Proper 15 RCL Epis August 19 2007

 Luke 12: 49-56; Hebrews 11: 29---12:2

Students, then as now, wore buttons when I was in college.

Of course, one was the peace symbol. It was the late 1960s.

One read, "1984 is Coming" and sure enough it did.

Another popular one was "Frodo Lives".

I didn’t get that one for a long time. I hadn’t read the book. Well, books. JRR Tolkien’s Trilogy of The Lord of the Ring. Now you can watch the movie. Well, movies.

When I did read the book, the pin "Frodo Lives" made sense.

Suddenly it seemed that everyone around me was talking about the spiritual meaning of Tolkien’s work and how CS Lewis and the Inklings group had influenced him.

So parallels were drawn between Frodo and Jesus.

And I thought. Let it Be. Let a good story just be a good story.

And I was right.

And I was wrong.

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is not just a good story. It is our sure foundation. It is our way, our truth and our life.

We are to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest its full meaning for our lives. We seek to know how to interpret these times. That means we read it in parallel with great literature, with current scientific discovery and with the news accounts of our day.

And our days are full of war and politics; global warming and natural disasters; urban murders and suburban sprawl; and if you look at the church division ...conservative against liberal and liberal against conservative....

It might seem like the world is getting darker.

More ominous.

J.K. Rowling’s books seem to follow this building doom. She is a great storyteller and like all masters of that craft she changes the emotional climate of her Harry Potter books as the characters mature. As events unravel, it is clear that more than the Quidditch championship is at sake.

She deals with life and death matters.

And sje tell us that how you live your life matters.

Aside: Hhhmmm. Where else did I hear that?

...how you live your life matters.

Before the last book came out, the earliest rumors I heard said that Hermione dies. I was bummed. Then I heard that Ron Weasley dies. Oh, no....not gulp....Harry Potter himself. With this much mayhem a foot, I wasn’t even sure I was ready to read The Deathly Hallows.

But I did.

And there’s one scene that helps us look at today’s scriptures. I think I can allude to it without being a plot spoiler.

If I had a power point screen here...we could put up two columns... Harry Potter and Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem and his last days and his last mission. He prepares his disciples. They will not be able to follow.

Harry knows that he must go alone now. This is his task alone. He carries a wand and a stone in his pocket.

Traveling toward Jerusalem, Jesus is encouraged by the presence of Moses and Elijah on the Mount of the Transfiguration. He finds strength to go on.

Traveling toward He Who Shall Not Be Named, Harry Potter remembers the stone in his pocket. The resurrection stone. He does not yet know its value. He pulls it out to ponder its use. The stone gives him the gift of the presence of his parents and godfather and mentor who have all died in this same struggle. They walk with him. He is encouraged and gains determination to continue.

Want to know more?

Read the book.