
The 100 year winter in the land of Narnia is under control of the White Witch, and it has the appearance of death even while it is so beautiful.
And so, through C.S. Lewis' imagination, we come face to face with evil wrapped in beautiful clothes.
Edmund, the headstrong one in "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" is enticed by the Turkish Delight offered by the White Witch. (This was a special Christmas treat that was virtually impossible to get in wartime England.)
It turns him in an addict who betrays his family. Such is the power of evil.
It aims at our normal desires and needs: hunger, curiosity, variety, intimacy, touch, pleasure, …and it can begin by satisfying us and then entrapping us.
Evil, fear, jealousy and hatred can all can appear at first so innocent, but then grow into a raging monster within us that is never satisfied and always demands more.
The recent events our world has shown us that we are no longer as secure and safe as we thought we were. 9/11, the war on terror, the overwhelmingly bad news on TV all conspire to bind us up in fear and anxiety.
On top of that we have been surrounded by an entertainment culture that panders to our need for instant gratification and distraction...
In our search for security, our world has lost its reality in the realm of entertainment.
And if we're not careful, there will be no room for God. Jesus will drift out of our consciousness slowly but surely until we wake up one day and wonder where the meaning went in our lives, were the love went.
Isaiah lived in a time like this.
He cried out:
"Woe is me! I am lost,
for I am a man of unclean lips,
and I live among a people of unclean lips!" (Isaiah 6:5)
But then the unthinkable happens.
For no other reason than that God has a heart of his people and will not leave them orphaned, even when they deserve it,
a light dawns,
a path through the valley is carved,
an escape from their own self-inflicted mortal wounds is offered.
"The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
You have multiplied the nation,
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder." (Isaiah 9:2-3)
We hear those words and we think of Jesus.
The world has faced cold, dark and frozen times before. The world faces such times again.
We are in danger of believing that our true freedom and our very human identity and purpose lies in the extravagant enjoyment of all the senses, in hiding from reality, in becoming entertained by the talents of others, in exploring everything we can physically explore.
And we are told that Christ, the docile, Sunday School image of our recent past, wants to rob us of joy, life and all the pleasures of living…. a cosmic killjoy, a larger than life Puritan.
The grand moral of "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" is just the opposite.
That like Turkish Delight, all the pleasures of the body and the world, while there for a purpose and offen pleasure, all of them have within them the property to kill off the true joy and deepest magic of all: true love.
For they are all at heart self-centered, focused on personal satisfaction, and in the end simply creates a never-ending, impossible need for more and more of the same.
That's addiction. That's sin. Our pride demands an ever intense reward.
But then a powerful and life-changing Christ breaks all of that.
With the roar beyond all roars, the stone table is broken just as the stone of the tomb is rolled away.
A child is born, a son is given… and RIGHTEOUSNESS, an ability to live in a terrible, inspiring, "new-birth" presence of God, is made possible.
That's what Christmas is really all about. That's our challenge today.
Questions:
"How do you keep this transforming power of Christmas ever real in your life?"
"How do you recognize the times you have slipped and fallen into the agenda of the world?"
"What 'counter-culture' Christmas activity will you participate in this season that will make a difference to your spiritual life and to the spiritual life of those around you?"
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