This sermon points out some of the spiritual truths which can be found in THE
WIZARD OF OZ (see the third paragraph and following). Note that, in the
Emerald City, which represents the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, there
was much joy and laughter. ("That's how we laugh the day away in the merry
old Land of Oz.")
THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
Richard M. Riss
Glenwood Presbyterian Church, Glenwood Landing, NY, June 29, 1997
According to Genesis 18:19, God chose Abraham in order that
he might command his children and descendants to keep the way of
the Lord by doing righteousness and justice. There are many
references in the Bible to "the way of the Lord," "the path of
the righteous" (Prov. 4:18), "the way of righteousness" and "its
pathway" (Prov. 12:28). In the book of Acts, Luke makes
reference to the Christian faith itself as the "way of the Lord"
(Acts 18:25) or "the way of God" (Acts 18:26).
What, exactly, is entailed in following this path? To
follow the pathway of righteousness, one must take God at His
word in childlike innocence. One must be loving, charitable,
forgiving, and willing to suffer for that which is good. Or, to
put it another way, one must be obedient to God. If we follow
this pathway, we are told that we can be assured of God's
sovereign care over our lives. Under these circumstances,
according to Isaiah 43:2, the floodwaters will not overwhelm us
and the fire will not scorch us.
One of my favorite sources of analogies for things of this
kind is Noel Langley's adaptation of Frank L. Baum's famous
story, in the 1939 Victor Fleming production, THE WIZARD OF OZ.
I believe that one of the reasons for the enduring popularity of
this film classic is that it is rich in spiritual truths.
The yearning for heaven and the corresponding redemption
from evil are illustrated in it from beginning to end. In the
beginning, Dorothy talks about going "someplace where there isn't
any trouble." She asks, "Do you suppose there is such a place,
Toto? There must be somewhere. It's not any place you can get
to by boat or by train." She wants to go "over the rainbow,"
where there are no problems. These thoughts are paralleled in
our own longings for paradise and freedom from the effects of the
curse, to be fulfilled at the end of the age, when paradise will
again be restored through redemption in Christ.
Another important spiritual principle is the powerlessness
of evil in the presence of good. This is illustrated quite
vividly when Glinda, the good witch of the north, says to the
wicked witch of the west, who has threatened her, "Oh, rubbish.
You have no power here. Be gone, before some one drops a house
on you, too." The wicked witch actually takes this as a cue to
leave, implying that she knew full well that she had no power in
the presence of good.
The wizard himself in some ways portrays aspects of God's
character. He is awesome and unapproachable, yet at the same
time, personal and very approachable. When Dorothy and her
friends first encounter him, he represents the power of God:
"Come forward!" he says. "I am Oz, the Great and Powerful. Who
Are you?" Dorothy's reply is appropriate to innocence and
humility, while smoke and fire coming from presence of the wizard
are indicative of God's power. Then, there is a clear reference
to God's omniscience when he says, "Silence! The Great and
Powerful Oz knows why you have come."
The majesty of God before us in our own relative
insignificance also becomes quite clear when the wizard says
forcefully, "Step forward, tin man. You dare to come to me for a
heart, do you? . . . And you, scarecrow, have the effrontery to
ask for a brain? . . . Enough! And you, lion, well?"
Yet, Dorothy and her companions were told, "The great and
powerful Oz KNOWS why you have come, and has every intention of
granting your requests." Not only does this demonstrate the
omniscience of God, but also His goodness and beneficence. He
has every intention of answering our prayers, particularly if we
are willing to trust Him, even to the point of facing the power
of evil itself. In his love, mercy, and compassion, He grants us
the deepest desires of our hearts, although there is often much
that we must go through before we can receive them.
God is "great and powerful." But on the other side of the
coin, he is merciful and kind. When the wizard is shown to be
who he really is, he turns out to be a kindly man, very
charitable, approachable, gentle, and more than willing to try to
grant the requests of Dorothy and her friends.
The four protagonists are exemplary in many ways. They
display tremendous selflessness, courage, and determination to
actively resist evil. After a terrible episode with the witch,
Scarecrow says to Dorothy, "I'm not afraid of her. I'll see you
get safely to the wizard, whether I get a brain or not," and the
tin man says, "I'll see you reach the wizard, whether I get a
heart or not."
All three of Dorothy's friends thought that they were
deficient in certain respects. The lion felt that he needed
courage; the tin man, the ability to love; and scarecrow, the
ability to think and plan. What they didn't realize was that
each one of them already had the very quality that he thought he
lacked. Yet, in their humility, they had no idea that the
qualities that they thought they were missing were actually some
of their strongest character traits. They didn't see this at
all. Their humility made it impossible.
Now, what does all of this have to do with the pathway of
righteousness? Well, there is an important component of the
story that provides the perfect analogy for this path, and that,
of course, is the yellow brick road. Dorothy was told to "follow
the yellow brick road." She was expected to trust that if she
obeyed, all would be well. When she asked "But what happens if I
. . . ?" the good witch interrupted her and simply said, "Just
follow the yellow brick road," as if to say, "Do not even express
any fears of what might happen if you should encounter the wicked
witch. Just obey, and trust." For evil not to befall Dorothy,
she would simply be required to follow the instructions she was
given and expect that the forces of evil would not overwhelm her.
