Were you to choose one of the following three statements as the climactic scene in the “Wizard of Oz”, what would it be?
- Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion slipping into unconsciousness because the four friends took a short cut through the poppy fields.
- Dorothy tossing a bucket of water on the Wicked Witch of the West causing her to dissolve into a “brown, melted, shapeless mass.”
- Toto tipping over a screen in the throne room of the Great Oz which exposed a little old man whose illusion of power dominated the lives of all in the Emerald City.
C is the correct choice. The poppy fields signaled looming danger for the happy band of four on their journey to have their hopes fulfilled. The elimination of the Wicked Witch of the West removed the condition set by the Wizard before he would grant their requests. But the climactic scene comes when the screen hiding the Wizard’s secret falls and the truth is exposed. Truth has greater power than illusions that intimidate and control people. When motivated by the truth the challenges of life are worthy of the effort.
Rereading L. Frank Baum’s, ”The Wizard of Oz”, one delights in his use of light and color, animals and plants, a cyclone in Kansas and fresh breezes in the land of the Munchkins. Hollywood made good use of this colorful landscape. It took liberties as well, having Judy Garland wear ruby slippers instead of Baum’s original silver ones, and fixing “follow the yellow brick road” in the pattern of American speech.
Interestingly enough, this morning’s scripture readings draw us as intentionally into the biblical writer’s purpose with the use of our senses just as Baum did with his descriptions of the fantastical Land of Oz Yet it is an art that often goes unnoticed. Maybe that is because of our inclination to approach the biblical text intending to mine it for gems that will secure salvation, rather than to hear, taste, touch, see and smell how God uses all our senses to beckon us into a relationship filled with grace. Perhaps we are too well adapted to a technologically structured world where the right tool, mechanical, electronic, biological, or otherwise, will fix our problems. Instead the biblical writers’ art uses story to awaken the soul to explore the deeper levels of reality. Story uses our senses to draw the hearer/reader in and to become a part of the action. That is one reason why parables were so effective in Jesus’ teaching ministry.
Each of today’s readings demonstrates this quite well.
In the Book of Acts, Paul is presented as so well schooled in his religious beliefs and practices that he acts like a trained bloodhound tracking his prey. Or imagine him as a horse with blinders on his bridle who can see nothing but the narrow path before him. His training cannot accept alternative versions, yet there were various acceptable understandings of Scripture in his day. A flash of light blinds Paul. It caused his way of seeing to be useful no longer. Jesus’ voice speaks, but Paul cannot recognize it because he never considered Jesus to be a bearer of the truth. To persecute the disciples of the Way is to persecute Jesus, the long awaited Messiah. In his state of puzzlement Paul is like the two travelers Luke described listening to the voice of the stranger they met on the Emmaus road. That voice began to unfold the scriptures from Moses and the prophets, showing how the scriptures pointed to Jesus as God’s anointed (Lk 24:27). The effect of the blinding light and the voice broke Paul’s original resolve. Over the next three days he sorted out what it all meant. Then with the laying on of hands a healing occurs that is described as scales falling from his eyes. In other words the blinkers were removed and he could see the larger picture of God’s purpose and hear God’s call to a larger ministry of reconciliation in the name of Jesus. He begins by sharing his story in the synagogues of Damascus, just as the Lord foretold, I have chosen [him] to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel (Acts 9:15). Light, sight and blindness, the voice of truth leading to understanding, the laying on of hands bring healing and commissioning for new work; conversion is a complex activity that utilizes many sensory elements to accomplish God’s gracious purpose.
The passage from Revelation is part of a much larger vision. A vision is an act of seeing beneath the surface of the reality we physically apprehend. In this act of seeing a curtain is drawn back to reveal the mind of God to humans. Earlier in chapter 5 the seer wept to see in the hand of God a scroll which would reveal the future, but no one is worthy to break the seals (Rev 5:4). The heavenly being attending the seer urges him not to fear and take a second look. Now he sees a lamb, as though it had been slain. It is the Passover lamb, Jesus, who is worthy by his death to be praised by God and all the saints. Visions are a gift that allow humans to see reality as it truly is. The vision points to an upsetting of the powers most people assume to be in play in the world. Those who currently dominate the lives of people, whether it is Caesar, or another authority, wield an illusion of power. They are not worthy to break the seals on the scroll. Instead power is in the cross, an instrument of death that Jesus caused to become the source of life. He broke the death-dealing ways of the world in order to grant life to all who believe in him. The song of praise heard in heaven is deafening, greater than the cheering of all the coliseum crowds in the world together. It is a song that stirs the soul and strengthens the faint hearted to have courage for struggles ahead.
At the end of John’s gospel we encounter the post Easter story of Jesus’ disciples who have returned to their hometown environment where they take up their old occupations. They may be discouraged. Not like sore losers, but discouraged for having backed the wrong messiah. Or their affliction may be Paul’s narrow vision, in that they couldn’t recognize their mission without Jesus at their side. The sights, smells and sounds of fishing beckon these old fishermen into familiar occupations where they can forget the past and hide from their shame. Do they assume that God is effective only in tidy religious settings? If that’s the case Jesus’ gift of peace and forgiveness is a good thing but it’s ineffective outside the upper room in Jerusalem. There Thomas needed to see and touch Jesus’ wounds to verify the truth. These fishermen need to have Jesus meet them where they are most at home. That is exactly what Jesus does.
First the fishermen fail to bring in a catch. In their discouragement they let a stranger direct the work. Then they find that the stranger is Jesus who already has breakfast for them, having prepared in advance with elements that signal his presence ---an abundance of bread and fish to feed all people. Then, from Peter who betrayed him, Jesus receives the disciples’ confession of faith, and sends him to feed those for whom he died, serving others as he has been served by his Lord. Conversion is a richly complex activity that utilizes many elements to accomplish God’s purpose. Conversion is not a once and for all event but an ongoing process of believing and trusting and growing ever closer to God.
Today’s scriptures are filled with images that capture our senses to draw us, almost seduce us, into a relationship with God in Jesus Christ. Consider this image from the grainy early silent movie cartoons. An enticing smell drifts like an animated spirit from the kitchen stove into another part of the house where an inattentive character is alerted to its presence by a finger flick on the nose. God uses our senses to attract us; get our attention. God desires to have an intimate relationship in which we become ever more complete; whole in body, mind and spirit. In the process love for others grows. The Scriptures are God’s way of providing for us the grand panorama of salvation’s purpose and our essential place in it, inviting us to the heavenly banquet, and offering the garden of Paradise once lost for our eternal habitation.
