“A Deeper Magic”
I John 4: 7-12
December 18, 2005
I’d like to begin our time together this morning by asking you a question. Here it is, “What if it were always winter, but never Christmas?” To tell you the truth, this question isn’t my own. It is in fact a question that is suggested by the book and the film “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” which tells the tale of Narnia, a frozen and inhospitable land that lays eternally blanketed under a icy covering of snow.
And scattered here and there across the icy landscape of Narnia are the frozen figures of hundreds and thousands of poor souls who had unfortunately found themselves at the business end of the wand wielded by Jadis, the White Witch who had condemned all of Narnia to it’s icy exile. One touch of Jadis’ wand turned anyone who dared stand in her way into a cold, lifeless statue. To all appearances, for them, life was over.
In “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” this frozen, lifeless state is mere fantasy. But like so much else in this book, there is a real life correlation to the cold, barren landscape of Narnia and our own everyday world. You see, the truth is that there are a great many things, people and experiences in life that can render you and me just as cold and stiff as those statues in frozen Narnia.
Devastating illness. The loss of a loved one. The betrayal of a friend. Fear of the future. The disappointment of failure. Life can be rough, and quite often, when stung by the frigid reality of these sorts of pains and sorrows, we, like those poor citizens of Narnia can find ourselves frozen in the icy grip of the enemy. When the world gets cold, it is a great temptation to just quit living.
Yet also, there was another temptation in Narnia as well, and it is exemplified by Edmund Pevensie. Keri Wyatt Kent describes Edmund this way “In the story, Edmund betrays his brother and sisters for some candy and the promise of kingship. Like most of us, Edmund is not a completely bad guy. He’s just a little selfish, a little cranky. He’s a bit greedy, but he’s also really good at rationalizing. Watching Edmund, we see how easily we can choose evil over good, even if we don’t mean to. We see how easy it is to behave badly, a little bit at a time, only to find ourselves lost in our own selfishness.” One can’t help but see a little bit of Edmund in oneself as he reminds us all of the words written by the apostle Paul, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
The truth is, we all resemble Edmund to some degree.
Frozen by selfishness, cut off from others by the cold of our unthinking behavior. Like those, cold, frozen stone statues that dot the Narnian landscape, the part of Edmund that lives in us all can seem pretty frigid and hopeless sometimes.
And there is a price to pay for such behavior. In the fictional land of Narnia, there is a law of “Deep Magic” that sentences Edmund to death for his actions. Because of his disobedient and traitorous ways blood must be shed.
The same is true in the real world as well. The scriptures tell us of God’s law which says that “the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23 In our world, as in Narnia, traitorous, disobedient behavior leads to an eternal, spiritual death. You see, just as Edmund deserved to die according to the law of “Deep Magic” in Narnia, so do you and I, because of our sin and disobedience, be it great or small, are equally deserving of the same fate decreed by God’s word and law. We deserve to be exiled to the land where it is always winter, but never Christmas.
That’s what we deserve. But thankfully for Edmund, and for you and me, Christmas did come, to Narnia, and to our world as well. For you see, even though the White Witch may have felt that she held the final card with the law of the deep magic, and the penalty of death that this law demanded of poor Edmund. There was, unbeknownst to her a “Deeper magic.” A magic, that if unleashed could actually cause death itself to turn backward. A deeper magic that could bring warmth and new life to all of Narnia.
That deeper magic is love. And it finds its’ way into Narnia in the character of Aslan the lion. Called “The Son of the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea, the great Lion, the True King of Narnia,” Aslan returns to Narnia, forgives Edmund of his disobedience, and eventually offers his own life to pay Edmunds’ debt. And it is the love of Aslan that eventually thaws the icy cold and brings new life to all of Nania.
And as you know, this sort of self sacrificing, world changing love is not limited to the realm of fiction. But this morning’s scripture passage tells us of an even more miraculous expression of transforming love when John wrote, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.” I John 4: 9, 10
That, in a nutshell is the Christian Gospel. Christmas, Easter and the Sermon on the Mount all rolled into one. God’s son, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, that tiny little baby born in a stable in Bethlehem 2,000 ago, was sent into this world to offer us the clearest possible expression of the love that is God. For you see, Jesus was born that he might eventually offer his life in exchange for yours and mine. God sent his only son into the world in order that he might pay the price for our disobedience, as John said, “that we might live through him.” That is the deeper magic of God’s love.
Aslan’s forgiveness melted Edmund’s frozen heart, and his selfless act of sacrifice redeemed Edmund and gave him a new life. And this outpouring of love changed young Edmund forever. Edmund, who had previously not been able to think beyond his own stomach or his dreams of self glory, Edmund who betrayed his own family for a piece of candy led the change against the enemy Jadis herself and used his sword to break in two that terrible wand that had frozen so many souls, nearly giving his own life in the process. And as Jesus himself said, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
Edmund was changed by the power of love.
And the transformation that took place in young Edmund offers us a pretty good look into the life changing power of God’s love as well. For just as Edmund was inspired by Aslan’s love to begin living his life in service to others, so does God’s sacrificial love for us demand sacrificial love from us. I John 4: 11,12 reads: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”
You see, the deeper magic of God’s love doesn’t just stop with the change that it makes in the individual heart, mind, and soul. But instead, the tidal wave of transformation engendered by God’s love will not stop until it has redeemed the entire planet from the horrible state into which it has fallen. And that happens through me and you.
In “Walking through the Wardrobe,” Sarah Arthur wrote, “You too are called to love others till it hurts, till it costs you something. And that isn’t limited to the people you naturally feel drawn to, like your friends and family. It includes those who, like Edmund, have made themselves just about as unlovable as they can possibly be. Yet through your selfless grace and compassion, they can receive a glimpse of the true King.”
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
I finish as I began, with a question. Two questions, in fact. And the first is this: “What feels dead and lifeless in your life this morning?” What parts of your heart, your soul, or your life have you just given up on, considered dead, worthless, hopeless, devoid of life? What part of you has been frozen dead, like those frosty statues of Narnian stone? Remember the cry of that baby born in Bethlehem that served as the battle cry in the war of love that has won freedom for all who feel lost, afraid, or trapped by feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. Receive the love and forgiveness of God that offers new life to the entire creation. Allow the love of God to breathe upon your soul and thaw the frost of depression, neglect and desperation that may have taken hold.
And the second question is this, “Who needs your love?” Who do you know that needs to meet God this Christmas in and through your expression of selfless and self sacrificing love? Who needs your helping hand? Who needs your forgiveness? Who needs your expression of God’s love?
Yes there is a deep magic, a law in the world that cannot be broken, a law that guarantees that pain, sorrow, disappointment and even death will be a part of our earthly experience. However, never ever forget that there is also a deeper magic as well. A law beyond the law that says that nothing and noone is ever hopeless. A deeper magic of grace and love that sets us free and shows us God’s love. The deeper magic of Christmas that says, “Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God.”
Amen.
