“A Royal Courage”
Lessons from Prince Caspian
May 18, 2005
Introduction: This weekend the movie “Prince Caspian” was released and I’m sure Hollywood is thrilled with the adaptation of C. S. Lewis’ timeless Narnia book of the same title…this morning we are going to close our sermon series on Prince Caspian with a message entitled, “A Royal Courage.”
Caspian is the sequel to “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” In the first story, four children, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, travel through a wardrobe to the land of the great lion, Aslan. Edmund becomes a traitor and can only be redeemed by voluntary death of Aslan. So we have the death and yes the resurrection of Aslan, which reminds us of the death and resurrection of the Lion of Judah, Jesus.
The sequel, Prince Caspian, finds the same four children returning to Narnia—it’s one year later for them and 1300 years later in Narnia. They find Narnia darker and under the control of the false king Miraz and they discover that the old stories of Narnia and Aslan are forbidden. C. S. Lewis said that Prince Caspian was about “restoring the true faith” and it is up to Caspian and the four children to fight the battle against King Miraz and restore the old stories and the glory of Alsan. It requires incredible courage to face a world that has forgotten the old stories of Aslan and fight to restore His Kingdom.
Two weeks ago we began the sermon series with a message, “A Royal Identity.” We reminded ourselves as born again believers we have the right pedigree, the right primer, the right pursuits, and the right power for a prince or princes in the Kingdom. We need to realize who we are and whose we are and live for the Kingdom! Last week, we talked about “A Royal Faith.” If we are to have Kingdom faith it must be seeing, trusting, following, growing, and pleasing.
This week we are going to think about the courage required to be a prince or princess in the Kingdom of God.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31: 6
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This cour•age - noun
1. the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.
2. Obsolete. the heart as the source of emotion.
3. have the courage of one’s convictions, to act in accordance with one’s beliefs, esp. in spite of criticism.
—Synonyms 1. fearlessness, dauntlessness, intrepidity, pluck, spirit. COURAGE, BRAVERY, VALOR, BRAVADO refer to qualities of spirit and conduct. COURAGE permits one to face extreme dangers and difficulties without fear…
As a prince we must show courage in at least three arenas…
1. In our personal world. Philippians 1: 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. Paul longed to have the courage to exalt Christ with his body…with his entire person. In Prince Caspian, the characters had to get right with their personal world, with Aslan, before they could effectively fight any battles. To order our personal world to honor Christ we must say yes to things to that are pleasing to Him and no to things that aren’t. It takes courage to do that. There are at least three areas in your personal world that will build your character.
• Temptation – Saying no to temptation takes personal courage. You know your weakness and what temptation can cause you to stumble. Saying no, builds character and draws us closer to Him. 1 Corinthians 10: 13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
• Time – How we use our disposable time can define over time who we are and shape our character. We can do things that honor the Lord with our time or we can choose to do things that distract us from His purpose and mission. It takes personal courage to say no to the things that distract us from the Lord. Ephesians 5: 15-16. Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
• Trouble – One of the biggest shapers of our character is our response to trouble, and it takes incredible personal courage to respond in a Christ-like way when trouble comes our way. We normally want to run and hide or avoid people or God…or wonder what’s going to happen next. James 1: 2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
We all come up against temptation, time challenges and trouble in this life. When we exercise courage in our personal arena it builds character…It takes courage to build character. We must show courage in our personal world, and secondly…
2. In the public square. Ultimately, Prince Caspian is about returning Narnia back to the old stories of Aslan and his glory. As it is with the new Narnia, it is with our culture today. We are instructed by many in the public square that we are pro-gressed in technology and in our scientific thinking…so they extrapolate that we should progress in our moral thinking. Most in the public square would say that it is stone-age thinking to go back to Judeo Christian values and to insist that Jesus is the only way. The public square is just where people live and share ideas and live those ideas out. How do we react to and live in the public square?
