This Sunday, July 17, is the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost.
This week’s sermon is Walk: Stable and Steadfast
This week’s readings are:
Message: Edmund and the Witch Reunited
At some point during dinner at the Beavers’ house, Edmund slips off to go to the White Queen’s castle.
He walks through the snow without a
coat.
- The whole time his mind is on wickedness.
- He wants to “pay Peter out.” – vengeance.
- See Romans 12:19 and Proverbs 24:29.
He finds the Witch’s castle court
filled with statues.
- These are “people” the Witch has turned to stone.
o
Lewis draws on a variety of mythologies to
populate Narnia.
o
There are talking animals, dwarfs, centaurs,
giants, and more.
o
There is even a lion. Mockery
§
Psalm 1 - Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of
the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
§
Edmund also mocks the lion, drawn into the Witch’s
temptations.
· Psalm 14 - The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
Edmund expects a princely welcome,
but is met with cruelty, and only now begins to be sorry for what he has done.
- Often people have to experience the consequences of their choices before they are ready to repent/change.
- Even now there is no thought of forgiveness for Edmund.
- Idols always destroy their worshippers. Edmund’s hope in the Witch proves his undoing.
The queen makes Edmund like a
slave.
- The one who sins is a slave to sin. – cf. John 8:34
- He begins to see the queen’s cruelty.
o
He is not given a coat or blanket.
o He is given bread and water – NOT Turkish delight and cocoa!
The Witch is bent on destroying her
enemies.
o
John 10:10 – “The thief comes to steal, kill,
and destroy …”
o The Witch even sends her wolves to kill the Beavers and Edmund’s siblings when she learns their location.
In the Bible, the key relationship
between God and his people – he saves us from slavery.
- In the Old Testament, God saved his people from slavery in Egypt, as recorded in Exodus.
- Jesus sets us free from sin.
o
Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. – John 8:34
o If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. – John 8:36
Edmund begins to see the White
Queen differently as she reveals the cold cruelty of evil as she:
- Removes her rivals.
- Punishes those who celebrate the breaking of her spell to keep Narnia in winter and never Christmas.
- Neglects basic human kindness.
There is no longer a question for
Edmund of which side is the right one in the conflict for Narnia.
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