Message #3 Advent Narnia Series
Discover the Light of Christmas
Introduction:
We are continuing in our Narnian themed Advent series this morning with message #3, Discover the Light of Christmas. In this wonderful children’s series, C.S. Lewis masterfully tells the story of four children who enter into a fallen world called Narnia. This world is ruled by an evil Witch who has great power and who has turned Narnia into a place where it is always winter but never Christmas. That was our theme in week #1 when we talked about what our world would be like today if Christ had never come. In week two, we examined the power of the witch and contrasted it with the Christ figure in Lewis’s story. The Lion called Aslan conquers the spell of the witch and the witch herself.
This morning we want to look at another wonderful image in the book; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. That image is of the “lamp post” which is mentioned in three chapters of the book. We want to examine the significance of the image of the lamp post in the story to understand the author’s intention.
We first read of the lamp post early in the story when Lucy’s, playing a game of hide and seek with her siblings, hides away in a wardrobe only to find it to be a portal into the Narnian world…
The lamppost in the woods
“This must be a simply enormous wardrobe!” thought Lucy, going still further in and pushing the soft folds of the coats aside to make room for her. Then she noticed that there was something crunching under her feet. “I wonder is that more moth-balls?” she thought, stooping down to feel it with her hands. But instead of feeling the hard, smooth wood of the floor of the wardrobe, she felt something soft and powdery and extremely cold. “This is very queer,” she said, and went on a step or two further.
Next moment she found that what was rubbing against her face and hands was no longer soft fur but something hard and rough and very prickly. “Why, it is just like branches of trees!” exclaimed Lucy. And then she saw that there was a light ahead of her; not a few inches away where the back of the wardrobe ought to have been, but a long way off. Something cold and soft was falling on her. A moment later she found that she was standing in the middle of a wood at night-time with snow under her feet and snowflakes falling through the air. Lucy felt a little frightened, but she felt very inquisitive and excited as well. She looked back over her shoulder and there, between the dark tree-trunks, she could still see the open doorway of the wardrobe and even catch a glimpse of the empty room from which she had set out. (She had, of course, left the door open, for she knew that it is a very silly thing to shut oneself into a wardrobe.) It seemed to be still daylight there. “I can always get back if anything goes wrong,” thought Lucy. She began to walk forward, crunch-crunch, over the snow and through the wood towards the other light.
In about ten minutes she reached it and found that it was a lamp-post. As she stood looking at it, wondering why there was a lamppost in the middle of a wood and wondering what to do next, she heard a pitter patter of feet coming towards her. And soon after that a very strange person stepped out from among the trees into the light of the lamppost.
In the sixth book of this series; entitled; The Magicians Nephew, we learn more about the origins of the lamppost. In this book, a piece of a lamppost from our own world is brought into another world by Queen Jadis, who we know as the White Witch. Just as Aslan is bringing Narnia to life, Jadis throws the piece of lamppost at him, and, like a seed, it falls to the ground and begins to grow. It eventually becomes the lamppost which light the way into Narnia when the children arrive many years later. It is the lamppost which leads the way into Narnia and years later, it becomes the last thing they see when the re-enter their own world.
And, as those of you who have read the book and perhaps seen the movie this weekend know, one day, many years later, when the four children are all grown up and have ruled Narnia as Kings and Queens, they rediscover the lamppost still lit up, standing in the wood. As they enter the thick trees, they find themselves once again children tumbling out of the wardrobe with but a moments time have passed in their own world.
So, what do we know about the lamppost in Narnia? We know that … (1) it was there from the beginning of the creation of that world. (2) We know that its light shines eternal. (3) We know that it lights the way between the two worlds…our world and the world of Narnia.
Transition:
You have to understand that C.S. Lewis, the author of this series, was very familiar with the Scriptures. Light is one of the most wonderful themes of the Bible. Lewis knew that and so he used the image of the lamppost to teach important spiritual truths. The image of light is often used to point to the birth of Christ throughout the pages of the Bible.
Quoting from Old Testament prophecy the gospel of Matthew reads…the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned…and then it adds this commentary about Jesus. “From that time on Jesus began to preach, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Matthew 4:15,16
When the aged Simeon saw the Christ child when Joseph and Mary had brought him to the temple he took hold of the child and he prophesied saying…
Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.
Luke 2:29-32
In prophesying about Jesus centuries before his birth, the prophet Isaiah wrote:
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Isa 60:1-3
But it is probably the Gospel of John that attaches most significance to “light” and to the person of Jesus, the Messiah. For he wrote:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
So, what is light in the Scriptures and what is the significance of the lamppost in Narnia?
Light is truth – The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. John 1:9
Light is knowledge – For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Cor. 4:6
Light is life – In his was life, and that life was the light of men. John 1:4
I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. John 8:12
Light is salvation – I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. John 12:46
Light is victory – The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it. Jon 1:5
Missing the Lamppost
When Lucy entered Narnia through the wardrobe the first time she saw the lamppost. The story reads…
As she stood looking at it, wondering why there was a lamppost in the middle of a wood and wondering what to do next,
Now, in contrast to Lucy, when Edmund entered Narnia for the first time, he does not seem to see the lamppost at all. He does see light, but it is the light of the sun, rising in the pale blue wintry sky. Ironically, it is the White Witch who points out the lamppost to Edmund, when he says he doesn’t know the way back to his own world. “That’s easy”, she says, “Do you see that lamp?” and she points to the lamppost…”straight on, beyond that, is the way to the world of men.”
