“Always Winter, never Christmas in Narnia” [1] as the story goes, is how many have seen the world recently, as life as we have known it slips away. There is a longing for things to be different or for a better time. This human desire for renewal is a deep longing for relationship with our Creator and the life He intended us to live. For “He has set eternity in the hearts of men. . .” [2]
But we know something is wrong and we mourn its loss. The Suffering Servant goes to the heart of darkness and all sin, pain, suffering and death are laid upon Him, “If the willing victim that has committed no treachery is killed in the traitor’s stead, the Stone table will crack, and even death itself would turn backwards.” [3] But this is not the end of the story. The risen Saviour has overcome chaos and now turns the world right-side up through His love, power and wisdom. Springtime has come. When Aslan is on the move, the snow melts and new life appears in Narnia as the spell of the white witch is broken. Edmund’s heart gives a leap when he realises the frost is over. Hope springs up as a new reality has been let loose, creation knows ‘it in its bones’. [4]
Jesus is the King, a ruler who brings renewal, healing and reconciliation. The whole cosmos has been re-awakened and is being put right. “Wrong will be right when Aslan comes in sight. At the sound of his roar, sorrow will be no more. When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, and he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.” [5] The ultimate hope, the surety that Christ will return and fill the whole earth with His glory, has already started to come true. The great re-creation project – the unity of the new heaven and the new earth where the triune God will be present forever, enables us to live lives of hope and purpose. As Victor Frankl, the holocaust survivor said, “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’?” [6]
So there is a time when God will wipe away all tears from our eyes, but not yet. For the Kingdom of God is like a seed. Re-creation comes through a strange and slow process of sowing where there are remarkable stories of prodigals who are rescued, outsiders who become the true neighbours, the least ones who become the greatest and the poor in spirit who see God. Christ makes his home in one person at a time, building a temple, a resurrected community, where the living God dwells by His Spirit. His people offer His self-giving love to a lost and broken world.
Now is the time to help our students to embrace the tension of living in a broken world where all things are being made new. The Lord wants them to move into this His world, so that the ‘ice will melt’ and the fragrance of Jesus will permeate His creation. May we tell them stories of God’s people who in times of great need, embodied faith, hope and love that brought new life in Christ to communities in the midst of suffering and despair. Let’s point them to the many small acts of re-creation that are bringing joy to others. May we be filled with gratitude of the wonder of God’s presence in our midst. For we can engender an unshakeable hope in the lives of our students because our final restoration awaits us and it comes through a Person. For in Him, we are learning a new way to be human, the imprint of God on His creation.
This is reflected in the words of a school Principal in a letter to his community this past month. “… we need to remind ourselves of the goodness of God who is Sovereign over all things and that He is with us in the struggles that we are facing. . .We can be thankful for the deep sense of community. . .(and) we plan to continue the strong relationships of trust, mutual support and encouragement.” [7]
Let us live faithfully in our time, for in Christ is the unshakeable hope that all things “are being made new”.
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.’ (Revelation 21:5)
Grace and Peace
The Team
The Excellence Centre
[1] Lewis, CS. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
[2] Ecclesiastes 3:11
[3] ibid Chapter 15-Deeper Magic Before the Dawn of Time
[4] Romans 8:21,22
[5] Lewis, CS. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
[6] V Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
[7] Dr Boyce, Pacific Hills Christian School