Yesterday I took my girls to see the movie “Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” and I have to tell you I was really impressed. I had told myself I was going to wait to see it till we took the kids from the church to see it, but I just couldn’t wait. I figured since I was preaching on it today then it was necessary for my theological studies (or at least that’s how I convinced myself), but it really was a powerful drama that had an impact on a lot of people, kids and adults alike.
In an article put out by the Christian news service, Agape Press, they interviewed a woman named Lynn Noe of Nashville, TN who took her 5 year old daughter Abi to see the movie. She said the it was a moving experience for her little girl Abi to watch Aslan (the Christ-figure) die and then come back to life again. Lynn Noe said that her daughter is very tender, and she is still crying. She doesn’t have words for it yet.” Abi’s friend Bailey who also is five, went with them had no trouble finding words for it. She said, “My favorite part was when the lion turned back alive”.
A person who was at that theater said that when Aslan was humiliated and put to death, the theater was filled with mute crying-a response that is appropriate to an innocent God laying down His life for the guilty, and then she adds, “A response that is just as suitable but sad to say often missing from our Good Friday and our Easter services.”
Now as I watched the film, I was thinking that I would relate more to the character of Peter (the strong, the oldest of the kids, the leader) who most resembles the biblical character, you guessed it…Peter. Or I thought I might be more like Lucy. Lucy is the tender hearted one. She is the one who sees Aslan the most and her heart is so pure and innocent that she is most in tune with Aslan, and she is believed to most represent the apostle John, the beloved disciple. Susan is the smart one, she is the one who has to have the evidence before her, she has to see before she believes, much like we would think of the disciple Thomas. But I didn’t find myself resembling, Peter, Lucy, or even Susan. Sad to say, I found myself most resembling little Edmund and I am convinced that there is a little bit of Edmund in all of us. There’s a little spoiled brat in all of us.
Now Edmund is the kind of kid you just want to smack upside the head. He’s a mean little kid. He is always griping and complaining about something. He picks on his little sister Lucy, who if you see the movie is just so darn cute, to the point where she is in tears. He’s vindictive and prideful. When Lucy tells him about the wardrobe, he makes fun of her. But when Edmund is the 2nd one to go in, instead of admitting he was wrong, he continues to pick on little Lucy about the Wardrobe and pretend like he was never there. I don’t know, but sometimes I have a hard time admitting I’m wrong about something.
From the beginning, Edmund is a grumbler, a tease, a liar, a skeptic, and ultimately he is a traitor. The last thing you would think Edmund would deserve would be to be rescued from the clutches of the White Witch, on whose side he has purposely sided. Still less does he deserve to be saved at such a high cost as the blood of a king, the mighty Aslan. Yet Aslan was willing to pay the price, not because Edmund deserved it, but because that’s the kind of love that Aslan has.
Sound familiar? It should, because that’s the kind of love that Jesus has for us. Listen to what the apostle Paul wrote in the book of Titus 3:3-7, it says, “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” The story of Edmund is the story of a sinner who was redeemed and then restored. It’s the story of me, and it’s the story we can live in our own lives, not because we deserve it, but because Jesus stands ready to forgive and restore us today.
Now what I want to do this morning is to look at some lessons we can pull from the life of Edmund here and relate it to the biblical passage from Genesis 3 and then apply it to our own lives as we learn about what sin can do and what we can do about it. Now the first thing I want you to learn from this is that sin can be deceitful, so be wise. Sin can be deceitful, so be wise. Gen 3:1 says, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, ’You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?"
In the movie, when Edmund first enters the world of Narnia, he encounters Jadis, better known as the White Witch, who is the representation of evil, and is a very accurate depiction of Satan. Although she is extremely mean and evil, she is not portrayed as the typical green-faced, wart-nosed witch. There is a since of sinful appeal about her, but yet her character causes you to shudder at the same time. And when she confronts Edmund in the beginning, she doesn’t treat him horrible, but instead she pretends to be his friend, she notices that he is cold so she warms him up with her coat and she gives him something warm to drink. She pretends that she wants to meet his siblings and tells him to bring them to her, and she gives him the one thing he wants most, a candy known as Turkish delight, and she gives him a lot of it and she promises to make him a king and his brothers and sisters could be his servants. And Edmund is convinced that she is the good one in all of this, and why not. She is beautiful, she gives him what he wants, and she promises to make him a king. Evil doesn’t always look evil, sometimes it dresses up mighty pretty.
