The Gospel According to Harry Potter
1 Corinthians 13
For the last several weeks Rev. Robyn and I have used texts from the first letter to the Corinthians as our primary sermon foci. You probably have noticed some common themes in our reflections. We have talked about the purpose of giftedness, what it means to be part of the body of Christ, how the various gifts of that body work together to serve a greater good and that we are not gifted simply as some kind of whim. There is indeed a purpose to having gifts.
Today we come to a passage of scripture very familiar to many of us. If you have attended a wedding in the last, say, lifetime, you probably heard a portion of this text used. It is often held up as the highest ideal for marriage because when partners in a relationship operate out of this model of love they have a much higher ability to have a successful and meaningful life together. Maybe these should be the vows we ask of those being confirmed into membership into the church? After all, that is a relationship just as important and just as fraught with the perils of miscommunication, misunderstanding and yes, missed congeniality.
And now I will show you the most excellent way, Paul says, as he paints his portrait of the power of love.
It is sad to me that it has become cliché to speak of love anymore. We have made love into a syrupy, sticky feeling complete with butterflies and thumping hearts – and indeed there is a part of love that sometimes has that quality, at least as an initial stage. Yet what we read in this passage of scripture and what we see lived out in Jesus and others who demonstrated the power of love is that, much more than a gushy feeling, love is a decision – a decision that is fraught with risk and peril – a decision that leaves the lover vulnerable and transformed.
Most of us are familiar with Mahatma Gandhi, the great leader of the movement of non-violent transformation of India from British control in the early part of the 20th century. Even though Gandhi was not a Christian, he found this chapter of 1 Corinthians to be a guiding document for how to live as a person who not only cares deeply about the world around him but is willing to put his life into action to transform that world into a better place. He once sent his nephew a handwritten copy of this chapter from 1 Corinthians to show not only the power of love but also the price of love. He told his nephew that love is like a dagger. He writes, “If we could get hold of this dagger and get also the strength to stab ourselves with it, we could shake the world.”
That’s not how we usually think of love, is it? Can you picture that on a Valentine’s card? Come stab me with the dagger of love so that we can shake the world! That kind of love doesn’t fit with the syrupy love to which we’ve grown accustomed.
But that is what this love, spoken about in scripture, does – it changes you, improves you, cuts you to the core sometimes, but never leaves you in the same frame of reference as before.
Many of us who are Harry Potter fans are eagerly awaiting the next book in the series. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Harry (living under a rock on the edge of the wilderness evidently), his is the story of a young boy who grows up not knowing that he is a great wizard. The installments of the series develop the story of his parents’ tragic deaths, the mysterious scar on his forehead, and the wonderful things that can happen when you discover your true identity. There have been several books written from a Christian perspective that critique the Harry Potter series as stories of spirituality, like Connie Neal’s, The Gospel According to Harry Potter, from whom I borrowed the title of this sermon – although I use the stories very differently from her. She does a good job of showing the correlation of Christian principles and ideals in these stories. She also spends a lot of time defending the series from the attacks of Christians who decry the books because they supposedly entice children into witchcraft and sorcery. The popularity of the series is threatening to some Christian leaders. Do you know what’s fascinating? It is the same argument that these same leaders use to denounce Harry Potter as they use to say GLBT folks are dangerous to children. They say being gay will be so enticing that kids will be unable to resist its lure. It’s not true about us and it’s not true about Harry Potter.
Marianne Williamson also mentions Harry Potter and his influence on her children in her book, Everyday Grace. She sees her daughter’s infatuation with the stories and notes that Harry is in a long line of mythical heroes who remind us that we are much more than we think we are. Williamson quotes Jesus when he said that we would do greater things than he. “It’s time,” she writes, “for us to start working miracles.” (pg. 3)
I know the real reason the Harry Potter books and movies are so popular – they use something imaginary to talk about something very real. And it works because it is done so well. In the first movie, The Sorcerer’s Stone (or Philosopher’s Stone depending on the country in which you live), Professor Dumbledore, the school headmaster, comes to visit Harry after his painful and debilitating encounter with pure evil. It is not Harry’s first encounter with the touch of evil and everyone is amazed that Harry survives these encounters. Dumbledore tells him why. [DVD, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, chapter 32]
Harry’s mother died protecting her child from evil’s touch. The whole Harry Potter series is built on the idea that this kind of love has power beyond any force of evil. This kind of love instills inside one a fortification to not be diminished by the challenges of life, but instead to see them as an adventure – a quest.
