Harry Potter and the Living Stone
Or
Don’t Be a Muggle!
William A. Groover Jr., Ph.D.
NOTE: E-mail me at bill@easthill.net and I will e-mail you the PowerPoint slides I prepared to go with this message. You may also download the Harry Potter fonts at http://www.harrypotterdesktop.s5.com and at other sites as well. Just search. This sermon is still in draft form, scheduled for first preaching on Sunday, Dec. 16, for a Youth Worship service (20 teens present, 2 accepted Christ, 2 asked for copies of the sermon, and three parents told me their Youth gave them a point by point synopsis--this sermon is "UN-helpful" if you want to attack Harry Potter.). I am well aware of the criticism of Harry Potter and the biblical condemnation of witchcraft and sorcery. At the time of this writing, there were two well-prepared anti-Harry sermons on Sermon Central (http://www.sermoncentral.com/ search for Harry Potter). I do believe there is an evil reality. While J. K. Rowling does write about witchcraft and children will be fascinated by her story, I believe they will see the clear message about good and evil Rowling laces through her books. There are powerful, evil spirits at work in our world. They can only be defeated by the power of God. In my sermon I try to take advantage of the interest young people have in Harry Potter and use that to turn them toward Jesus Christ. I clearly believe if I stood in the pulpit and denounced Harry Potter, I’d do as much to encourage people to read him as I did to discourage them. You may tell me what you think at bill@easthill.net. Thanks, and God Bless us all.
(1 Peter 2 NIV) {4} As you come to him, the Living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- {5} you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Harry Potter is one of the most popular figures in our culture today. Yet a few people, among them some preachers, have spoken out against Harry, saying he is evil and he lures children toward witchcraft and the occult. Well, let me ask you: “Have any of you begun practicing witchcraft since reading or seeing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone?” Okay. Practicing witchcraft is definitely a sin. But reading fiction about it? Remember: it is FICTION. It is my understanding that all of the spells in all of the Harry Potter books have been tried and none have worked. Well, one person did achieve flight one time. I walked into the church one day and Hunter was standing over a broom yelling, “Up!” He didn’t see me, so I goosed him from behind. He flew . . ., what was it, Hunter, about fifteen feet? But his landing had lousy form. Anyway, for my part I find the author, J. K. Rowling, sends out a very clear message: “There are both Good and Evil forces and people in our world. And Good is . . . well, Good! And Evil is . . . dangerous, bad, to be avoided, and even to be conquered by Good.” I can live with that. I hope all young people learn this lesson. I would also like to recommend a couple of other writers to anyone who may enjoy Rowling’s work. Try C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Ring Trilogy, or Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time.
But today I want to draw a deeper lesson. J. K. Rowling has said in interviews she draws from a multitude of sources, historical, literary, mythical, and religious, to find themes and symbols she can bury in her fiction for readers to search for, discover, and hopefully pursue in other readings. I have no knowledge that she intended to describe specific Christian doctrine in Harry’s story. Still, the parallels between Harry Potter and my understanding of a biblical worldview and Christian anthropology are uncanny. Let me begin by looking at Harry’s story--and don’t worry; if you haven’t seen or read the story, I will tell you enough to follow along without giving away the ending.
Harry Potter was born to parents who were wizards. A rival, evil wizard killed both parents and tried to kill Harry. Good wizards took baby Harry to live with his Aunt & Uncle, who were non-magical people, or “muggles.” They mistreat Harry and make him live in a tiny room under the stairs for eleven years until he is old enough to enter Hogwarts School of Wizardry (which is run by the same good wizards--though as with everything in life, some evil does slip in). Each book in the series will tell the story of one year of training at Hogwarts.
Now let me look at a few of the details. Harry is born with a birthright he knows nothing about. Just as jealous, evil kings in the Bible tried to kill the newborn Jewish Kings (Pharaoh and Herod tried to kill Moses and Jesus), so does an evil wizard try to kill Harry. People who do not believe magic is real raise Harry. They do not understand magic, they fear it, and they try to keep Harry from any knowledge of magic. Still powers were at work in his life, both for good and for evil. It seemed that sometimes wishes could come true and unexplainable things would happen.
Still Harry was unloved, unaccepted, and unwanted. He longed for something better. Until, that is, his eleventh birthday. The good wizard, Professor Albus Dumbledorf, had a message he tried to get to Harry--an invitation to attend Hogwarts School of Wizardry. The muggle Aunt & Uncle did all they could to keep Harry from receiving the messages until finally an unstoppable messenger, Hagrid, arrives.
He tells Harry he is a wizard, born to be different. That he is part of a whole different race of magical beings. At that moment a change begins to take place. Harry begins to believe Hagrid and to experience a whole new life. He wants to go to this Hogwarts School, but first he must find the way. His instructions make no sense. He is to go to platform 9 3/4 at the train station. Of course there are platforms 9 and 10, but nothing in between. Still Harry sees some other people who seem to know what they are doing. They simply run toward a brick wall and . . . disappear! So, in a leap of faith, Harry runs straight for the wall, braced for a collision, and finds himself in a new world of magic and wizardry.