In the same way, Satan doesn’t stroll around the world walking around in red tights with a pitch fork with a demonic looking face. Instead we are told in 2 Cor 11:14-15 that “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” And then Paul adds, “It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.” When Satan appeared in the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden, the serpent wasn’t cursed yet, so we can assume that it was a beautiful creature, and it appeared to start off with that the serpent was merely trying to help Adam and Eve. He was trying to help them reach their full potential. And Satan deceived Eve into doing something that was wrong by making her think it was not only okay, but that it was the right thing to do.
Someone wisely noted that Satan deceives us in three stages. First, he gets us to question God’s word: “Did God really say that you would die…”. The next stage is that he denies God’s word: “You will not surely die.” And then finally, he tries to convince us that the opposite is true: “You won’t die, in fact your eyes will be open, you will be like God.” Does that sound outdated? Let’s apply it to some things in life today. Did God really say that it is wrong to get drunk. It’s not wrong to get drunk, in fact it feels great to get drunk. Did God really say that marriage was to between a man and a woman. God never said that, in fact God endorses all kinds of relationships and we should do the same as well. Did God really say that we should love everybody, God didn’t mean everybody, God just wants you to love those who look like you and who love you back.
You see, the same tactic Satan used then, he uses today and he can easily deceive a lot of people into thinking that sin is either a good thing or simply an acceptable thing. In fact, you may be praised for being so tolerant and non-judgmental even enlightened. But don’t be deceived. Listen to what Isaiah 5:20 says: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Don’t fall for the trap: no matter how you wrap it and no matter how pretty the bow might be, sin is still sin; be wise, sin can be deceitful.
The next lesson I want you to see is that sin can be appealing, so be strong. Look at Gen 3:6 which reads, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” The fruit looked good, so it was tempting.
Like we saw with Edmund, sometimes sin lures us in by the desires we want most. The White Witch asked Edmund what he wanted most, and he said Turkish Delight, and she gave him what he desired. James 1:14-15 says, “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.”
You see, the only sins that really tempt us are the ones that offer what we want. I read a preacher this past week that said, “If we want company, sin can offer us ways not to be so lonely. If we want money, sin can offer us ways to get or keep it. If we want power, sin can offer us ways to rise to the top.” Sarah Arthur wrote in her book, “Walking Through the Wardrobe”, that the way to a person’s soul is through their appetites. And there is a lot of truth in that. That’s why it is so important that you train your appetites. An interesting fact about the Chronicles of Narnia that comes out some in the movie but more so in the book, is that the way you distinguish the good guys from the bad guys is that the ones who have the bodies of animals and the head of men are good and those who have a human body and an animal head are bad: because reason should control passion, not vice versa. The animal within you may want to satisfy that craving, but the knowledge you have of right and wrong should prohibit you from giving in.
You see sin is appealing to us because it does feel good for a short time. This past week my family and I had a pretty busy day on Friday, and so we didn’t get to eat supper until it was about 8 pm. Now we decided that we would go to Subway and I got to let you all know that there is something so great there and it gets me almost every time. It’s called a meatball sub with everything on it, especially extra jalapeños. I love these little sandwiches, but the problem is that they don’t love me. I knew that if I ate one, especially that late at night, that it would taste good going down, but about a ½ hour later it will be killing me. When I went to order, my mind kept saying, “Get turkey, get turkey” but my belly kept saying “MEATBALL!” And I listened to my belly instead of my head, and it tasted good, but then I paid for it. Now that may sound fine with a sub sandwich, but what about other areas of your life. Guys, if you are surfing the internet and you come across a provocative picture, there is going to be a part of you that is pulled to it, but you know its wrong. Which are you going to listen to. If you are caught and the easy way out would be to tell a lie, everything about you is saying, “one little lie, what will it hurt.” But you know it is wrong. What will you do?
You see, if we look at sin through our spiritual eyes, we see it as awful and deplorable, but there is the eyes of the flesh that find that sin appealing, and that is how temptation works. For Edmund, the White Witch appealed to his appetite of always having that candy, and then appealed to his pride. He was going to finally be the boss of the his brothers and sisters.
You see, sin is appealing because there is a part of us that wants to sin, and Satan promises that if you give into that sin, you will fulfill your appetite and you will be satisfied. But Satan has an empty promise, and sin doesn’t satisfy, instead it makes you want to do it more and more. One looks never stays one look. One lie never stays one lie. One gossip story never stays one gossip story. When Edmund eats the Turkish Delight, he never gets full, because we learn that it is magical Turkish delight, and the more you eat, the more you want, until finally you would eat yourself to death. Listen to James again, “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.” Sin is appealing, so you must be strong and not give into it, because if you do you will find the truth behind our third lesson.