How can it be that when Lucy entered Narnia she encountered the lamppost and wondered at it but when Edmund entered he seemed to be oblivious to its presence? Well, the answer to the question comes from the previous chapter in the story where we come to understand that Lucy and Edmund are two very different people. For while Lucy is a pleasant little girl we know that Edmund can be a person full of animosity and cruelty. Edmund is blinded to the light that Lucy has found.
And so it is with the countless throngs of people who have lived in our very world. Millions come into the world and fail to see the light and millions die in the darkness of their own sins. But the light still shines my friends! God keeps its light burning bright. For those who see it are drawn to it as a moth around a flame. The light consumes them and they become different people, people with God living on the inside. That has always been God’s plan for the world. He chose not to rule His creation with an iron fist, he chose to conquer our hearts with his love and to rule His world through us.
Have you come to the light of Christ and let His love consume the darkness of your sin? Will you, like Lucy, notice the light, walk to the light, wonder at the light?
But there is a final part of the story I want to look at this morning. I call it…
The Darkness of the Wardrobe
This particular part of the story record how all four of the children enter together after Lucy and Edmund’s first visits. Mrs. MaCready is giving a tour of the house and has warned the children to not be seen. As a crowd of people come into the section of the house where the wardrobe is, the children all run inside to hide so as not to be noticed.
Quick! Said Peter, “there’s nowhere else,” and flung open the wardrobe. All four of them bundled inside it and sat there, panting, in the dark. Peter held the door closed but did not shut it; for, of course, he remembered, as every sensible person does, that you should never shut yourself up in a wardrobe.
“I wish the Macready would hurry up and take all these people away,” said Susan presently, “I’m getting horribly cramped.”
And what a filthy smell of camphor!” said Edmund. “I expect the pockets of these coats are full of it,” said Susan, “to keep away moths.” “There’s something sticking into my back,” said Peter. “And isn’t it cold?” said Susan.
“Now that you mention it, it is cold,” said Peter, “and hang it all, it’s wet too. What’s the matter with this place? I’m sitting on something wet. It’s getting wetter every minute.” He struggled to his feet. “Let’s get out,” said Edmund, “They’ve gone.” “O-o-oh!” said Susan suddenly. And everyone asked her what was the matter. “I’m sitting against a tree,” said Susan, “and look! It’s getting lighter—over there.”
“By jove, you’re right,” said Peter, “and look there—and there. It’s trees all round. And this wet stuff is snow. Why, I do believe we’ve got into Lucy’s wood after all.”
And now there was no mistaking it and all four children stood blinking in the daylight of a winter day. Behind them were coats hanging on pegs, in front of them were snow-covered trees.
Transition:
I love how this part of the story is written. It is writing about the lives of the children in the wardrobe with its darkness, its smells, its discomfort. But as the light of Narnia begins to dawn upon them, they are drawn from the wardrobe into the magical land itself.
I’m wondering if there are those today who are stuffed in life’s wardrobe with all of its discomforts, with all of its dampness, and with all of its darkness. I’m wondering if there are those here today who are being drawn to the light of Christ and the life he holds for you. All you need to do is to be tired enough of your present condition that your willing to get up and walk toward the lamppost, the light of Christ and the warmth and the life and the truth he offers you.
Remember what we said about the lamppost, the three things we know about it from the two books in this series: We know that, like Jesus … (1) it was there from the beginning of the creation of that world. (2) We know that its light shines eternal. (3) We know that it lights the way between the two worlds…our world and the world of Narnia.
Conclusion:
You know what I find so difficult about winter? I love the snow, I don’t mind the cold. It’s the darkness isn’t it? I remember my father would complain about the darkness of winter when he would recite that he went to work in the dark and came home in the dark Monday through Friday.
There are a lot of evenings when I come home late at night through the week. We have a long driveway, nearly 600 feet and our house sits up just inside of the tree line and is quite hidden away. I hate it when I come home in the darkness and all of the lights are off outside. We have two big brass coach lamps on the front of the garage and another coach lamp by the front door to the house. When they are not on, everything seems so dark and dreary. What a difference the light makes. I suppose that, deep down inside, one of the things that adds to my gloominess at night is that I think to myself, “well, someone has forgotten me and not remembered to turn on the lights.” So, trudging up the steps, finding a key and a key hole in the dark just become that much harder.
But other times, when I come home and the lights are on at the top of the driveway I can find my way easier and get into the house easier I also must confess that I feel that “someone has not forgotten me and they have remembered to turn on the lights.”
Friends, if your all cramped up in the darkness of a wardrobe and your tired of being there I’ve got good news for you. God has not forgotten you, he has left the light on. Just as the lamppost of Narnia burns eternal, so in Christ, his light is shining today and you can come to the light. Just as the lamppost in Narnia is the waypoint between the two worlds, so, Jesus Christ, is the way between our world and heaven. God has not forgotten you, He has left the light on! That light is Jesus and you can receive Him today and by receiving Him you can receive His light and His life.
6It started when God said, "Light up the darkness!" and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.
The Message, 2 Cor. 4:6
Closing Prayer:
O Lord God, in the darkness of this winter season, in the darkness of our sinful souls, we need Your Christmas Light-the light of the Word – your Son, Jesus Christ. Shine, Jesus, shine – shine into the dark places of our hearts. Shine into every corner of our being. Just as the lamppost of Narnia stood as a beacon between the two worlds, we pray that we will see you clearly, Lord, as you stand strong, shining your powerful light of love into our world.
O Father God, we pray that Your loving Light of Christmas will shine brighter than any Christmas tree decoration, brighter than Rudolph’s nose, brighter than the light of the stores and shops that tempt us to spend and spend and spend. May your light of Christmas shine forth as did the star of Bethlehem, to lead us to the side of the babe in the manger, our Lord, Jesus.
