New Year! New You!

New Year! New You!

Ephesians 3:20-21

January 1, 2023

One of my favorite Christians authors is C.S. Lewis. In part, because he wrote so many deep and profound books which are challenging, and also because he was able to write Christian fantasy books. One of them is a series of books, called The Chronicles of Narnia. There’s 7 books filled with Christian imagery that are amazing. They’re on my list to reread them this year.

In the first book in the series, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe the setting is England during World War II. The main characters are 4 siblings, children who have been sent from London to a house in the countryside to escape the Nazi bombings.

One of the children, Lucy is playing hide and seek in the new house, and she hides in an old wardrobe closet - - - but she discovers it opens – into the land of Narnia. While exploring the land, she meets Mr. Tumnus, a faun, who becomes a devoted friend.

Lucy discovers Narnia is a cold place, covered with snow. Lucy learns that the once-beautiful and green land of Narnia is frozen under its white blanket because an evil character, the White Witch, has cast a spell over it.

Mr. Tumnus tells Lucy - - - The White Witch always makes it winter. Always winter and never Christmas; think of that!”

Really, think about that . . . always winter and never Christmas. Isn’t Christmas one of the joys and hopes we have to make it through the cold winter months. Even last weekend, filled with freezing cold weather, we were still able to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We were able to forget about the coldness and snow.

If that’s all it were, it certainly would feel hopeless. No green. No laughter. No optimism. No dreams.

Maybe that’s how 2022 looked to you. Very much like Lucy’s cold and barren Narnia. To one degree or another, we have all felt the wintry blast of a depressing year.

I wonder how many people get stuck in that type of thinking - - - always winter, never Christmas. That could be a really sad mantra. It could be easy to become stuck there. To think and believe that’s there’s no way out.

But something happens! The scene begins to change when the children hear sleigh bells. Fearing it’s the White Witch coming for them, they hide. But it wasn’t the witch. It was Father Christmas. He cries out, “I have broken through at last, she has kept me out for a long time, but her magic is weakening. Aslan is on the move! A merry Christmas! Long live the true King!”

If you don’t know the story or haven’t gotten its point, Lewis is telling the Christian story of human life in a world cursed by sin. It is a world of cold and darkness. Held captive by the power of the evil one, there is hardship, suffering, and death all around.

But the White Witch is not entitled to rule Narnia. Aslan, a regal lion, is its true king. He’s the Christ figure. When he comes to Narnia, hope appears. The snow begins to melt. Patches of green become visible. There can be Christmas again.

All of this got me to thinking about a great scripture from Paul to the church in Ephesus. In Ephesians 3:20-21, Paul wrote - - -

20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. - Ephesians 3:20-21

I want to focus for the next few minutes on that first verse, verse 20.

Paul’s telling us that God can do more than we could ever imagine or even think. God’s can do more than our wildest and craziest dreams.

I guess the question as we start this year is a simple one . . . do you believe this? That’s it, that’s really the basis for the year. Do you believe that God can? Nothing more than that. It doesn’t mean there won’t be sickness and death. There will still be disappointment and sadness. There will still be struggles.

But in spite of them . . . do you believe God can do more than we could ever ask? I believe the answer is YES! It should be a resounding YES!! We should be shouting it from the rooftops, but I tend to think we have this rather benign view of God. We just want the basics, we don’t want to overburden God. We think if we keep our dreams and requests to a minimum, then maybe God will be more apt to give us what we want.