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Epistle
Dear fellow pilgrims,
Last week we delved into the deep lessons of Chapter 4 of The Last Battle, particularly on the important theology of remembering. We will continue exploring that chapter this week and launch into Chapter 5 as well. Join us tomorrow for class at 7:15 as we look at some of the profound lessons this remarkable book holds for us today. Please come early if you like and join us for our informal Eucharist at 5:30 in the church and a delicious dinner in the Parish Hall starting around 6:30 p.m.
If you cannot join us in person, we will be livestreaming the class at the following link:
The class is also available on Apple podcast, Spotify, and the church website within the next few days after the “live” class.
If you are listening to the podcast and enjoying it, please rate it and leave a review–that will help boost it with search engines and make it easier for other folks to find it.
I have pasted in below links from last week’s class and a summary of what we discussed, as well as copies of the handouts.
I am so looking forward to continuing this journey with you–please come and bring a friend, or if you are in another city or country, gather some friends and share the class or podcast and discuss. Hope to see you soon!
Further up and further in,
Brian+The Rev’d Brian K. McGreevy, J.D.Assistant to the RectorSt. Philip’s Church142 Church StreetCharleston, SC 29401www.saintphilips.church
Supporting Files
Video link for last week’s class:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KZUYJ4WEsg
SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK’S TEACHING
Chapter 4: What Happened that Night
Setting:
—Tirian is tied to a tree some distance away from but distantly in sight of the stable
–Night falls and small Narnian animals tend to Tirian’s needs, giving him wine from a cup
–Tirian cries out to Aslan for aid not for himself but to save Narnia
–Tirian has a vision of another world where he encounters Peter and the other children but is unable to speak
Themes:
The Loneliness and Suffering of the King for Doing the Right Thing
The Love and Loyalty of the Narnian Talking Beasts
The Emptiness of False Religion
Faith and Self-Sacrifice
Prayer and Hope
Stepping Out in Faith and the Miraculous
Prayer, Waiting, and Disappointment
The Loneliness and Suffering of the King for Doing the Right Thing
“The King was so dizzy from being knocked down that he hardly knew what was happening until the Calormenes untied his wrists and put his arms straight down by his sides and set him with his back against an ash tree. Then they bound ropes round his ankles and his knees and his waist and his chest and left him there. What worried him worst at the moment — for it is often little things that are hardest to stand — was that his lip was bleeding where they had hit him and he couldn’t wipe the little trickle of blood away although it tickled him. … “I wonder what they’ve done to Jewel,” thought the King. Presently the crowd of Beasts broke up and began going away in different directions. Some passed close to Tirian. They looked at him as if they were both frightened and sorry to see him tied up but none of them spoke. Soon they had all gone and there was silence in the wood. Then hours and hours went past and Tirian became first very thirsty and then very hungry; and as the afternoon dragged on and turned into evening, he became cold too. His back was very sore. The sun went down and it began to be twilight…The stars came out and time went slowly on — imagine how slowly — while the last King of Narnia stood stiff and sore and upright against the tree in his bonds.”
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. I Peter 4:12-13 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. I Peter 3:14-15 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-4
The Love and Loyalty of the Narnian Talking Beasts
When it was almost dark Tirian heard a light pitter-patter of feet and saw some small creatures coming towards him. The three on the left were Mice, and there was a Rabbit in the middle: on the right were two Moles. Both of these were carrying little bags on their backs which gave them a curious look in the dark so that at first he wondered what kind of beasts they were. Then, in a moment, they were all standing up on their hind legs, laying their cool paws on his knees and giving his knees snuffly animal kisses. (They could reach his knees because Narnian Talking Beasts of that sort are bigger than the dumb beasts of the same kinds in England.) “Lord King! dear Lord King,” said their shrill voices, “we are so sorry for you. We daren’t untie you because Aslan might be angry with us. But we’ve brought you your supper.”…”Little friends,” said Tirian, “how can I thank you for all this?” “You needn’t, you needn’t,” said the little voices. “What else could we do? We don’t want any other King. We’re your people. If it were only the Ape and the Calormenes who were against you, we would have fought till we were cut into pieces before we’d have let them tie you up. We would, we would indeed. But we can’t go against Aslan.” “Do you think it really is Aslan?” asked the King. “Oh yes, yes,” said the Rabbit. “He came out of the stable last night. We all saw him.”
