Change, it seems, is an inevitable part of life. As a matter of fact, whether you want to or not, you have to experience change every day. Even though our routines may be the same day in, day out, the circumstances of each day change and make those routines new. Granted, not all changes are for the better. Some are for the worse. But the bottom line is the same: change is an integral part of life. Think of it this way: the only people who really don’t change are people who have died.
Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie faced a difficult change in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the beloved book by C. S. Lewis which has been adapted into a major motion picture. For those of you unfamiliar with the book, let me sum it up for you. In World War II, the Pevensies are sent to a large manor house so they’ll be safely out of London. That change was bad enough, it would seem, but an even greater change was soon to come.
One day, while they’re playing hide and seek, the youngest sister, Lucy, finds a large wardrobe and hides inside it. Much to her surprise, she discovers that the wardrobe is in fact a door into the fantasy world of Narnia, filled with fairy tale creatures and talking animals. Soon thereafter, her siblings discover Narnia as well, and they find themselves in the middle of a war.
You see, Narnia is ruled by the evil White Witch, a cruel woman who can turn her enemies into stone. She’s cursed Narnia and frozen it, so that it’s “always winter, but it never gets to Christmas.” The citizens of Narnia, while terrified of the Witch, are also hopeful that they’ll be saved by a lion named Aslan, the son of the Great Emperor Beyond the Sea. And so the Pevensie children find themselves thrust into the conflict between the Witch and Aslan.
I don’t want to say too much more, because I don’t want to ruin the plot for anyone. Even though the book itself is very short, it’s packed with so many images and themes, I could probably preach a dozen sermons on them. But don’t worry, I’m not about to do that. Instead, I want to talk about the change that happens in the Wardrobe.
Throughout all the books that take place in Narnia, the children that go there are usually in need of change. Edmund Pevensie, for example, the second child to discover Narnia in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, needs to change badly. He’s rather mean-spirited, he teases his sister Lucy mercilessly, and, worst of all, betrays his brother and sisters and agrees to work for the Witch. In a later book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, a cousin of the Pevensie children, a boy named Eustace Scrubb, goes to Narnia, and he needs to change as well. He’s even worse than Edmund, very smug and unwilling to acknowledge the wonders around him.
Even children born inside the wardrobe need to change. In yet another Narnia book, The Horse and His Boy, a young girl named Aravis needs to change her ways. She’s self-centered and very snobbish, not at all nice. Even the land of Narnia itself needs a change. Imagine a world where it’s always winter but Christmas never comes, a place where an evil witch can freeze people in stone, and you can see how the land of Narnia itself cries out for change.
And thankfully, for Narnia, change does come, in the form of the lion Aslan. When Aslan encounters Eustace Scrubb, he peels away the mean-spirited, hateful, closed-minded layers until he’s practically reborn. Aravis, the young lady born in Narnia? She encounters Aslan as well, and from that encounter, she becomes more caring and more willing to think of others first. When Aslan finally arrives in Narnia in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Christmas finally arrives, complete with Father Christmas himself, and Aslan even changes the stone animals back into their rightful shapes.
But perhaps the biggest change, one of the most memorable and, I think, the best, is the change that happens in Edmund Pevensie. You remember, I said that Edmund was mean-spirited, cruel, and he betrayed his brother and sisters to the White Witch? By doing so, Edmund broke a sacred law in Narnia, one that said that betrayers must always be executed. But rather than allow Edmund to be turned over to the Witch for punishment, Aslan takes his place and is killed instead, only to come back to life again. Because of what Aslan did for him, Edmund is changed, and changed for the better.
Like those children, we all stand in need of change as well. St. Paul says as much in the twelfth chapter of Romans, which we heard read just a few moments earlier. He wrote, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” We need transformation, to be changed in heart and mind. While we may use words like “selfish” or “mean-spirited” to describe ourselves, like we did with Edmund, Eustace Scrubb, and Aravis, we can still use that one word: “sinner.” Because of our sins, we are all in need of a change. Even those of us who maybe were born into Christian families and attended church all our lives need to be changed, just like Aravis had to be changed, even though she was born “inside the wardrobe”, so to speak. Like those children, we need an encounter with Aslan. But where can we find him in the real world? Do we read the books over and over? Do we go to the movie that opened last weekend, hoping that the change will come there? Where can we find Aslan in the here and now?