J. K. Rowling is using fiction to tell a story of truth – the same truth that Jesus told – love is the greatest force in the universe. Indeed the Bible states unequivocally “God is love” and also “anyone who loves is of God.” The presence of God is so much more amazing than some petty angry demigod tossing lightning bolts that too many religious people conceive when they think of God. God is much more than any supernatural being over and against creation. God is the ground of being – the essence of life and love itself. God is what we experience when we love. That is a transformational concept more powerful than wizards. It is a reality more marvelous than any tale of Hogwarts. Living out love’s call upon our lives will be costly and life-changing. But not to do so would mean missing the greatest adventure of your life.
Most of you have heard us talk about an outreach ministry we are undertaking in 2007. It is called “Would Jesus Discriminate?” This is part of a national strategy that MCC congregations across the country are engaging to live out our call to love the world. We’re doing this in conjunction with the national group “Faith In America.” There are several things we hope to accomplish. First, we want to open dialogue between people who aren’t talking with each other – we often talk about each other but not to each other. And secondly, it is a way for us to step outside our comfort zones and place ourselves in situations where our faith no longer can remain simply abstract theory or interesting intellectual musing but must become the ground upon which we walk.
Now, the beauty of this whole campaign is that there is an obvious answer to this question. No, Jesus would not discriminate. When people try to twist the meaning of scripture to prove that whole parts of the population are forever outside the love of Jesus, it reveals how ridiculous our concepts of Jesus and God have become. Over the years, we as a church have had lots of conversations with people and groups that oppose us, but usually it is in a defensive posture. We are defending our right to be Christian or our right to have rights or our place in the realm of God. This time we get to set the conversation in a completely different frame and from the pilot project that was completed in Indianapolis this past year, the differences are remarkable.
Let me show you an example of what this difference looks like. [Flash Presentation www.mccchurch.org] There is a forum after worship this morning to give you an opportunity to see more about what this outreach will look like locally, to ask questions and I hope for you to catch a bit of the enthusiasm that so many of us who have been working with this idea have about the future.
Now, I don’t put my mind-reading hat on a lot, but I know what some of you are thinking. You just think that voice in your head is only for your mind’s ear, but I can hear the gears churning all the way up here. Some of you are thinking, “Why do we want to stir things up? These people don’t want anything to do with us so why should we make an effort to bridge the gap? Why should we care what they think?” Well, we’re not doing this simply to inform someone’s opinion, although we know that if we do this well hearts will be opened. We’re doing this because like Harry Potter’s forehead bore the scar of the power of his mother’s protective loving, our hearts bear that same scar – just as clearly and powerfully – of God’s love. We have known love like a dagger that has cut us to the core and exposed our vulnerabilities to the healing light of God’s grace. Scars form from wounds and can either be a be-grudged reminder of pain or a symbol of the healing power of love.
Our world seems to have lost its ability to dialogue and consider new ideas free from paralyzing fear – whether it is the fear of a vengeful God’s anger or the fear of someone who is different threatening your worldview. Fear has strangled our nation and our world and has allowed evil free reign to inflict its wrath – even sometimes using the good intentions of sincere people. What is the only thing that can break the power of fear? Love. Force doesn’t break the power of fear. Military might can’t break the power of fear. Intimidation doesn’t break the power of fear. Manipulation, dishonesty, disdain, domination or distancing ourselves from others can’t break the power of fear. Perfect love cast out all fear.
You and I get a chance to model what this love looks like in real-world situations and encounters and discussions and perhaps even in the face of shrill opposition. Do we refuse to love someone simply because they disagree with us? Jesus didn’t. He loved them. He even loved those who were his enemies and calls us to do the same with those we label enemies. He demonstrated what that love looked like and he bore the costs of loving through the gift of his life. We who truly want to follow his example can do no less. This kind of love in the hands of the One known as the Son of God, and those known today as the daughters and sons of God, is our only hope to make the world a better place. I hope you will be part of this amazing adventure we are on and that you will stick around for the forum after church. There won’t be any flying cars, quidditch matches, mischief maps, flue powder, or clueless muggles. What you will hear about is an adventure of your life.
Sources
William W. Emilsen, “Gandhi and the greatest thing in the world,” Expository Times, 113:4 (Jan. 2002), pg. 118-9.
www.homileticsonline.com “The Potter Principle” January 2007.
www.mccchurch.org “Would Jesus Discriminate?” flash presentation
http://www.indif.net/nri/festivals/images/mahatma_gandhi.jpg Mahatma Gandhi image.
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/122/003_HARRY_POTTER_E.jpg
Neal, Connie, The Gospel According to Harry Potter (Westminster John Knox Press: London) 2002.
Williamson, Marianne, Everyday Grace, (Riverhead Books: New York) 2002.
