“I Love Lucy”
Mark 10: 13-16
December 4, 2005
Last week, we began our Advent season with the first in a series of 3 sermons that find their origin in CS Lewis’ book, and the soon to be released Disney film, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” As I said last week, the book centers on the adventures of four children who find their way through the back of a mystical wardrobe and into the magical land called Narnia.
And among all the people that I have met who know and love this book, pretty much every single one of them has a favorite character, one of the four children with whom they most closely identify, one child that perhaps they most wish they were like. Some admire Peter, the oldest of the children who eventually proves himself to be a mighty warrior and king. Others prefer Susan the next oldest of the 4 children who nearly always exhibits a spirit of cool, calm and practical rationality. Many people gravitate toward Edmund, the youngest boy and resident scoundrel of the family. It is Edmund, who with boyish enthusiasm and wild abandon seems to always be into or up to some sort of mischief.
And I can perfectly understand why folks choose one or the other of these 3 children as their favorite. For they each in their own way have something special to share and to show. However, from the first time that I read these books 25 or 30 years ago right up until today, my favorite has always been the same. Just like Ricky Riccardo, “I Love Lucy.”
It is Lucy, the youngest and most innocent of the 4 Pevensie children who first finds her way through that wardrobe and into the land of Narnia. And it is Lucy who leads her 3 siblings into that magical place after her. And there is something about her innocence, her faith, and her childlike trust that brings to mind this mornings’ scripture lesson and makes her for me a wonderfully endearing character.
And so this morning I’d like to take a few moments to share with you what it is about little Miss Lucy Pevensie that makes her so special to me, and an important example for us all as we seek to discover the deeper wonders that are possible in the Kingdom of God.
At the heart of what makes Lucy who she is, and the first quality that is required of any individual who desires to seek out the truth of kingdoms that exist outside of our everyday world, is a deep and abiding sense of intense curiosity and childlike wonder.
It is Lucy’s intense curiosity that sets her off exploring the mysterious upstairs rooms of the Professor’s country home. And it is this search which leads her to the discovery of that mystical wardrobe that serves as the portal to another world. And it is Lucy’s childlike sense of wonder that enables her to be open to the possibility of such magical worlds and the marvelous potentialities that such places might hold.
In “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” the magical, mystical and marvelous land that waited for those curious and wonder filled enough to go searching for it is called Narnia. In the Bible we are told about another reality outside of our everyday world that requires an equally powerful spirit of curiosity and wonder. Another way of being and thinking that holds marvelous and wonderful potential beyond even Narnian proportions. It is a kingdom where there are no enemies and where love rules supreme. It is a kingdom where there is always the hope of a better day, and the promise of a second chance no matter how hard life may seem, and no matter how much we might make a mess of the life that we have been given. It is a kingdom where the pressures, the problems and the concerns of everyday life pale in comparison to the sheer joy of living in that place. It is a kingdom where life never ends, a reality where love, joy and hope last forever. It is a kingdom where there is truly a life lived happily ever after.
That kingdom is of course the kingdom of God. And about that kingdom Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Mark 10: 15.
In her devotional book based on “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” author Sarah Arthur shares this insight. “From Jesus’ perspective, it takes the humility of a child to grasp what the Kingdom is all about. Those who think they are too grown up or cool for all that simple faith business are missing the mark. The disciples included. When a group of parents tries to bring their children to see Jesus, the disciples shoo them away because they don’t have VIP passes. But Jesus welcomes the children and says, “The Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Particularly those who are trying so hard to be grown up.
During this Advent season, Jesus’ words to his disciples remind us that Christmas, and the Christian faith are not for the “grown ups” of the world. The wonder of Christmas and the kingdom of God are invisible to the ulta-intelligent, super- sophisticated, closed-minded, strictly-scientific, “I know it all and have nothing left to learn” people of the world. The kingdom of God is visible only to those who look at the world around them through the eyes of a child like faith.
The necessity of childlike faith in perceiving the deeper magic possible in Narnia and the Kingdom of God was addressed by the author of “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” in a letter that he wrote less than a month before he passed away to a little girl who had written to him asking if there would be any more Narnia books. He wrote:
Dear Ruth,
Many thanks for your kind letter, and it was very good of you to write and tell me that you like my books; and what a very good letter you write for your age!
If you continue to love Jesus, nothing much can go wrong with you, and I hope that you may always do so. I’m so thankful that you realized the "hidden story" in the Narnia books. It is odd, children nearly always do, grown-ups…hardly ever.
I’m afraid the Narnia series has come to an end, and am sorry to tell you that you can expect no more.
God bless you.
Yours sincerely,
C.S. Lewis
“It is odd,” wrote Lewis “children nearly always do, grown-ups…hardly ever” recognize the joy and the wonder that is waiting for them just around the corner. Christmas, and the kingdom of God are all about the child inside of every one of us. After all, why do you think it is that the Christmas season is so magical and wonderful and every child’s favorite time of year? Why is it that at Christmas every house glows with decorations, and even the trees shine with the light of love? Why is it that at Christmas it is truly more blessed to give than to receive, and that even Scrooge himself can open his heart and his arms to generous living? Why is it that at Christmas even long held differences can be set aside, and even the hardest of hearts can be made fonder? Why is it that at Christmas Santa Claus is able to visit every house in the world, and even reindeer know how to fly? It is because Christmas is literally made out of an otherworldly potential, promise, and possibility that exists only in the kingdom of God; a kingdom that was born when God came to earth in the form of a tiny little baby born in a stable in Bethlehem. A kingdom that can only be visited or viewed through a childlike faith and sense of wonder.
You see, I love Lucy because it was Lucy’s childlike spirit of curiosity and wonder that opened the door to Narnia for her and all others who choose to follow in her brave footsteps. And her childlike faith and openness inspires me to engage my world in the same way, with my eyes and my heart wide open, with love and joy and curiosity and a contagious enthusiasm. I love Lucy because she shines with a childlike faith, and Jesus said that whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter in. I love Lucy because she reminds me of how important it is to keep alive the trusting, wondering, faith filled child living deep down inside of me that the rest of my life is trying to bury under a clutter of hurt, worry, disappointment and despair. I need that child, because I long for the kingdom of God, and Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” That’s why I love Lucy.
Amen.