There is one danger in the book which is clearly pointed out to the reader. In one chapter Harry discovers “The Mirror of Erised.” Its inscription reads: “Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.” Read backwards it says: "I show not your face but your hearts’ desire." Anyone looking into the mirror sees not a reflection of reality, but a reflection of what they desire to see more than anything else. Harry sees himself with his dead parents. Another child who has lived in the shadow of older siblings, sees himself holding the most coveted sporting trophy the school has to offer. When Professor Dumbledorf finds Harry gazing at his wishes, he warns him:
However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible. . . . The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. {J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (New York: Scholastic Books, 1998), pp. 213-214. See also http://alxsus.narod.ru/hp/book1/parallel/chapter12.htm.}
The possible danger with Harry Potter books is the same danger with any “day dreaming.” There is no harm in a bit a wishing. I see no harm is wishing you could fly on a broom like Harry, or cast a spell that will do good thing. But dwelling on any fantasy to the point “we forget to live” is dangerous. The irony is J. K. Rowlings’ books for some have become a Mirror of Erised as they become obsessed with wizardry. Instead, I would offer you a favorite Bible verse of mine: “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalms 37:4 NIV)” Let God choose for you what to desire. Let the Bible be your Mirror of Erised.
I would be anxious to know if any of you saw any parallels to the biblical story as you read or watched Harry Potter, and how many of you saw the parallels in my little summary. Let’s look at it a bit more closely and I’ll show them to you.
Harry is born with a birthright about which he knows nothing. All people are born with the birthright to be children of God, “. . . a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God,” (I Peter 2:9 NIV--actually, verse 9 3/4). Some of us are born into Christian families and we are raised from birth to know Jesus loves us. As some of Harry’s friends at Hogwart’s, by the time we are eleven (the age of accountability for some?) we already know much about the faith, the Bible, and prayer. But others of us are raised by spiritual “muggles,” if you please. People who do not believe. Some of these muggles in the world fight against Christianity the way Harry’s Aunt & Uncle fought wizardry.
Often God is at work in our lives, as magic was at work in Harry’s, before we even know anything about him. I know God protected me on many occasions, and he was speaking to me on others--only I didn’t understand at the time.Harry felt unloved, unaccepted, and unwanted. Many of us have similar feelings. And sometimes the guilt of our sin is added to those feelings. But just as Professor Dumbledorf cared for Harry and wanted to see him grow into his full potential as a wizard, so does God care for us and want us to grow into our full potential as priests in his kingdom.
Just as Dumbledorf sent Harry a written message, so God sends us a written message--the Bible. Dumbledorf even sent another messenger, Hagrid, who even looks to me a bit like I envision John the Baptist! God also sends us messengers, I am one today! God can be more persistent than Prof. Dumbledorf. Once Harry hears the message, he must believe it and accept the invitation. A change began taking place in Harry’s life. Even a conversion.
Likewise when you hear the message of Jesus Christ, you, too, must be willing to believe and to accept the invitation. You must be willing to be changed from the old to the new. In order for Harry to accept his invitation, he had to do something he did not understand. He had to take a risk. He braced himself for a collision and ran right into a wall. The expression we more often us to describe what we do is “to take a leap of faith.” We brace ourselves and say, “God, I accept Jesus into my heart,” And we find ourselves in a new world!
Once having accepted his birthright as a wizard, Harry had to begin learning. We, too, once we become Christian have a life long learning process ahead of us. We study ancient texts, discovering fascinating people, and power available to us through prayer and the Holy Spirit. I wonder when Rowling made Harry the “Seeker” on the Quiddich team if she knew “Seeker” is also a term used in churches to describe someone in the process of conversion?
Part of the appeal of Harry Potter is that many of us sometimes feel we got a bad deal at birth. We see friends who were born to parents who buy them more things or take them on cooler vacations, or have nicer siblings, and we just know--just like Harry--we were born for something better. Or, only slightly more realistic, we wish we would discover a long lost Uncle died and left us a fortune.
I can’t make you a wizard. We all know, wizards are not real. I can’t give you a magic wand. But there is one thing I can offer to you--your birthright as a child of God. If you will simply admit to God you have sinned and you do not deserve to be forgiven and spend eternity with him in Heaven, but you believe Jesus Christ is his son who lived without sinning and died to take the punishment for our sins, so that even though you don’t deserve to be forgiven, for Christ’s sake, God will forgive you, then today, right now, you may become a Christian. Just like Harry had to leave his old life, you may have to leave some things in your old life--sins you practiced--and be willing for God to change you. But if you will ask, he will forgive. And I’ll promise you, being a real child of God is a lot better than being a make believe wizard!
Laus Deo,
Bill Groover
Christmas ‘01
Copyright 2001, Dr. Bill Groover, East Hill Baptist Church