And that is, Sin hurts, so be very careful. Adam and Eve had it made, but because of their sin they were cursed and had to hide from God. Sin hurts, so be careful. While Edmund was gorging himself on Turkish Delight, the White Witch was baiting him to lure his siblings to her so that she could capture and kill them. But Edmund was oblivious to this because all he was concerned about was that he had his Turkish Delight and he was going to be a king. Someone has wisely said, “Sin always has an I in it” and sin starts with a selfish heart. But the problem is that your sin and your selfish sinful pursuits puts those you love at risk. With Adam and Eve, we are still feeling the effects even today, and not just us but all of creation as well. Selfish sins hurt more then just the one committing them. When Judas betrayed Christ, for 30 pieces of silver, he put not only Jesus at risk, but all the other disciples at risk at well, but oh well, he had his money.
I remember reading a story that truly changed my opinion about someone I used to admire. Jimmy Johnson who is a football commentator on Fox Sports wanted to succeed in his football career to such an extent that he lost sight of everything else in his life. When he was coaching on the college level, he had a wife and the appearance of a marriage because he said, “it was expected of college football coaches.” The wife and family was needed for social occasions. The day he was named head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, he wanted to succeed so much that he set about to rid himself of this excess baggage so he got rid of his wife. He didn’t need her any more and he didn’t lose any time in losing her. He confessed that he never bought his boys birthday or Christmas presents. He just didn’t have the time, and they weren’t a priority. So he single-mindedly threw himself into his football team, and in January, 1993, he made it to the top, #1, they won the Super Bowl. He had succeeded, but at what cost?
Now let me ask you, is there some pursuit in your life that is hurting those around you? It may not be sinful in itself, but when it overtakes you and when your focus is your happiness and you leave others out of the equation, then it becomes a sin. Does your pursuit of hanging out with the guys doing the things you did in your younger years put your family at risk? At what cost? Is your pursuit of money or the spending of money putting your marriage at risk? At what cost? Sin never stays to one person, it hurts all those around, but it does hurt you as well.
Sin has an enjoyment for a season, but soon the leaves change and the warm pleasure of sin turns into the cold, hard reality of pain of suffering. Little Edmund was convinced that the White Witch was good, and that by siding with her, he would have all the Turkish delight he could eat. But soon the witch showed her true colors, and he was imprisoned and instead of candy he was given stale bread and water. Sin may be pleasurable, but there is a cost. It cost Adam and Eve paradise. Scripture clearly states that a man reaps what he sows. Friends, if there is one thing I wish we could all learn it is this, the pleasure of the sowing is nothing compared to the pain of the reaping.
Sin hurts, so be careful. The Last thing and the most important lesson to learn is this: Sin can be defeated and the sinner can be redeemed, so be victorious. Edmund began to see through the lies of the witch, and he turned away from her. Yet his betrayal must be paid for, and Aslan died in his place. If you see the movie, this is perhaps one of the most terrifying and sad scenes. With all the evil minions of the White Witch gathered around, the lion calmly gives himself up, and he is taunted and jeered, his golden mane is shaved, he is beaten and mocked, and he is killed. The white witch gloats and is convinced she has won. But the truth be told it was then that she was defeated.
After realizing what Aslan did for him, not only was Edmund saved from his guilt, but he was changed as well. Edmund no longer thought of just himself. When the older brother Peter wants to return home, Edmund says that he has seen what the White Witch can do, and he must help others fight her. Just like those who have found the peace that comes from knowing Christ want to tell others about His as well. And now Edmund was willing to listen to others and not demand his own way, and he was even willing to sacrifice himself in an attempt to save his brother’s life. He has went from self-love to an agape love, a self-sacrificing love.
Now only the power of the Risen Christ, who has died for us and now lives for ever more has the power to make such changes. Only Christ can turn a spoiled brat into a kind and just king. And think about what Christ can do for you. There is nothing you have done that cannot be forgiven, there is no one so horrible that they can’t be restored, and no matter who you are or what you have done, there is a place in Christ’ kingdom for you, and He is ready to prepare you to go into battle for Him, even if for the longest time you were in a battle against Him.
This morning, if you are lost in your sins, I want you to know that there is hope. Look to the cross and there you will find someone who has loved you before you were created, and no matter what you have done or where you are at in life, He stands ready to receive you if you will just come to Him today. If you are ready to make Christ Lord of your Life and be forgiven of your past and given hope and power for the future, then I invite you to pray with me right now.
