Proto-Narnian Theology

The story of the incarnation, from beginning to end, is inexplicably marvelous and astonishing.  Once a year we celebrate the coming of the divine into the world. We remember that the word became flesh – that God wrapped himself in human skin and became a vulnerable infant.  We celebrate the coming of the Son into the world with presents, Christmas lights, decorating trees, family gatherings, and lots of food.  With Christmas over, we now take down the lights, exchange the ugly sweaters we received as gifts, and begin to have life get back to normal.  But the birth of Christ is just the beginning of the story of the incarnation.  The story doesn't end there! The ramifications of Christ’s birth and death are felt to this day.  We gather together every week to remember the sacrifice Christ made on our behalf.  It didn't end in a tomb. Christ rose and the world was forever changed! Weekly, during communion, we focus on the other end of the incarnation– Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Leo the Great preached, “Truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the incarnation. From the time when Christ came, slavery ended, the devil is thwarted, demons take to flight, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error is driven out, truth has been brought back, and the speech of love begins to spread.  A heavenly way of life has been implanted on the earth.” 

(This has the C.S. Lewis' Narnia written all over it! Or, at least, that was the first thing I thought of!)

As New Year approaches and we make our resolutions, let us strive to live as men and women who have been freed from bondage – without fear of death, with the key to paradise, and participating in this heavenly way of life that Jesus established for us. We live a life with the ethics, trust, and love of the next world while living in this world. Once we accept the sacrifice Christ made for us, our lives should begin to reflect the exciting and world-shattering words spoken long ago by Leo the Great.   May our lives be a display of continual praise and thanks for this event, not just at Christmas and Easter, but at every moment of our lives, with every breath we take, and with every word we speak.  Our time of slavery has ended,  Satan has been defeated, death is no longer something to be feared, the door to paradise has been thrown open wide, our sins are forgiven and forgotten, the curse is broken, truth is now a way of life, and we now speak the language of love. Instead of living in darkness, Jesus came to be a light and rid our lives of darkness.  Help us to not love darkness but to bask in the light.