Previously, we saw the importance of keeping our eyes open from Chapter 13 in The Horse and His Boy. We see similar lessons in this chapter. First, Bree’s discussion with Aravis about Aslan is extremely important for how we understand Jesus. Aslan is seen as the deliverer of Narnia for defeating the White Witch, just as Jesus is our deliverer for freeing us from our sins. Yet Bree doesn’t truly believe that Aslan is actually a “lion”. He sees this concept more as a metaphor he doesn’t full understand. Bree thinks it as a disrespect to lower Aslan to the state of a creature. Some say the same about Jesus. They can accept Jesus as Divine, even God Himself, but they cannot accept Jesus as a full human being. It seems baffling that a Being so great would dare become like one of us. It is important that Jesus was both fully Divine and fully human. It is a sign of God bridging the gap between ourselves and God Himself. God didn’t just become like a human. God became a human and dwelt among us, even in the mud and the grit of it all here on Earth. Aslan is the same with the talking animals in Narnia. He deigned to be an animal like them and to be one with them. That is important not just for what Aslan does, but also to who he is in the world of Narnia. Bree experiences a great shock and surprise when he witnesses the truth with Aslan’s very presence. Aslan even offers His paws to Bree as proof that He is in fact a lion, much like Jesus shows proof of His continued life after the crucifixion to Thomas in John 20:24-29. In Bree's declaration that he has been foolish, Aslan states happy the animal, or human, who realizes such. Would that we could learn and be open to what God has to teach us in the same way. Aravis also learns an important lesson from Aslan. She learns that Aslan was the one who scratched her with the purpose of showing her what it was like for her servant to suffer because of her trickery. In this way, Aravis now knows the true cost of her freedom and what she did to another. Aravis then asks if her servant will be alright now. Aslan tells her, as he told Shasta before, that He is telling Aravis her own story, not the servant’s. Aravis doesn’t need relief right now from what she did. She needs to live with the realization of the consequences to others for her actions. At the end of the chapter, Shasta (now Prince Cor) says that Aslan “seems to be at the back of all the stories.” The same can be said of God. God is behind us as our support, protector, and teacher along the way, just as Aslan has been for Cor and Aravis. Even when we don’t realize it, God is there in our lives. Like the characters of The Horse and His Boy in these past two chapters, we have to be open to witnessing God’s presence among us, even in the seemingly most unlikely places. We conclude our journey through The Horse and His Boy with Chapter 15 next week!
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Please note, Captain America: Winter Soldier is rated PG-13. One of the scenes I thought a lot about using for the Journey with the Avengers Vacation Bible School was Steve Rogers saving Bucky in Captain America: Winter Soldier. I was a little sad, but ultimately I wanted to include more female Avengers, plus I was concerned the part of the scene where Steve gets beat up was not suitable for younger participants. It's a great scene to discuss our faith with, so I wanted to share it now. Captain America: Winter Soldier (Spoilers!) centers on the revelation that Hydra has taken over S.H.I.E.L.D. and that Bucky, Cap's friend growing up, is alive and has been brainwashed into working for Hydra.
Cap does his duty and makes sure the world is safe from Hydra. He has to face Bucky in this battle, but Cap traps Bucky so that he's out of the way yet safe. Once all is well for the world, Steve turns back to save his friend. Even after all this time of fighting, that's all Steve sees in Bucky: a friend. He tries to reach out and remind Bucky who he is. When Bucky is agitated but won't back down, Steve says he won't fight anymore and drops his shield. "You're my friend" he says to Bucky. Bucky goes berserk and keeps hitting Steve. "You're my mission!" he yells. Steve, bruised for one of the few times since he got the super soldier serum, tells him "Then finish it, cause I'm with you to the end of the line." Bucky is like us, blinded by sin, forgetting who, and whose, we are. And Steve is like Jesus. No matter how much we hit Him or are cruel to Him, Jesus is still there ready to offer us forgiveness. Jesus too is willing to stay with us always, even unto death. After all, it was on the cross that Jesus said "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." Even when we mess up and do what is wrong, Jesus is with us. He. like Steve Rogers, is with us to the end of the line. After alerting everyone in Archenland and Narnia of Rabadash's oncoming attack, it is now time for the actual battle to take place. One of the most amazing aspects of the fight is that Shasta, while completely unschooled when it comes to fighting, is the one who helped save the day by alerting everyone to Rabadash's plan.
