Narnia: Ten Tasty Tidbits About Turkish Delight Series

James 1:13-15 – Ten Tasty Tidbits about Turkish Delight

Well, you’ve been hearing me mention this for several weeks now, but I thought I’d spend some time tonight looking at the Chronicles of Narnia. This is still part of our series on Walking in the Spirit, as well. The Chronicles of Narnia has been a wonderful children’s book for over 50 years, but it also has many Christian aspects to it. It was written by CS Lewis, a Christian thinker you’ve heard me quote many times.

Even though the books were later renumbered, the 1st one in the series was The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which is also going to be a big movie in December. Today I’d like to look at one aspect of the book/movie that, besides being entertaining, would encourage us to see the dangers of sin. I’d like to look at the truths of the scripture, and at the same time tell a story from LWW. Read passage.

Now, the wardrobe is, if you didn’t know, a large walk-in closet. Over the course of the book, 4 siblings walk into it and end up in a different world called Narnia. But before all 4 children end up in there, one of the boys, Edmund, ends up in Narnia. Let me tell you about Edmund.

Edmund is the sort of kid you just want to smack upside the head. He’s rude and arrogant, and enjoys teasing his younger sister to the point of tears. He has a chip on his shoulders about where he fits into the family, and he generally is disagreeable.

Now, at this point, Narnia is under the spell of the White Witch Jadis. It is always winter in Narnia. What’s more, it is never Christmas. Narnia is constantly under a spell of cold and snow, with never any chance of improvement, as far as people can see. So, when Edmund steps through the door, into the snow-covered forest, he is cold. All of a sudden, he hears sleigh-bells. Which would normally be a good thing in winter, but not this time. The sleigh is driven by 2 reindeer, but is led by a nasty dwarf, and the sleigh is the transportation for the White Witch.

You have to understand, she is evil. Besides keeping Narnia under perpetual winter, she instills fear into the hearts of all the Narnians, and she turns her enemies to stone. When she first sees Edmund, she is abrasive and vile, insulting and demeaning. However, once she realizes he is not just a beardless dwarf but rather a human, she changes her tune. You see, there is a prophecy that says 4 human children would come and rule Narnia. So if Jadis can capture one of those children, or better yet all 4, she would not need to afraid of that prophecy.

So she softens towards Edmund. She gives him a hot drink, and then asks if he would like anything to eat. Edmund’s thoughts go to a traditional chewy candy eaten at Christmas that British children have enjoyed over the years – Turkish delight.

By giving Edmund this Turkish delight, she is able to manipulate him into trying to get his siblings to go to her castle. This Turkish delight is even slightly narcotic, addictive and deceptive. Turkish delight leads Edmund to go places he never imagined.

Well, let’s tie this together a little. I suppose a person could look at Jadis’ Turkish delight as either temptation or sin. It is used as a temptation to do some pretty horrible stuff. But it is not a sin to be tempted. I would hate people to think that they are not spiritual if they face temptations. No, I believe a better way of looking at Turkish delight is that it represents sin. Edmund gives into it. It escalates in its consequences, yes, but he still gives in.

So today, I would like to spend the rest of the time looking at sin, illuminated by the stuff called Turkish delight. Today I would like to give you Ten Tasty Tidbits about Turkish Delight – 10 troublesome truths about sin that we would do well to remember next time we are tempted.

Tasty Tidbit #1 – Sin is most appealing when we are weak. When Edmund stumbled into the wardrobe, he was already grumpy and unpleasant. And by the time he found the Witch, he was cold, lonely and scared. He was ripe for giving in to something.

I think of Cain, who killed his brother Abel. He was angry that Abel’s sacrifice was considered better than his own. And the very first mention of the word “sin” is found in Genesis 4, when the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."