Monday, 23 February 2009

• Aslan's Growl

  In C.S. Lewis' book Prince Caspian  Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy return to Narnia only to find that the evil king of Telmarine has taken control.  As the children labor to reach Aslan's How, Lucy catches a glimpse of the Lion and tries to convince the others to follow him but without success.  Finally Lucy meets Aslan face to face, and he urges her to make up for lost time in journeying onward.  Lucy replies,

  "Yes, wasn't it a shame?"  said Lucy. "I saw you all right.  They wouldn't believe me.  They're all so---"

  From somewhere deep inside Aslan's body there came the faintest suggestion of a growl.

  "I'm sorry,"  said Lucy, who understood some of his moods.  "I didn't mean to start slanging the others.  But it wasn't my fault anyway, was it?"

  The Lion looked straight into her eyes.

  
  "Oh, Aslan,"  said Lucy.  "You don't mean it was?  How could I--I couldn't have left the others and come up to you alone, how could I?  Don't look at me like that...oh well, I suppose I could.  Yes, and it wouldn't have been alone, I know, not if I was with you.  But what would have been the good?"

  Aslan said nothing.

  "You mean," said Lucy rather faintly, "that it would have turned out all right---somehow?  But how?  Please, Aslan!  Am I not to know?"

  "To know what would have happened, child?" said Aslan. "No. Nobody is ever told that."

  "Oh dear," said Lucy.

  "But anyone can find out what will happen," said Aslan.

  Whether Lewis meant this application or not, I don't know, but I think I've heard Aslan's growl.  I catch God sightings in His word when I'm reading in the mornings, in the preached word, in the admonitions and encouragements of friends, in providences in my life, in good books that challenge me onward and upward, and it's easy for me to "see" the way forward...but I may wait around for others to affirm me (another sign of fear of man in my life?) or go with me.  When I don't get affirmation or companionship, my dismay (or fear) can breed blame-shifting, pride, and resentment, just as it did in Lucy.  Oh, the folly of my sin!

  But Aslan is infinitely patient with Lucy. He urges her not to abandon her vision of him but to return and tell the others the way and move forward.  Her courage and humility pave the way not only for success in reaching Aslan's How but also for Susan's humble acknowledgement to Lucy that she, too, saw Aslan but didn't want to admit it to Lucy.  Obedience begets obedience...in community.  Oh, the grace of Christ!

  So what does this mean for me, now?  We are studying on Sunday evenings at our church Paul Tripp's Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands.  The subtitle is "People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change."  We are all Lucys.  And we are all Susans...and Edmunds (the traitor) and Peters (the bold leader.)  We need help in community to see ourselves, to see the way forward, to see and follow Christ. We need courage to confront sin in our own lives and the lives of others, to invite correction, to deny ourselves in order to build community and invite others to live in community with us, to follow Christ intentionally and daily.  Communal witness to the world is more than the latest installment in what it means to be missional.  It's the Scriptural pattern, Christ's agenda.  But exactly what it looks like, how it's worked out in individual lives and churches, isn't always clear.  It requires getting glimpses of Christ as we pursue Him together in faith and listening to His voice, even His growl.

   

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