There is an amazing openness both Shasta and King Lune of Archenland show during this chapter in recognizing the truth around them. Shasta, when riding into battle, finds the way very narrow and steep. He is shocked that he actually went along this way the night before. Then he remembers that Aslan kept to his left the whole time. He realizes that Aslan was really there protecting him the whole time. We too are called to have this same openness in seeing God working around us always. At the end of the battle, Rabadash finds himself hanging on a wall by a tear in his chainmail. This is quite an embarrassing way for him to be captured. Rabadash yells out to King Edmund of Narnia, seeking a proper fight between the two. Edmund is ready to provide Rabadash with this wish, yet Lune steps in. He tells Rabadash that instead of being fought or dealt with now, Rabadash instead will be taken down and held until they have time to figure out how best to respond. Lune is open to having justice truly served. He realizes they don't know the best way forward, but is willing to take the time to investigate the proper direction for justice to occur. Lune also shows a great deal of forgiveness and mercy in his action. Rabadash has behaved horribly to Lune’s kingdom as well as his neighboring land of Narnia. Lune has every reason to take the most severe action against him. However, he takes the time before acting. It's not that Rabadash is found to be innocent nor that he won't have to suffer punishment. However, there is mercy to the unjust in taking the time for real justice to shine. Please note, Sky: Children of the Light is rated 9+. Throughout the Little Prince's journey in the land of Sky, he finds many signs of beauty and wonder. As his journey comes to a close, the Prince finds that these signs of beauty start to remind him of the Rose. This gives him the impetus to try and go back to her.
What the Prince finds is that the beauty around him is meaningless without someone to share it with. What he discovers is the need for Love. There are times in our own lives where things may be going well for us, yet we still feel empty. We too need love, but of a different sort. In truth, there is often a God-shaped hole in ourselves that only God can fill for us. That is why we are called to make room for God in our lives and in our very being. We need God's presence. We need a deep and abiding relationship with the Lord. For the Prince, there is a way back to what gives his life meaning. Fortunately for us, God has paved a way back for us too. God is so willing to be in relationship with us that God came down to be one of us in our Lord Jesus Christ. When that was not enough to bring us back to God, Jesus laid down His life so that we could have life everlasting with Him. There's only one thing we can fill the God-shaped hole in ourselves with: God. Fortunately, God has laid the road for us to travel on back to our Lord. In Chapter 11, Shasta learned that Aslan was behind everything that seemed like coincidence or luck on his journey. Now Shasta must come to believe what he has learned. The interesting thing is that Aslan has left behind a paw print. Even though Aslan is gone, evidence of His presence is still there. It is what helps Shasta believe that what happened to him was real. God also leaves us little clues that He was there in our lives. We have to be open and paying attention in order to witness the evidence of God’s presence with us, just like Shasta was with Aslan’s paw print. After Aslan leaves, Shasta finds himself finally in Narnia. As he seeks to let the Narnians know an attack is coming, the Narnians around him are less than helpful. It takes Duffle the dwarf to chastise his fellow country-folk, see that Shasta is in need of food and rest, and provide Shasta with what he needs. Duffle provides Shasta hospitality, and he is so upset with his fellow Narnians because they are not showing hospitality to Shasta. Hospitality is about taking care of others. What is is really about is loving our neighbor as ourself. This comes from what Jesus says in Mark 12:31, and it is the Second Great Commandment that Jesus reminds us of from Torah. Our calling as Christians is to show love to our neighbor, i.e. those around us. Narnians have the same call, which is why Duffle is disappointed with the others. In a sense, King Edmund shows the hospitality to Shasta as well. While he is upset that Shasta didn’t reveal who he was to begin with when they first met, he can understand why and sees that Shasta meant no harm. He merely asks Shasta to not do the same thing again before moving forward in their plan to defend Narnia from Rabadash. Please note, all the films discussed here are rated PG-13. During the Journey with the Avengers Vacation Bible School, our kids thought Hulk should be considered a hero whose "power is made perfect in weakness". On one hand, this makes sense. Bruce Banner is very smart, but not strong. As the Hulk, Banner gains incredible strength he doesn't have on his own. As I told our participants, there are some problems with that idea though. Intelligence is a strength for one thing. For another, Banner, unlike Captain America, doesn't rely on his inner heart. He relies on his anger. He loses control and sometimes does really bad things. This is much closer to sin than anything else. So what does Hulk have to offer when it comes to the Gospel according to Superheroes? In some ways the Hulk is like Paul, who was once an enemy of the church but became one of the greatest of the Apostles. Paul had many skills and a great zeal. These became part of what he used for the betterment of the church. Banner and Hulk have a similar journey. Banner has to