This morning, we are hanging out in liminal space\u2026<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a funny word isn\u2019t it\u2026 liminal\u2026.<\/p>\n
Say it with me\u2026 liminal.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It comes from Latin and means \u201cthreshold.\u201d\u00a0 It is the space in between.\u00a0 It is transitional.<\/p>\n
Our country is in that liminal space between an election and the swearing in of a new president.<\/p>\n
The United Methodist Church is in a liminal space \u2013 knowing that we can\u2019t be what we were and aren\u2019t yet sure what we might become.<\/p>\n
Many of us are in personal liminal spaces\u2026 a time of discomfort, of waiting, of transformation.\u00a0 We are experiencing transitions in relationship statuses, or maturing from childhood to adulthood.\u00a0 We are waiting for test results that might forever change our world or experiencing losses that already have.<\/p>\n
The theologian Richard Rohr describes liminality this way:<\/p>\n
It is when you have left the tried and true, but have not yet been able to replace it with anything else.\u00a0 It is when you are between your old comfort zone and any possible new answer<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Or, if you\u2019d prefer the theologians Aerosmith:<\/p>\n
There’s something wrong with the world today<\/em><\/p>\n
I<\/em> don’t know what it is Something’s wrong with our eyes<\/em><\/p>\n
We’re seeing things in a different way <\/em><\/p>\n
And god knows it ain’t his <\/em><\/p>\n
It sure ain’t no surprise<\/em><\/p>\n
Livin’ on the edge<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Every single one of us is dealing with something in our personal lives that looms large on the edges.\u00a0 Job insecurity.\u00a0 Financial woes.\u00a0 Racism.\u00a0 Personal loss.\u00a0 Illness. \u00a0Depression.\u00a0 Sexism. Addiction.\u00a0 Work or School stress. \u00a0Bullying.<\/p>\n
Whatever it might be for you\u2026 It\u2019s there on the edges.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t talk about it\u2026 but it\u2019s there.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And it was there for Edmund, Peter, Lucy, and Susan in the Chronicles of Narnia.<\/p>\n
As we enter this Advent and then Christmas season and beyond, we are going to be following these four children in this magical land and hear what\u00a0 the author C.S. Lewis has to teach us about what it means to be people of faith in tough times.<\/p>\n
And the story starts with this magical threshold\u2026 this doorway between two worlds that the littlest girl Lucy discovers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We focus on the magic of that doorway\u2026 but what we sometimes overlook is the difficulty that brought all of the characters to this place in this time.<\/p>\n
These children are in a liminal space.<\/p>\n
The story is set during the middle of the London Blitz of World War II.\u00a0 Their home in the city was no longer safe.\u00a0 Like children in Aleppo, in Syria, today, every day they lived in terror that a bomb would drop on top of their home or school or the hospitals.<\/p>\n
Yet these children were able to make it out of the city.\u00a0 They were sent away to the countryside, sent away from their parents, into a big lonely house.<\/p>\n
Everything they knew was in turmoil\u2026 and they didn\u2019t yet know what might happen on the other side of the war.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This summer, as we preached through the prophets, we heard the passage we shared this morning from Isaiah.\u00a0 About the people who lived in the land of deep darkness.<\/p>\n
Those who lived in the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali knew what it meant to live through wars and conflict.\u00a0 Their tribal home had been ravaged for so long that they didn\u2019t know what hope was anymore.<\/p>\n
There’s something wrong with the world today <\/em><\/p>\n
The lightbulb’s gettin’ dimmed <\/em><\/p>\n
There’s meltdown in the sky<\/em><\/p>\n
If you can judge a wise man <\/em><\/p>\n
By the color of his skin <\/em><\/p>\n
T<\/em>hen mister, you’re a better man than I<\/em><\/p>\n
Livin’ on the edge<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Right there\u2026 on the edge\u2026 where hope had ceased and the shadows seemed longer and longer, light was promised.<\/p>\n
Those who lived in a land of deep darkness \u2013 on them light has shined.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And so in the midst of this liminal season of her life, Lucy hides in a closet and discovers a magical doorway between worlds.<\/p>\n
She finds herself in a forest, surrounded by snow, and she sees a light shining in the distance.<\/p>\n
It is a lamppost.<\/p>\n
