Romans 3: 9-18           

“It is dull, Son of Adam, to drink without eating,” said the Queen presently.  “What would you like best to eat?”

            “Turkish Delight, please, your Majesty,” said Edmund.

            The Queen let another drop fall from her bottle onto the snow, and instantly there appeared a round box, tied with green silk ribbon, which, when opened, turned out to contain several pounds of the best Turkish Delight.  Each piece was sweet and light to the very center and Edmund had never tasted anything more delicious.  He was quite warm now, and very comfortable. 

            While he was eating the Queen kept asking him questions.  At first Edmund tried to remember that it is rude to speak with one’s mouth full, but soon he forgot about this and thought only of trying to shovel down as much Turkish Delight as he could, and the more he ate the more he wanted to eat, and he never asked himself why the Queen should be so inquisitive.

            At last the Turkish Delight was all finished and Edmund was looking very hard at the empty box and wishing that she would ask him whether he would like some more.  Probably the Queen knew quite well that he was thinking; for she knew, though Edmund did not, that this was enchanted Turkish Delight and that anyone who had once tasted it would want more and more of it, and would even, if they were allowed, go on eating it till they killed themselves.  But she did not offer him anymore. 

The Queen tells Edmund that he must bring his sisters and brothers to her Castle if he wants to have more candy.

            “It is lovely place, my house,” said the Queen.  “I am sure you would like it.  There are whole rooms full of Turkish Delight, and what’s more, I have no children of my own.  I want a nice boy whom I could bring up as a Prince and who would be King of Narnia when I am gone.  While he was Prince he would wear a gold crown and eat Turkish Delight all day long; and you are much the cleverest and handsomest young man I’ve ever met.  I think I would like to make you the Prince some day, when you bring the others to visit me.”

            “Why not now? said Edmund.  His face had become very red and his mouth and fingers where sticky.  He did not look either clever or handsome, whatever the Queen might say.

            “Oh, but if I took you there now,” said she, “I shouldn’t see your brother and your sisters.  I very much want to know your charming relations.  You are to be the Prince and – later on – the King; that is understood.  But you must have courtiers and nobles.  I will make your brother Duke and your sisters Duchesses.

            “There’s nothing special about them,” said Edmund, “and anyway, I could always bring them some other time.”

            “Please, please,” said Edmund suddenly, “please couldn’t I have just one piece of Turkish Delight to eat on the way home?” (pages 36,37,38,39,41)

C.S. Lewis is obviously creating a story to parallel a story told in the book of Genesis. Listen.

Genesis 3:2-4

The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, `You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

The White Witch says to Edmund, do as I say and you will be King and your sisters and brothers will be your underlings. The serpent says to Eve, eat the fruit and you will be like God.

The theologians use an ancient Greek word and call it hubris. It is usually translated pride but it is really self centered, self aggrandizing arrogance.

So, what is wrong with the candy?  The answer is nothing, nothing at all. All by itself, the candy is a good thing, a little sweet treat to be enjoyed in moderation.

But, with the help of the White Witch, Edmund turns that innocent little sweet treat into an object of ultimate concern. It becomes the primary focus of his life. It is an addiction and more, it becomes an object of commitment. To get another piece of Turkish Delight, Edmund is prepared to betray his sisters and brothers.

The White Witch is a wily woman. She uses the promise of privilege and power, Edmund will become king over his sisters and brothers, combined with the sweetness of the candy to lead him into an act of betrayal. He is willing to sacrifice his sisters and brothers to get what he wants. His moral and spiritual priorities are scrambled and his values are turned topsy-turvy, all for another piece of candy. Little pieces of candy become instruments of evil. Sin and Evil often work in that way.

There is an Old Testament idol who does not receive much of our attention and rightfully so. The idol’s name was Moloch and he was evil beyond description. He was a god of the Canaanites, a god who promised fertile crops. Fertile crops are a good and necessary thing, Kansans know that. Moloch was really a furnace and in order to secure fertile crops for themselves, the people of Canaan would literally sacrifice their first born children to Moloch. The desire for something good, fertile fields, was distorted into an exercise in evil, the sacrifice of children.