learn how to use Hulk at the right time and the right way to help others around him. He takes what was a liability for him that led the U.S. Army to chase him over the years and turns it into a strength to help save the world with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers. The only problem is that Paul in Philippians 3:13 speaks of putting the past aside and looking up to the prize of God's call to us. Paul is trying to move beyond all that he had in the past to take on the new life God has given him through Jesus Christ. That includes all that made him a zealous persecutor of the church in the past. Banner is also like Jonah, in a way. Like Jonah he is running from his call. Even when he uses Hulk, he is trying to avoid him. It takes his journey in outer space with Thor to realize that Hulk is needed too. This starts him on the path of accepting his call to be a superhero as the combined Bruce Banner Hulk version in Avengers: Endgame. There are some problems with this notion too. For one, Banner's astral form in his encounter with the Ancient One is still as Banner. Even combined with Hulk, Banner is still who he really is. It will be interesting to see how the Marvel Cinematic Universe plays with this fact in the future. Another issue is that Banner never really accepts a call from beyond himself. He feels guilty for what happened in Avengers: Infinity War and experiments on himself for an upgrade. There's no transformation due to God or some higher purpose, except maybe to keep others safe from now on. While the Hulk can help give us some insight into what Scripture is saying to us, we also have to be careful. His darkness is very much what makes him interesting and relatable. At the same time, many of the other Avengers we have already looked at give us a great view at how to move from a life of sin to a life of service, such as Wanda, Natasha, and Tony. This is not to say we shouldn't keep our eyes on the Hulk to see what lessons we might learn from him in the future. We just need to be careful in how we look at his heroics now. After being sent on by the Hermit, Shasta finds King Lune of Archenland and lets him know about the incoming attack by Rabadash on Archenland and then Narnia. Thankfully, Shasta has succeeded in his mission to warn about Rabadash's army. Unfortunately he falls behind King Lune's troops. While in despair of being left by himself, Shasta finds that he is, in fact, not alone. Another being is there with him, though he does not know who, or what, this being is. Shasta goes a long time in silence before asking his fellow traveler, "Who are you?" The response he receives is "One who has waited long for you to speak." Shasta fears what this being may be, but he is given assurance that his fellow traveler is at least alive. The traveler then asks Shasta to tell him his troubles. After Shasta tells him his tale, the traveler responds by saying, "I do not call you unfortunate." Shasta is confused and states, "Don't you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?" The traveler replies, "There was only one: but he was swift of foot." Shasta asks how he can possibly know this, to which the traveler responds: I was the lion. I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you. This lion is Aslan, the stand-in for Jesus Christ, for God, in The Chronicles of Narnia. Even though Shasta did not know Aslan, Aslan knew him. Aslan has been there to protect and guide Shasta all along the way, even though Shasta did not know it. All those seeming coincidences were really just Aslan helping Shasta and his companions. If Aslan can be there for Shasta all this time, even when he did not know, how much more will God be there for us? That is the power of God in our lives. Even when we are not aware of God's presence, God is there. Even when it seems like all is going wrong, God is morphing the bad and using it for good. God is working to bring us where we need to be, for ourselves and for others. We see God as an abiding presence in Scripture, such as with Joseph son of Jacob, Elijah, and even Jonah. We see God's mysterious presence with others, such as the Apostle Paul, as well. Aslan's relationship with Shasta is deeply personal, as his relationship is with all people. When Shasta asks why Aslan struck Aravis in the previous chapter, Aslan simply says, "I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own." Not only is this a reminder that we each have our own personal relationship with God, it is also a reminder of what Jesus states in Matthew, "Do not judge, so that you may not be judged." We can never fully understand the experience of another since we have not walked in the other's shoes. When Shasta asks once again who Aslan is, the Lion replies three times "Myself." The last of these replies ends on a whisper. This is similar not only to the Holy Name given in Exodus, "I am who I am", it also is a reminder of God as Trinity and the Lord's encounter with Elijah on Mt. Horeb. The beauty of this chapter is we start to see how everything has been coming together so far in The Horse and His Boy. We also see how things come together in our lives. Aslan reveals Himself in His fullness, but also in His personal connection and relationship to Shasta, even before Shasta knew Him. The same is true for God with us. Even when we do not see God, He is still there. God transforms the bad to good. God never betrays our confidences with others. That is the depth of God's relationship with us. |
Please note, there maybe Spoilers in the Posts below!
The Rev. Trey KennedyHere is my take on how Superheroes and other characters can help us know God better. Categories
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