Narnia: Not Safe But Good Series

1. There are things that seem good but are not safe - Name some

Remember Ralphie from A Christmas Story

"I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!"

What did Santa and his mother say?

Ever want something so bad you could taste it, then when you got it - you regretted it completely?

That car or house or plasma screen TV, but couldn’t afford the payments? That new job promotion but it required you to travel or move or work more than you dreamed.

Jump from the frying pan to the fire.

This theme runs through Lion, Witch, Wardrobe. The lure of sin - selfish destruction

Pass out Turkish Delight

Edmund is the worst mannered of the 4 Pevensie children. He has a mean streak in him. After mocking Lucy for her stories about the other world through the wardrobe, he enters the wardrobe and finds himself in Narnia. Almost immediately he meets the White Witch. She is up to no good, but uses her lures of warm drink and Turkish Delight to break down Edmund’s defenses. The witch wants to know the whole scoop on his family, wants Edmund to bring them to her castle so she can enjoy their company for she has no children of her own. The reader clearly knows she is up to no good, but to Edmund, her wish to have him bring the rest of his family to her castle seems OK since she promises more Turkish Delight. She appeals to his pride and vanity, promises to treat him royally.

Sin = missing the mark. What seems so good and right becomes our downfall. The thrill that seemed so innocent becomes perilous. There are things that seem good but are not safe.

Remember the lines to countless love songs "IT feels so good it must be right" Turkish Delight

To the justification "I’ll only do it just this once" Turkish Delight

To the rationale "everyone’s doing it" Turkish Delight

The Bible teaches us to be wary 1 Jn. 3 & 2 Cor. 11

Edmund lured by Turkish delight but his gut feeling made him suspicious of the white witch, but she lured him with something that mattered to him, and as he focused on the bait, he began to abandon his principles

We make too much of evil masquerading itself as something ugly, dark and spooky, but sometimes it is an angel of light, a white witch, we focus on how one drop turns into something delightful, looking for shortcuts.

Evil is never content with just one, but rather "just one more" the white witch doesn’t want just one son of Adam, she finds that there are 4 so she wants all four

The first thing the white witch did was to make him feel comfortable warmed him up inside and out,

With his defenses down because he has been warmed and comforted, he betrays what and who he is

Even if he had known - he wouldn’t have cared because by now he was given over to the other side

White and dark are not so much opposite, but often walk side by side, so close that at a moment’s notice you can step from light into darkness

Edmund sold his soul for Turkish delight, seems crude and unthinkable - what about Essau

But when we try to manage our lives apart from God, in our own way

Why do you think there is AA and NA and SA - these false gods-idols promise everything but in the end do nothing but ruin us

Look at the lessons Edmund learns about sin and himself from the story:

1 – Sin is most appealing when we are weak.

2 – Sin clouds how evil evil really is. clouds your judgment.

3 – Sin appears as what you want. PR 9:17 "Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!"

Stealing tomatoes from the neighbor even though I didn’t like tomatoes

4 – Sin’s pleasure doesn’t last long.

5 – Sin will eventually kill.

6 – Sin promises better days ahead.

7 – Sin lies about your importance.

8 – Sin leads to the betrayal of others.

- adapted from Pat Cook of Doaktown Wesleyan Church.

Sin is fun - if it wasn’t fun we wouldn’t do it

Why would God make us able to delight in something that would make us sick

Turn the question around - What is there about this thing that makes me sick that is redeemable, that I truly do want or need, ecstasy, out of body experience?

We look at sin as missing the mark by a half mile, wrong direction, but missing the mark may be only by a few centimeters, why is this not good

James 1:13 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.