We have just completed the Advent and Christmas season. Do you remember the story of Herod and the Slaughter of the Innocents? King Herod was the King and he wanted to keep his job. In itself, there is nothing wrong with that. However, motivated by fear, he was willing to slaughter the children of the village in order to prevent one of them from becoming the King. The desire for something good was distorted into the exercise of evil.

And it happens when we place ourselves or something else in the place that belongs to God alone. It is God and only God who keeps the priorities of life straight, who prevents the good from being transformed into instruments of evil!

This brings us to a special case. Unfortunately, there are times when religion itself is distorted into being an instrument of evil. Within the pages of the Bible the prophets were the sensitive and the most articulate in identifying and condemning distorted religion. Let me point to one example. During the time of the prophet Amos, both the economy and the religion of Israel were booming. And the people assumed that the economy was booming because of their booming religion, God was blessing them for their faithfulness.

We can imagine that temple worship featured “nothing but the best”, the best liturgies, the best animals for sacrifice, the best robes for the priests, the best preachers, the best musicians, the very best songs to sing – good worship, nothing but the best.

It is true that even with a booming economy and the religion business booming, there lived in Israel a very large number of widows and orphans and others who lived in poverty. And they were either ignored or misused as very cheap labor.  Those who are hungry will sometimes work cheap!

Now listen to the prophet. These two verses summarize much of his entire book.

Amos 5:21-24 (NIV)

²¹ “I hate, I despise your religious feasts;

I cannot stand your assemblies.

²² Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,

I will not accept them.

Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,

I will have no regard for them.

²³ Away with the noise of your songs!

I will not listen to the music of your harps.

²⁴ But let justice roll on like a river,

righteousness like a never-failing stream!

In Amos time, religion had been used as a reason for not doing the right thing. Going to church had become a substitute for loving one’s neighbor or for doing the right thing and through Amos God said, if you cannot do the right thing towards your neighbor, don’t bother going to church any more.

We find a similar theme in the first chapter of Isaiah. Listen.

Isaiah 1:12-17 (NIV)

¹² When you come to appear before me,

who has asked this of you,

this trampling of my courts?

¹³ Stop bringing meaningless offerings!

Your incense is detestable to me.

New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—

I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

¹⁴ Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts

my soul hates.

They have become a burden to me;

I am weary of bearing them.

¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I will hide my eyes from you;

even if you offer many prayers,

I will not listen.

Your hands are full of blood;

¹⁶ wash and make yourselves clean.

Take your evil deeds

out of my sight!

Stop doing wrong,

¹⁷ learn to do right!

Seek justice,

encourage the oppressed.

Defend the cause of the fatherless,

plead the case of the widow.

Again, religion became a substitute for doing the right thing towards the neighbor. The acquisition of goods, which can be a good thing, became the idol that caused them to lose sight of the needs of their neighbors. A good thing became an idol, the object of ultimate commitment and God was pushed off of the throne of practical service and the vulnerable were ignored.

Finally, I want to say a word about The White Witch and the power of sin and evil. Do you remember her original job? She was given the holy and tragic task of enforcing the moral code of Narnia. In Narnia, betrayal was such a terrible sin that the only just punishment was death and the White Witch was the executioner. Originally, she was the servant of the King charged with enforcing the King’s law. And she was given incredible power to fulfill her charge. She had the authority to execute the sinner on the great stone table.

We can only guess at what happened. Simple said, power went to her head and captured her heart and she used her power for pure self-aggrandizement. She put herself on the throne reserved for Another. Something good and necessary, the enforcement of the law, became an instrument for evil and Narnia lived in a winter season that emanated from the coldness of her heart.

I really like the way the C.S. Lewis portrays the winter in Narnia. He knows the sin and evil are powers that require confrontation. He knows that betrayal and sin are not trifles. And better still, he knows the remedy. And he knows that the remedy requires enormous power.

We know the remedy too. It is the remedy found in Jesus Christ. It is in the remarkable power of his life, death and resurrection that we find the power necessary to overcome the power of sin and evil

Unfortunately, that will have to wait until next week when we will ask the question, “Is He Safe?”