11th December 05 ABC
A Narnia Christmas
Welcome (earlier in service)
Welcome to the world of Narnia. We continue a Celebrate Christmas series, something a little bit different from our normal services.
Jesus often sat down on the side of a hill or in the city. Parents would sometimes bring their children to him and he would bend down and sit with them - pray for them and bless them. It would have been pretty cool to be a kid around Jesus. But we read in the gospels that some of the big people didn’t always like that - but Jesus said that the kingdom of God belonged to people like children - humble people who trust.
Jesus also told stories. He was a great story teller. He told stories about a man attacked on the side of a road. He told of mustard seeds growing, sheep being lost and found, a bunch of day labourers getting paid more than they worked for. Jesus saw the things around him and told stories about them to teach truth to his audience. There were no DVDs, TV, movies, video games back then. I think if Jesus were here today he may well use some of these things to tell us stories about God and life and the new life to come.
Today, we step into another world, the world of Narnia. And we explore biblical truth where it intersects with the movie. Kids, or whatever you are in your costumes, there’s some seats up the front, or you can stay with your parents.
Song/ break
Sermon Introduction
How many of you here have already seen the movie, ’The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe?’ How many of you have read the book or had the book read to you?
Let me share a little of the plot with those of you that haven’t.
The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe is set in the midst of the second world war. There are four children - names? - Peter, Susan, Edmond, Lucy. (who is the oldest/ youngest?). The book was actually dedicated to ’Lucy.’ Lewis was the god-father to Lucy. So, there is a real-life story behind the movie. When Mr Lewis wrote this book, things were a little scary in our world. It was getting difficult. People were getting hurt and killed. Buildings were getting bombed. It was a scary time. In fact some would say that our world today is not all that different. Tida Swinton who plays the white witch in the movie, herself said, “All of our children are war children now.” We are starting to have scary things happening. It’s becoming an unsafe place to live.
That’s the setting the book is written in. There’s another setting. The story itself.
The children are sent to their Uncles place in the country where they are to spend the school holidays. Their uncle lives in a large old house. One day the kids are playing hide and seek. Do any of you kids play that? . . . Well so do the four kids in the book. One of them, Lucy, hides in a wardrobe. But it is different to all other wardrobes. She’s never hidden in a wardrobe like this one before. Because when she walks into it, its cold and seems to have no back. In fact, it leads her to another world called Narnia. Eventually, all the children step into this other world of Narnia. Narnia has all these different animals. But they’re all either evil and nasty. Or they’re really scared from the evil and nasty creatures. In fact Narnia is under a curse of permanent winter and run by the evil white witch. Later in the story, we come across the forces of good in the form of Aslan, a talking lion. As usual there is a battle between the good guys and the bad guys.
PLAY MOVIE PREVIEW CLIP
One of the big lines in the movie/book is that ’it is always winter and never Christmas.’
It is always winter and never Christmas in Narnia. Throughout the movie and book we keep hearing that line. The evil queen has made Narnia a place where it is always winter and never Christmas.
How many of you here like Christmas? I think I probably like it the most. I know, I know, some of the adults might think of some of the kids faces lighting up when their 5 year old gets their first bicycle or when your son gets his Spiderman suit he’s been wanting for soooo long.
But, still, I think I like Christmas the most. We have lights inside and outside. Decorations. Even Christmas plates to use for this time of the year.
But imagine a world where it is always winter and never Christmas. It’s always cold. Always damp. Never any fun. Nothing to look forward to. It’s dreary. Miserable. Hard yacker. There are no: Christmas presents, decorations, carols, Santa, trees, Charlie Brown Christmas specials, Christmas holidays. It would be a world where 25th Dec is the same as every other day - 12 July; 3 March or the 9th October. Nothing important happens to me on those days. Always winter and never Christmas. Sounds more like a winter wasteland than a winter wonder-land.
But Peter, Susan, Edmond and Lucy learn some lessons along the way about how to live life in the pre-Christmas land of Narnia. As we read or watch them - and pay attention to the story- we can learn some lessons about how we are to live life in the winter wasteland that we’re in.
The first lesson we can learn is:
1) Turkish delight isn’t all its cracked up to be
I’m not sure about you but I love lollies. Don’t tell my wife but I sometimes hide chocolates in the drawer of my desk to make sure that no-one else in the house spots them and eats them. I want to enjoy them. I don’t just have a sweet tooth. I have a sweet tongue and sweet eyes and sweet stomach.
How many of you here are like me? Sweets are good, right? Sweets are our friends.
There’s a boy in our story called Edmond. One day, Edmond steps into another world called Narnia. While he’s tramping around in the snow he hears a sleigh. Listen as I read some of the story (from pages 35-37).