A light shining on the edge.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a beacon in the face of the dark, cold spell that lies on the land,” writes the author of our devotion Advent in Narnia.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Both lands.\u00a0 All lands.<\/p>\n
London and Narnia. Syria and Israel.\u00a0 The United States. The World.<\/p>\n
The lamppost, which stands there at the boundary between Narnia and the \u201cwild woods of the west\u201d remains shining in the darkness.\u00a0 The power of the white witch who has taken over Narnia\u2026 the darkness of despair, sin, and death which threatens to overtake our lives\u2026 it cannot put that light out.\u00a0 It shines.\u00a0 Always has\u2026 always will.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As we will hear read on Christmas Eve, the gospel of John reminds us that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness could not overcome it.<\/p>\n
And we hear\u2026 that the people loved the darkness more than the light.<\/p>\n
As the Message puts it\u2026 the light entered the world \u201cand yet the world didn\u2019t even notice. \u00a0He came to his own people and they didn\u2019t want him.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the midst of our story of light, we are reminded that that we are human.<\/p>\n
It is so often our sin that is the cause of the world\u2019s darkness.<\/p>\n
Hatred and greed.\u00a0 Nationalism and pride. \u00a0Consumer impulses that fail to recognize the cost to others and this planet.<\/p>\n
That is why we are reminded in the gospel of Luke that the door is narrow and few will enter it.<\/p>\n
Mr. Tumnus is the perfect example of this reality. \u00a0He is working for the witch, even though he knows it is wrong because he is too afraid to do otherwise.<\/p>\n
We are too struck by the darkness.<\/p>\n
We are too consumed with ourselves.<\/p>\n
Something right with the world today <\/em><\/p>\n
And everybody knows it’s wrong <\/em><\/p>\n
But we can tell ’em no <\/em><\/p>\n
Or we could let it go <\/em><\/p>\n
But I would rather be a hanging on<\/em><\/p>\n
Livin’ on the edge<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
My colleague Dan Dick has some challenging words for people of faith right now.\u00a0\u00a0He writes as Advent begins:<\/p>\n
Do we need a Savior? \u00a0Do we need a Messiah? \u00a0Yes, oh yes, but we really don\u2019t want one \u2013 not if he\/she is going to expect us to live up to our confession of faith. \u00a0If we have to honor the promises made for us at baptism and the promises we have made ourselves since then, well\u2026,\u00a0 we will take a pass on the Messiah, thank you very much\u2026 we really can\u2019t afford\/tolerate the Son of God coming to mess things up.<\/em> (https:\/\/doroteos2.com\/2016\/11\/26\/wanted-savior-some-experience-required\/<\/u><\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
We have a chance to say goodbye to the darkness and let go of our own sin and anger, disappointment and loss, frustration and hatred and focus on the light, the hope, the love, the promises of God.<\/p>\n
There is light and right and good in this world\u2026 if only we would open our eyes to see it, open our hearts to experience it\u2026 open our hands to live it.<\/p>\n
There is something so right in this world today and we are too scared, fearful, consumed to believe it!<\/p>\n
But as Jesus instructs the people in chapter 13 of Luke\u2019s gospel \u2013 unless you change your hearts and lives\u2026 unless you repent\u2026 unless you turn away from the darkness you will never enter that narrow door.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mr. Tumnus was out there in the liminal space\u2026 hanging out by the lamppost.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t know what brought him to that moment, but what we do know is that in the story, he finds a child.<\/p>\n
A child that offers him hope and light, love and forgiveness.<\/p>\n
A child that gives him the courage to turn away from the shadows.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This Advent season, we have a chance to enter that narrow door.<\/p>\n
We have a chance to enter that liminal space of transformation.<\/p>\n
Friends, all I ask is that you open yourself to the possibility.<\/p>\n
I ask that you step outside of your comfort zone.<\/p>\n
I pray that you will enter and journey in Narnia with me this season.<\/p>\n
Come live on the edge. \u00a0Come experience the light. Come and wait for the coming of our savior.<\/p>\n
It just might change your life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This morning, we are hanging out in liminal space\u2026 That\u2019s a funny word isn\u2019t it\u2026 liminal\u2026. Say it with me\u2026 liminal. It comes from Latin and means \u201cthreshold.\u201d\u00a0 It is the space in between.\u00a0 It is transitional. Our country is in that liminal space between an election and the swearing in of a new…<\/span><\/p>\n