That’s a question that Aslan himself answers. In the book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Aslan says, “[In the real world,] I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”
That one quote prompted an eleven year old American girl named Hila to write to C.S. Lewis. She wanted to know what Aslan’s name was in our world. Lewis wrote back to her and said, “As to Aslan’s other name, well I want you to guess. Has there never been anyone in this world who (1.) Arrived at the same time as Father Christmas. (2.) Said he was the son of the great Emperor. (3.) Gave himself up for someone else’s fault to be jeered at and killed by wicked people. (4.) Came to life again. (5.) Is sometimes spoken of as a Lamb .... Don’t you really know His name in this world. Think it over and let me know your answer!”
Do we know the answer to Lewis’s question? Do we recognize who Aslan, the Great Lion of Narnia, is in our world?
Of course, the answer is Jesus! Just as the children in the different books in The Chronicles of Narnia were changed when they encountered Aslan, so too we are changed when we encounter Christ.
It’s just like what happened with Edmund Pevensie. Remember: he had betrayed his siblings to the enemy. We too have done the same thing. We have betrayed our brothers and sisters, our friends and neighbors, everyone with our sins. We’ve hurt each other and God through what we say, think, and do. And just like Edmund, those betrayals earn us the worst punishment of all: death and hell.
But just as Aslan saved Edmund from the hands of the White Witch, so too does Jesus save us from our fate as well. Jesus Christ entered our world as one of us to save all of us from our sins. He did that by giving up His life on the cross. By sacrificing Himself, He took the punishment our sins deserve. He transforms us by His grace from sinners to saints.
Paul, who wrote Romans, was all too familiar with Christ’s ability to change a person’s life for the better. Paul started his life as Saul, a Pharisee who hated Christians so much he persecuted them. Paul himself says in 1 Corinthians 15, “I ... do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” But Paul is called an apostle, one of the greatest of all, because one day, as he rode to the city of Damascus to persecute the church there, he had an encounter with Jesus Christ. He saw the risen Lord and spoke to Him, and because of that, Paul was transformed. Instead of working to destroy the church, Paul dedicated his life to spreading the faith.
The New Testament is filled with people who were changed by Jesus. Think of Peter. Impetuous, quick to act and speak but slow to think, a coward who denies Jesus three times after brashly promising he never would, Peter is transformed by the risen Christ into a leader, one who, according to legend, gave up his life rather than deny the faith.
Think of Zaccheus, the wee little man, and a wee little man was he. A thief and a liar, he changed after encountering Jesus in the city of Jericho and changed his ways for the better.
Think of James, Jesus’s half-brother. In the Gospels, we’re told that James thought Jesus was crazy. He had no faith in his brother at all. But Jesus appeared to James after Easter and the result was a changed man. James became so strong in his faith that people called him “James the Just.” He became the most prominent leader in the church in Jerusalem, and he was eventually martyred for his faith.
The list could go on! And it’s not just people in the Bible either. All of our names could be added to the list as people who have been changed by God’s grace, poured out for us in Jesus Christ. We have all been transformed from sinners to saints.
Not only that, as we continue to encounter Christ in our daily lives, we are continually transformed into the people God wants us to be. If we continue to turn to Christ for forgiveness, for grace to meet each day, for strength to live our lives the way He wants, we will be changed, and changed for the better. We will no longer conform ourselves to the pattern of this present world. We will be remade, our whole natures transformed. Then we will be able to please God with who we are and what we do.
Again, it’s like the Pevensie children. When they entered Narnia, they were regular children. They bickered, they fought, they teased each other. But when they encountered Aslan, they were made kings and queens. In the end of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis tells us that “Peter became a tall and deep-chested man and a great warrior, and he was called King Peter the Magnificent. And Susan grew into a tall and gracious woman with black hair that fell almost to her feet ... And she was called Susan the Gentle. Edmund was a graver and quieter man than Peter, and great in council and judgment. He was called King Edmund the Just. But as for Lucy, she was always [happy] and golden-haired ... her own people called her Queen Lucy the Valiant.” Aslan transforms the Pevensie children into kings and queens, worthy of ruling Narnia.
And that is what Christ can do for us as well. Let God’s rich grace transform your hearts and minds for the better. Let His love enfold you and wash away the sins that hold you back. Let our Lion of Judah, Jesus Christ, change you in this world for the better, making you the person God always intended for you to be.
So enjoy Narnia, dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Go and see the movie, read the books, let the world that C. S. Lewis created delight and entertain you. But let Aslan lead you to know Christ better. May you recognize our Lord and Savior in the actions of the Lion. And may Christ constantly renew and transform you here and now and for all eternity. Amen.