Paul wrote in his epistles that we are to be concerned how we react Colossians 4: 5-6 Be `wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. We are to be wise in relating to those who are believers and make the most of opportunities to share with them…our conversation is not to be obnoxious but full of grace, seasoned with salt…I want to share three areas of the public square that need to be wise towards…
• Work and school colleagues – It takes courage to be full of grace seasoned with salt with those at work and school…it is so much easier to hide…but we are called to change our world! In other writings, C. S. Lewis’ picks up Martin Luther’s concept of “vocation.” Gene Veith described it this way, “In these ordinary spheres of life (church, family, economic order, and the state)—which constitute culture—Christians are to live out their faith in love and service to their neighbors…the doctrine of vocation transfigures the ordinary. It brings the fruits of faith into every arena of life, into the way we actually spend our daily lives with our families, at work, in our leisure time—in all of its ‘homeliness.’ (Lewis’ term).” Your vocation is to love and serve those at work and school…that takes courage.
• Friends and neighbors. What about your friends and neighbors. What if you saw your vocation as loving and serving your friends and neighbors? Do you friends know who you are and whose you are? What about your neighbors? Have you served them lately, and what would they say about you? It takes courage to love your friends and neighbors in such a way that you help them find answers to questions about faith.
• Internet – Wow…the public square is on the net…and you can find anyone, anywhere, with any opinion…and you don’t have to be gracious. In fact, it seems the internet seems to be a place where you don’t have to be civil…you can leave anonymous, crude comments and it’s acceptable. You can go places you would have never gone before, and lose your salt and light real quick. Would you consider that God is calling you to be wise to how you relate to others on the internet? Let your chatting, blogging, myspace, Facebook, and e-mailing be full of grace, seasoned with salt.
In the film, the writers added a quote that I love!! One of the characters, was talking to Prince Caspian and about the prospect of him really restoring the Kingdom of Aslan. He said of Caspian that he would be a ‘noble contradiction. A Telamarine (human) saving Narnia.’ That’s what I want to be! A noble contradiction!! A born again believer who lives differently than those who live in this world, but standing up for Kingdom principles. It takes courage to build influence. We must show courage in our personal world, in the public square and finally…
3. With our partners in ministry. One of my favorite characters in Prince Caspian is Reepicheep…if you don’t know he is a noble, loyal mouse who bravely, fights alongside Prince Caspian. One of my favorite moments in the book, and movie is at the end…Reepicheep has fought valiantly and has lost his tail…he’s embarrassed and asks for Aslan to restore his tail… “but a tail is the honour and glory of a mouse.” All the other fighting mice have drawn their swords and say, “May it please your High Majesty…we are all waiting to cut off our own tails if our Chief must go with out his. We will not bear the shame of wearing an honour which is denied to the High Mouse.” Aslan is touched and restores Reepicheep’s tail, but not for his dignity, but “for the love that is between you and your people…” The mice stood together and were partners in battle.
Philippians 1: 3-11 I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God.
Have you seen the folks in this room as partners in the gospel? They are!! It might change things if you looked around as saw the folks here as your partners in the gospel. Some are chasing their tail, having their tail tucked between their legs, or have lost their tail all together. What do you do when your partners in ministry have lost their tail…
• Pray – I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
• Protect – It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
• Process – And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God.
Romans 12: 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
It takes courage to share encouragement
Conclusion: We have to show courage in our personal world, in the public square, and with our partners in ministry. It takes courage to build character, influence, and encouragement.
In the movie, the writers added a whole new battle. King Peter makes a statement that is probably real common… “We need to take the battle to their castle…we can’t wait for Aslan any longer.” Wow. Peter takes things into his own hands, doesn’t wait for Aslan and they get creamed in battle. They retreat to Aslan’s How, where Aslan had been killed for the sin of Edmund…Aslan shows up, roars and the enemy is defeated. Courage is not running off recklessly doing your own thing…sometimes the most courageous thing to do is to wait on the Lord, retreat to the cross, and wait for Him to roar.
Let’s pray.
