Aslan Is On The Move Series

ASLAN IS ON THE MOVE Psalm 7: 6-11

Do you remember when they used to have those computer-designed posters in the malls? They looked like a pattern of colours. But if you "really looked at them," you were supposed to see a hidden picture in them?

For a long time, I thought people were simply pretending to see something there, because I sure didn’t! Then one time, I don’t know if I crossed my eyes or what, but suddenly I "saw" a 3-D form in the flat picture!

This was a case where I "looked and looked, but could not see." Then suddenly my eyes were opened!

That’s rather like what I want to tell you about this morning. There is a film which shall be released soon.

And on the surface, I can guarantee that you will see a rollicking good story! When I first read the book on which this film is based, that was all that I saw -- a nice children’s story, a fairy-tale, maybe even a story with a good moral.

It was only after I had read the book through 2 or 3 times, that I began to realize that it was full of God!

So this morning, I would like to give you a few hints,

so that when you see "THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE," (and I certainly hope you will see it!),

you will be able to see both things at once.

To begin with, let’s look at the man who wrote "THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE," and all six of the other Narnian Chronicles. His name is C.S. Lewis.

Clive Staples Lewis was the professor of Medieval English Literature at one of the prestigious colleges of Cambridge University. He was a scholar and world-authority in his field. But besides being extremely intelligent and well-educated, C.S. Lewis had another admirable trait: he never quite grew up.

Some people, while they are quite young,become embarrassed and ashamed of things they consider "childish:" things like fun and games, romping in the grass, or a good story!

But not C.S. Lewis. He said of himself, "When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."

C.S. Lewis found joy and beauty in ordinary things:

a walk in the country, a talk with his friends, a warm meal when he was particularly cold and hungry.

Listen, as he describes this meal which the children from our world ate, in the Narnian home of Mr. and Mrs. Beaver: "There was a jug of creamy milk for the children (Mr. Beaver stuck to beer) and a great big lump of deep yellow butter in the middle of the table

from which everyone took as much as he wanted to go with his potatoes and all the children thought-- and I agree with them-- that there’s nothing to beat good freshwater fish if you eat it when it has been alive half an hour ago and has come out of the pan half a minute ago. And when they had finished the fish Mrs. Beaver brought unexpectedly out of the oven a great and gloriously sticky marmalade roll,

steaming hot, and at the same time moved the kettle on to the fire, so that when they had finished the marmalade roll the tea was made and ready to be poured out. And when each person had got his (or her) cup of tea, each person shoved back his (or her) stool so as to be able to lean against the wall and gave a long sigh of contentment."

C.S. Lewis writes so that even the most ordinary and common-place things take on a glow of being special-- significant, beautiful, and glorious.

It reminds me of the story of the young mother and her daughter, sharing a compartment in a train with a group of strangers. As the train rumbled through the country-side, the little girl kept pointing and saying,

"Look, Mother, see the cow! --There’s a horse!

--Look at the pretty cottage!"

Her mother was embarrassed, at disturbing the peace in the little compartment, so finally she apologized to the other travelers: "I’m sorry, but you’ll have to excuse her, she’s still at the age when she thinks everything is wonderful!"

Children look at the world through eyes of wonder and awe. And that is how C.S. Lewis invites us to look--with the eyes of little children. And to help us approach with wonder and awe, Lewis created a new world-- the land of Narnia.

Narnia is a land where dreams come true, where animals can talk, and trees can walk. It is a land where the mythology of our world is a reality.

There are unicorns and centaurs, spirits of the trees and streams and wells, fauns and mermaids.