shouldn’t focus on the things which we can only see with our mortal eyes. Instead we should focus on the things which are beyond us and cannot be seen.” So, this morning let’s look at what the “seen” and the “unseen” offer and see why we may need to change our perspective.

I. LIVING IN THIS WORLD:

First, let’s take a look at our “wardrobe,” this place we live in, the world we see. Paul describes it like this: “Even though this world and our physical bodies are wearing out...” Later, in vs:18 he says, “For what we see is temporary...” We all know it’s true.. This world and our bodies are wearing out.

This world itself is temporary. There are a number of scientists that tell us that our planet is dying. They point to things like the “scorched earth” theory which says that we have cut down so many trees and replaced them with buildings that the sun is limiting growing potential. There’s the “core cooling” theory which says that the earth’s molten core is cooling down and when it gets down to a certain temperature it’ll destroy the earth’s electromagnetic field allowing the sun to burn us up. One estimate has that happening in 12,000 years. But by far the greatest evidence of a dying planet is “global warming.” Politicians like Senator John McCain from Arizona and celebrities like Leonardo DICaprio are coming along side scientists who are saying that global warming is the most urgent threat facing humanity today. It is being blamed for melting ice caps, drought, disease and lost ecosystems. What is it? Well simply put, it is the collection of air pollutants that is forming a thickening blanket in our atmosphere trapping the sun’s heat causing the planet to warm up. With a warmer planet you have warmer seas which feed stronger hurricanes, you have more severe droughts, destructions of forests and extinction of animal habitats. Some scientists fear the possibility of a sudden climate catastrophe due to global warming. That’s the premise behind the 2004 motion picture: “The Day After Tomorrow” which showed massive tornadoes and killer blizzards all due to global warming.