For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:8 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Gal. 6:2 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart. I Peter 1:22 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Prov. 17:17
The Emptiness of Idols and False Religion
It was a bonfire, newly lit, and people were throwing bundles of brushwood onto it. Presently it blazed up and Tirian could see that it was on the very top of the hill. He could see quite clearly the stable behind it, all lit up in the red glow, and a great crowd of Beasts and Men between the fire and himself. A small figure, hunched up beside the fire, must be the Ape. It was saying something to the crowd, but he could not hear what. Then it went and bowed three times to the ground in front of the door of the stable. Then it got up and opened the door. And something on four legs — something that walked rather stiffly — came out of the stable and stood facing the crowd. A great wailing or howling went up, so loud that Tirian could hear some of the words. “Aslan! Aslan! Aslan!” cried the Beasts. “Speak to us. Comfort us. Be angry with us no more.” From where Tirian was, he could not make out very clearly what the thing was; but he could see that it was yellow and hairy. He had never seen the Great Lion. He had never seen even a common lion. He couldn’t be sure that what he saw was not the real Aslan. He had not expected Aslan to look like that stiff thing which stood and said nothing. But how could one be sure? For a moment horrible thoughts went through his mind: then he remembered the nonsense about Tash and Aslan being the same and knew that the whole thing must be a cheat.
All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame. Isaiah 44:9-11 And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention. I Kings 18:26-29
Faith, Remembering, and Self-Sacrifice
But that story too had all come right in the end too: for Caspian also had been helped by children — only there were four of them that time — who came from somewhere beyond the world and fought a great battle and set him on his father’s throne. “But it was all long ago,” said Tirian to himself. “That sort of thing doesn’t happen now.” And then he remembered (for he had always been good at history when he was a boy) how those same four children who had helped Caspian had been in Narnia over a thousand years before; and it was then that they had defeated the terrible White Witch and ended the Hundred Years of Winter, and after that they had reigned (all four of them together) at Cair Paravel, till they were no longer children but great Kings and lovely Queens, and their reign had been the golden age of Narnia. And Aslan had come into that story a lot. He had come into all the other stories too, as Tirian now remembered. “Aslan — and children from another world,” thought Tirian. “They have always come in when things were at their worst. Oh, if only they could now.” And he called out “Aslan! Aslan! Aslan! Come and help us Now.” But the darkness and the cold and the quietness went on just the same. “Let me be killed,” cried the King. “I ask nothing for myself. But come and save all Narnia.”
When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which the Lord our God commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us from Egypt with a mighty hand. Moreover, the Lord showed great and distressing signs and wonders before our eyes against Egypt, Pharaoh and all his household. Deut. 6:20-23 Can a woman forget her nursing child
And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. “Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me. Isaiah 49:15-16 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. Luke 9:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. John 12:24-25
Deeper Dive: Faith, Remembering, and Self-Sacrifice in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
“You have a traitor there, Aslan,” said the Witch…“Well,” said Aslan. “His offense was not against you.”
“Have you forgotten the Deep Magic?” asked the Witch.“Let us say I have forgotten it,” answered Aslan gravely. “Tell us of this Deep Magic.””Tell you?” said the Witch, her voice growing suddenly shriller. “Tell you what is written on that very Table of Stone which stands beside us?…You at least know the magic which the Emperor put into Narnia at the very beginning. You know that every traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and that for every treachery I have a right to kill…And so, that human creature is mine. His life is forfeit to me. His blood is my property.” […]“It is very true,” said Aslan, “I do not deny it.” “Oh, Aslan!” whispered Susan in the Lion’s ear, “can’t we – I mean, you won’t, will you? Can’t we do something about the Deep Magic? Isn’t there something you can work against it?” “Work against the Emperor’s magic?” said Aslan, turning to her with something like a frown on his face. And nobody ever made that suggestion to him again.
“At that moment they heard from behind them a loud noise — a great cracking, deafening noise as if a giant had broken a giant’s plate…. The Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end; and there was no Aslan.“Who’s done it?” cried Susan. “What does it mean? Is it more magic?” “Yes!” said a great voice from behind their backs. “It is more magic.” They looked round. There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.“Oh, Aslan!” cried both the children, staring up at him, almost as much frightened as they were glad….“But what does it all mean?” asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer.
“It means,” said Aslan, “that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward.”