The first time we meet the Queen of Narnia, we think she is a really nice person. In fact, she is so nice that she invites Edmond up onto her sleigh, takes her wand and makes this delicious drink, something I guess it is like the ultimate hot chocolate. It’s more delicious than anything he has ever tasted. She also offers him some Turkish Delight. Not the Cadbury Turkish Delight that nobody seems to like. This is the real Turkish delight which is really yummy. One of the best sweets around if you take my opinion. At the moment in our story, this sounds like a really nice Queen. Right? She’s giving Edmond lollies and a really nice drink. But what Edmond doesn’t know yet is that she is actually a very nasty queen. She’s actually called the ’white witch.’ In fact, she is so nasty that she turns people and animals into stone statues and trashes the house of Mr Tamnus, a Faun with brown eyes. While the Turkish Delight may be really nice, it is actually enchanted sweets that keep Edmond wanting more. The queen of Narnia knows that Edmond will always want more and so she will be able to get him to do whatever she wants. She asks Edmond to lead his brother and 2 sisters to her. She promises to make Edmond King and the rest of his family princes and princesses, but under his rule. It all sounds really good but we find out it isn’t all its cracked up to be.
There’s a lesson in that. Turkish delight isn’t all its cracked up to be
We know that from the Bible as well. The Bible tells us another story, a true story, about the first human couple, Adam and Eve. In the first few chapters of that story a snake shows Eve a tree loaded with enchanted fruit. This fruit is meant to give Eve a wisdom that she does not have. Eve likes what she sees. We read, ’she saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her.” It’s a little like Edmond. He loves the Turkish delight. The queen asks him to betray his brother and sisters and if he does so, he will reign as king and get all the Turkish Delight he could ever want. For Eve, this fruit looked good and promised a wisdom that would make her to be like God. So, she took it - but in the end it wasn’t what it was cracked up to be. It probably tasted good at the time but it led to much pain and disappointment.
There’s a lesson there for us. We can find ourselves in these stories too. There can be something that looks good but can actually brings much pain to us. We use the term temptation to describe it. John Piper says that sin “gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier.”
I will be happier if I just get more Turkish delight.
What are some temptations you face? (Discuss: “I’ll be happier if . . .”
(Transition): The first lesson is: Turkish delight isn’t all its cracked up to be. ’Don’t be sucked in by everything that looks sweet.’ There’s another lesson in the book to help us cope in difficult winter times.
(2) We need the help of friends to get us through
One of the coolest characters in the story are the Beavers. Mr and Mrs Beaver. They have this cool little house on top of the dam. Mrs Beaver spends her days cooking and sewing. Mr Beaver fishing for food.
Edmond’s foolish act puts the rest of the family in danger. The evil queen is chasing them. But friends like the Beavers protect them, even at great risk to themselves. If they are caught, they will become stone statues. So, Mrs Beaver packs the picnic basket full of ham, bread and tea to give the children food as they travel. They guide them to safety.
It’s not just the beavers. There’s a small robin which guides them to the beavers. There’s Mr Tumnus who doesn’t dob Lucy in. In fact a large group of various animals all work together to hide the children and overthrow the evil queen. On their own, the kids would have been caught and Narnia would have remained in an eternal winter. But with each person working together, the children were kept safe and the good guys win. In the midst of our journey, we don’t need spectators. We need a few good friends.
You know, sometimes life gets hard and we have a long journey to get through difficult times. What people need when they’re going through difficult times is friends. Good friends. Friends who can help them get through. God made us to have friends and to be friends to others. We’re not meant to go through life alone or let others go through it alone.
The Bible says it this way, “A friend loves at all times, and a relative is born to help us in adversity.” Prov 17:17.
Friends and family are there to help us through difficult times. We all needs friends to get us through. In the midst of our journey, we don’t need spectators. We need a few good friends.
So, we should be asking ourselves, ’are there people around me who are having a rough time right now? How can I help them? How can I be their friend? All of us need friends to get us through the rough times.
So the second lesson we learn from the book about how to live in our winter dreaded land is that We need the help of friends to get us through
There’s a third lesson.
(3) Forgiveness is the trait of heroes
I mentioned before that Edmond, the youngest boy in the story decides to betray his brother and two sisters so that he can get to reign as king and have all the Turkish delight he could ever want. His actions put his family and all their friends at great risk. If the witch catches them, she will kill them or turn them into stone.
It doesn’t take Edmond long to realize that he has been deceived. There is no kingdom promised to him. There is no more Turkish Delight. He now sees how evil the white witch is. He so wants to be with his brother and 2 sisters again. But, he has been so bad. Will they even forgive him IF he ever gets out of this predicament?
His situation gets even worst. Apparently in Narnia treachery carries dire consequences.
Witch: “You at least know the magic which the Emperor put into Narnia at the very beginning. You know that every traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and that for every treachery I have a right to a kill. . . . And so, that human creature is mine. His life is forfeit to me. His blood is my property.”
The rules of Narnia carries severe consequences for traitors. Someone must die. Blood must be spilt. Edmond is certainly guilt of treachery. That’s no way around it. It looks like things are going to go way south for him.
We also see in Narnia that forgiveness is the trait of heroes. Edmond needs forgiveness. He needs forgiveness from the law. He needs forgiveness from Aslan. He needs forgiveness from his family and friends.
It sounds very similar to another story, a true story about Jesus.
