Isaiah 61:1-4,8-11 For those of you who have never read C.S. Lewis’s classic “Chronicles of Narnia” and for those of you who have journeyed to Narnia before and who long to return I want to share with you a little bit of Narnia’s history.  It was through the doors of what appeared on the outside to be an ordinary wardrobe that the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve first discovered the land of Narnia while playing hide and seek.  But this was not an ordinary wardrobe with an ordinary inside. Beyond the long fur coats that smell of mothballs, beyond the place where the back of the wardrobe should be and is not, is a strange world very different from our own called Narnia.When first Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy discover Narnia the entire land is under the rule and spell of and evil witch who has proclaimed herself queen.  She has made it so that in Narnia it is always winter but never Christmas.  Narnia is a world where animals can talk, where nymphs and fauns live.  It would seem like a happy place but it is not because all are oppressed under the rule of the White Witch who turns her enemies into stone statues.  Therefore it is a place where all live in fear and long to be saved from her tyranny.  Spies are everywhere so it is hard for the honest people of Narnia and for their visitors to know whom to trust, and not to trust, even among members in their own families.

Little do they know it when they first enter this enchanted land but the future of Narnia rests on them, but the evil Queen, who wickedly rules the land, knows of the ancient prophecy about four human children — two sons of Adam, and two daughters of Eve — who will come into Narnia to free the land forever from her icy grip, and who will then sit upon the thrones of the abandoned castle by the sea. The captive people of Narnia, who live in fear of the White Witch and of her spies and multitude of minions, hope for the prophesied day when Aslan, a kind and fierce Lion, is again abroad in the land and the two kings and two queens will come. The faithful people of Narnia hope for Aslan’s expected gift, the long promised liberation from evil and anticipate the gladness liberation will bring.  It is freedom for which the inhabitants of Narnia cry and it is only by the arrival and actions of these four children and Aslan that they are able to receive this freedom. 

While The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is a fantasy the buildup, the atmosphere in Narnia at the beginning of the book is strikingly similar to that of the passage we read a few moments ago from the prophet Isaiah.  This is not a surprise because while the book is fantasy it allegorically tells the story of our Christian faith.  The people to whom Isaiah was speaking were looking for one to come who would bring good news to the oppressed, who would bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, and release the prisoners.  The people to whom Isaiah was speaking were looking for freedom just like the people of Narnia expected when Aslan returned; except it is in Jesus, the Great Lion of the Lord, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah that they find their freedom.  For the people of Narnia it is Aslan who fulfills the prophesy by not only proclaiming their freedom but by becoming their freedom.  For the people who waited for the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy it is Jesus who comes not only to proclaim their freedom but to become their freedom.   

The freedom won for the people of Narnia by the four children and Aslan was indeed good news but the good news began with merely the power of their presence.  The good news begins with joyous rumors that the ones who would redeem the land Aslan and the children were abroad in the land even before they were seen and the effects of their coming were fully experienced by all. The freedom won for the people of God by Jesus is indeed good news but the good news begins as merely a rumor that the one who is to come is here.  A star announces his birth and wise men come to see.  Shepherds standing in fields are told this day in Bethlehem their savior is born and they are overcome with joy.  John the Baptist proclaims “make straight the way of the Lord for Messiah is near” and people repent. When Jesus preached in his hometown temple, proclaiming in his reading these same words from the prophet Isaiah about good news to the oppressed, binding up the brokenhearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives,  release of the prisoners and a time of favor he proclaimed that today in their presence the prophecy had come true.  All through out Jesus ministry on earth people heard and saw him, and felt the power of God come through him, and they had hope that he was indeed the one to set them free.

That hope is our hope — that Jesus sets us free. It is the hope of all people in Christ who are brokenhearted, who are held captive literally or figuratively, who are prisoners in jails, or at work, or in relationships, or in their bodies through illness. Jesus comes and we are set free when we hear and live the good news of salvation.  

For some the freedom this Jesus offers may sound like fantasy.  How could this be real.  We have not seen him with our own eyes, we have not personally beheld his presence.  Moreover the world around us is harsh and hostile.  We do not have to look far to see oppression, we do not have to search long to discover broken-heartedness, and our papers are filled with news that is anything but good.  Unlike Narnia, in our world Christmas comes every year, but as we celebrate Christmas we realize we are a long way off from those ideals of Christmas we uphold of peace on earth and good will among all. Where is the comfort for all who morn?  It is in Christ Jesus our Lord who is real and who has come to set us free and will come again to make all things new.  Even now we have hope, peace, joy, and love because we know that Jesus is on the move.  We are fortunate to occasionally catch glimpses of his work, to hear tell of his wonder.  Even before Christ returns to make all things new we have hope because we know that already he is working in our lives individually and collectively to make all things new and set us free.   

The question is do we believe it or not?  How will we experience the freedom Christ brings?  How will we be participants in that freedom?  Do we believe Christ has the power to change lives or are we resigned that things will always be the same?  During the season of Advent we remember anew that the one who has come and who is to come again has the power to melt frozen hearts.  Our hearts, which may have been turned to stone, by the pressures of life, by stress, or illness, or rejection, or loss, can be made free by the breath of God, freed by the good news of Christ. Our lives and the lives of others which have been overtaken and held captive by sin are made new in Christ who frees us from our bondage to sin, frees us to live in a new and right relationship with God.  We don’t always see these things every day but it is our job as people of faith to be on the lookout for them.  To see them when they happen, to rejoice in them and to share these sightings of Christ’s work with others so they too may know Jesus is alive and working in our midst and have hope. 

Oscar Cervantes is a dramatic example of Christ’s power to transform lives. As a child, Oscar began to get into trouble. Then as he got older, he was jailed 17 times for brutal crimes. Prison psychiatrists said he was beyond help, but they were wrong. During a brief interval of freedom, Oscar met an elderly man who told him about Jesus. Oscar put his trust in Christ and was changed into a kind, caring man. Shortly after, he started a prison ministry. Inmates now come for over two hours to hear and see a transformed Oscar sing and preach, and many turn to Christ. All because Oscar saw the glorified Lord.  All because Jesus has the power to change lives, to redeem even those others, professionals have determined are beyond help. 

It may seem like fantasy but it is true; Jesus has come to save us. With God there is ongoing deliverance and restoration. Christ has come to set us free, and already this gift of freedom is at work in our lives.  May we then look for that day when Christ will come again and complete the work already begun in the world and in us, and may we respond by living rightly and justly, and by praising God before the peoples of the world.

There is a story of a fictional woman who dreamed she walked into a brand-new shop in the marketplace and, to her surprise, found God behind the counter. “What do you sell here?” she asked. “Everything your heart desires,” said God. Hardly daring to believe what she was hearing, the woman decided to ask for the best things a human could wish for. “I want peace of mind and love and happiness and wisdom and freedom from fear,” she said. Then as an afterthought, she added, “Not just for me. For everyone on earth.”  God smiled. “I think you’ve got me wrong, my dear,” [God] said. “We don’t sell fruits here. Only seeds.”   As we dream about that day when the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy can be seen clearly all around us in every direction may we not forget to water and nurture those seeds of hope and of freedom that God has already planted in us and in others. Amen