The Deep Magic is woven into the very heart of Narnia, and the understanding that self-sacrifice can lead to redemption and freedom is a core part of the story, even as the protoevangelium in Genesis 3:15 weaves this understanding into our world. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” This protoevangelium (“first gospel”) establishes two foundational principles heretofore unknown in the Garden of Eden, principles that foreshadow the Christian Gospel–the curse on mankind because of Adam’s sin and God’s provision for a Savior from sin who would take the curse upon Himself.
Remembering is a key feature here—calling to present remembrance God’s work and promise from the past: Samuel took a stone and … named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far has the Lord helped us. I Samuel 7:12
When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” Joshua 4:1-9
–Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge
–Robert Robinson (1735-1790):“Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by Thy Grace I’m come”
Prayer and Hope
“And still there was no change in the night or the wood, but there began to be a kind of change inside Tirian. Without knowing why, he began to feel a faint hope. And he felt somehow stronger.”
Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence. O my God, my soul is in despair within me; Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Psalm 42:5-6 This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:21-24 O Lord, I remember Your name in the night, and keep Your law. Psalm 119:55
“What I mean is this. An ordinary simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers. He is trying to get into touch with God. But if he is a Christian he knows that what is prompting him to pray is also God: God, so to speak, inside him. But he also knows that all his real knowledge of God comes through Christ, the Man who was God – that Christ is standing beside him, helping him to pray, praying for him. You see what is happening. God is the thing to which he is praying – the goal he is trying to reach. God is also the thing inside him which is pushing him on – the motive power. God is also the road or bridge along which he is being pushed to that goal. So that the whole threefold life of the three-personal Being is actually going on in that ordinary little bedroom where an ordinary man is saying his prayers (p. 163).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Stepping Out in Faith and the Miraculous
“Oh Aslan, Aslan,” he whispered. “If you will not come yourself, at least send me the helpers from beyond the world. Or let me call them. Let my voice carry beyond the world.” Then, hardly knowing that he was doing it, he suddenly cried out in a great voice: “Children! Children! Friends of Narnia! Quick. Come to me. Across the worlds I call you; I Tirian, King of Narnia, Lord of Cair Paravel, and Emperor of the Lone Islands!” …he was plunged into a dream (if it was a dream) more vivid than any he had had in his life. He seemed to be standing in a lighted room where seven people sat round a table… Two of these people were very old, an old man with a white beard and an old woman with wise, merry, twinkling eyes. He who sat at the right hand of the old man was hardly full grown, certainly younger than Tirian himself, but his face had already the look of a king and a warrior…They were all dressed in what seemed to Tirian the oddest kind of clothes. But he had no time to think about details like that, for instantly the youngest boy and both the girls started to their feet, and one of them gave a little scream. The old woman started and drew in her breath sharply. The old man must have made some sudden movement too for the wine glass which stood at his right hand was swept off the table: Tirian could hear the tinkling noise as it broke on the floor. Then Tirian realised that these people could see him; they were staring at him as if they saw a ghost.”
In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. Jonah 2:2 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. When Peter came to himself, he said,“Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me.”Acts 12:5-11
Prayer, Waiting, and Disappointment
“But he noticed that the king-like one who sat at the old man’s right never moved (though he turned pale) except that he clenched his hand very tight. Then he said: “Speak, if you’re not a phantom or a dream. You have a Narnian look about you and we are the seven friends of Narnia.” Tirian was longing to speak, and he tried to cry out aloud that he was Tirian of Narnia, in great need of help. But he found (as I have sometimes found in dreams too) that his voice made no noise at all. The one who had already spoken to him arose to his feet. “Shadow or spirit or whatever you are,” he said, fixing his eyes full upon Tirian. “If you are from Narnia, I charge you in the name of Aslan, speak to me. I am Peter the High King.” The room began to swim before Tirian’s eyes. He heard the voices of those seven people all speaking at once, and all getting fainter every second, and they were saying things like, “Look! It’s fading.” “It’s melting away.” “It’s vanishing.” Next moment he was wide awake, still tied to the tree, colder and stiffer than ever. The wood was full of the pale, dreary light that comes before sunrise, and he was soaking wet with dew; it was nearly morning. That waking was about the worst moment he had ever had in his life.”
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. I Peter 5:6-7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Micah 7:7 Endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:4-5 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Psalm 73:2-3
COME THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING
Come, thou Fount of every blessing; tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above;
praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of God’s unchanging love!
2 Here I raise my Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.
3 O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart; O take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above.Maii 24, 1752, per predicationem potentem Georgii Whitefield