The bible says that the result of our sin, our treachery, our lieing, our tendency to go and do the wrong things results in death. We deserve to die. Plain and simple. But we read that Jesus, the one who did no treachery or sin of any kind, took our place and died. He offers forgiveness to us.
That forgiveness affects things on a horizontal level as well. Edmond eventually connects up with Peter, Susan and Lucy. Edmond needs their forgiveness. He had done some dumb things - all for Turkish delight. Will forgiveness be offered?
Forgiveness can be hard. It’s not something for wimps. It’s something heroes do. Kids, when one of your friends does something dumb that may hurt you. Jesus wants you to forgive them because that’s what he’s done. Adults, even when someone has done something major to hurt you, Jesus wants you to forgive. It doesn’t minimize the hurt and wrong done to you. But forgiveness is a trait of heroes in the kingdom of Narnia and the kingdom of God. It’s the stuff Jesus wants from his followers.
So, the third lesson we see is that Forgiveness is the trait of heroes.
There’s a fourth lesson for us from the story:
(4) We need a hero that ain’t no pussycat!
The main hero in our story is Aslan. The first time the children hear of him is from Mr and Mrs Beaver. The children want to save the faun that was good to Lucy, Mr Tumnus. The Beavers tell the children that they are unable to but that Aslan would be able to do it. They tell the children a rhyme:
“wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”
The children are confused about who he is.
Lucy: “Is - is he a man?
Mr Beaver: “Aslan a man! Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion - the Lion, the great Lion.”
Susan: “Ooh! I’d thought he was a man. Is he - quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
Mrs Beaver: “That you will, dearie, and no mistake. If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
Lucy: “Then he isn’t safe?”
Mr Beaver: “Safe? Don’t you hear what Mrs Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
The children need a hero that ain’t no pussycat. They need a hero that is able to stand up to the evil witch, the queen of Narnia. Aslan, the lion is up to the task. He’s not safe. He ain’t no pussycat. But he is good. He is our hero in the story. He’s the King.
You know, all of here need a hero as well. A real hero. We need a hero that ain’t no pussycat. We need a hero that understands our struggles and can do something about them. Jesus is our hero. Jesus is no wimpy pussycat. He is the king.
The Bible speaks of him returning one day to judge the earth. All who align with evil will feel his justice. He will take charge and eradicate what is wrong in this world. He is able to do something about it - and he will.
It seems like lots of people are getting away with an awful lot. People hurt us and they go unpunished. He will come one day and sort out all the mess. Crime does not go unpunished in his world. We need, and we have, a hero that ain’t no pussycat.
There’s one final lesson from the book:
5) When Christmas comes, it’s time to party
The coming of Aslan changes everything. He brings hope to Narnia. As he comes into Narnia, the ice slowly starts to melt. Blossoms begin to bloom. Green grass begins to appear. Santa goes his rounds delivering presents to good children. There are Christmas dinners on the table. There is the sound of a party. Even before the battle and victory has come, winter is giving way to Christmas cheer.
Eventually, the winter curse that has controlled Narnia for years and years melts away. The cheer of Christmas arrives. When Christmas comes, it’s time to party.
Now, just because we shouldn’t be deceived by Turkish delight doesn’t mean that we can’t still enjoy delicious good things. Once Aslan ushers in Christmas, Narnia becomes the place to party.
Narnia had been under a curse so that it was always winter and never Christmas. When Christmas comes, it is time to party.
The first Christmas came 2000 years ago. The heart of Christmas is about Jesus. Jesus, the prince of peace, ushers in peace into this world. He melts away the sin curse in our world that has prevented us from enjoying Christmas cheer. Now, the snow hasn’t fully melted. There’s still bad things around. But the process has begun. Hope is here. This year we celebrate Christmas because this winter-waste land is melting away giving hope to a new world with new green grass, sun shining without rain and people without betrayal. The Bible refers to that new creation as a place free from danger, no more crying, no more heartache, no more death because Jesus is making all things new. It says that Jesus will bring peace in total measure. Right now, we experience glimpses of it. Peace, rather than chaos will one day reign. His enemies will all be gone. Chaos - no more. Betrayal - no more. Hurt - no more. Pain - gone.
The process has begun and the process will come to a glorious end. We call the anticipation of it, hope. Not hope that something might happen. But a certain confidence that it will. We celebrate hope. Christmas began 2000 years ago. We celebrate it again shortly in hope of the ultimate return of Jesus when he puts all things right again. Winter is officially over.
And, as we learn from Narnia. When Christmas comes, it’s time to party. Friends, it’s time to party.
Today we have seen a few lessons for us from the book to help us live in our winter-waste land. We need to realize the following:
o Turkish delight isn’t all its cracked up to be
o We need the help of friends to get us through
o Forgiveness is the trait of heroes
o We need an ultimate hero that ain’t no puss cat!
o When Christmas comes, it’s time to party
That’s exactly what we are planning to do the rest of this morning. P-A-R-T-Y:
Let’s begin with some prizes for these cute looking costumes down the front. To do that, let me invite our Queen of Narnia up here to be the judge.