Obedience to God brings protection from evil. As long as Dorothy
would follow the yellow brick road, she would safely reach her
destination.
We, also, are to follow the straight and narrow path. As
long as we follow this path, marked out by God, trusting in Him,
we will be safe, and we will reach the destination--fulfillment--
and He will give us the desires of our hearts.
While walking upon this pathway, Dorothy was wearing the
magic slippers. She was immune to harm as long as she remained
tightly inside of them. The good witch said to her, "Remember,
never let those ruby slippers off your feet for a moment, or you
will be at the mercy of the wicked witch of the west." There is
tremendous power in obedience. "They must be very powerful, or
she wouldn't want them so badly," Glinda said. Wearing the
slippers represented obedience, and the extraordinary power that
arises from it. The wicked witch wanted that power. But Dorothy
was the one who had it, even though it had been bestowed upon her
without any desire for it on her part. Because she was wearing
them, Dorothy had become the enemy of the wicked witch of the
west. Walking in obedience will incur the jealously of the
enemy, because it endows us with incredible spiritual power. If
we fall into disobedience, even for a moment, we are at his
mercy.
The enemy will do all that he can to overthrow our integrity
and cause us to become disobedient to God in our thoughts and
actions. He will often do this very subtly at first, because he
wants us very badly. We are a powerful threat to him if we have
the anointing of God upon us which arises from obedience to the
Lord in our attitudes and behavior.
The interesting thing is that, although the wicked witch of
the west inspired terrible fear in the protagonists, and it
seemed she was very powerful, when all was said and done, what
real harm was the wicked witch ever able to inflict upon any of
them? She worked solely by inspiring fear in others. This is
how satan works. He is the paper dragon who seems so
overwhelmingly powerful and frightening, but who is in reality
harmless in a universe over which God has absolute sovereign
control.
God's sovereign protection over those who follow the path of
righteousness is illustrated further in one of the remarks of the
wicked witch, who, at one point, says "Curses, curses. Someone
always helps that girl." There are hidden forces of good and
evil battling over the fate of the elect. Evil is always hiding,
ready to attempt to get us, just as the wicked witch of the west
could be seen lurking behind the scenes at various stages of
Dorothy's journey. God's forces prevail in the end, but the
battle between good and evil is a genuine battle. Glinda, also,
seems to have been in the background like a fairy godmother or a
guardian angel, orchestrating events. Supernaturally, she always
knew how and when to intervene whenever Dorothy was in serious
trouble. This illustrates God's sovereignty, omniscience, and
benevolence. Because Dorothy and her friends were walking
innocently and blamelessly, God saw to it that no harm would
befall them. Despite every attempt of the forces of evil, they
remained uninjured, even in the face of what, at one point,
appeared to be certain death.
When Dorothy, Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion
arrived at the gates of the Emerald city, they were told, "But
nobody can see the great Oz. Nobody's ever seen the great Oz."
Indeed, in the Scriptures it says that no one can see God and
live. Yet, when it was mentioned that the good witch had sent
Dorothy, and that this was evident by the ruby slippers, they
were admitted into the gates of the city." The fact that she was
wearing the ruby slippers made all of the difference. Those who
continue in obedience will be rewarded with entrance into the
gates of the heavenly city itself, the new Jerusalem.
The Emerald city was a place of tremendous rejoicing and
freedom, in which people would go to work at 12:00 and come home
at 1:00. When Dorothy and her friends first came upon it, a
heavenly song could be heard, according to which this was "the
most glorious place on the face of the earth." Inside, there was
rejoicing and laughing. The inhabitants were singing and
laughing away. The words to one of the songs included the
phrase, "that's how we laugh the day away in the merry old land
of Oz."
But the wicked witch hoped to obtain the ruby slippers by
threatening Dorothy, and wrote with smoke in the sky using her
broomstick, very ominously, "Surrender Dorothy!" The witch meant
this for evil, but it became the very thing which gave Dorothy
and her companions entree into the presence of the Wizard of Oz
himself. At first, when they wanted to see him, they were again
told that nobody could see the wizard of Oz. But then, scarecrow
said, "But this is Dorothy!"
"The witch's Dorothy?" he was asked in horror. This put a
whole new light on the matter. The end result of the evil
tactics of the wicked witch was that the innocent victims of her
threats were brought into a place of greater security and into a
place of greater likelihood of realizing their deepest hopes and
dreams. So will it always be in the conflict between good and
evil. Evil serves to drive us into the arms of God,
accomplishing the very opposite of its objective of separating us
from Him.
But very often, God will require that we step out in faith
to do what would, to all appearances, seem to be impossible. The
wizard says, "Bring me the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the
West. . . . Bring me her broomstick and I'll grant your
requests." There is no way, humanly speaking, that these four
frail creatures could possibly have fulfilled a request of this
kind. Very often, God appears to require the impossible of us.
But what He wants us to realize is that we can, indeed,
accomplish anything that He puts before us, with His help. God
helps us when we find ourselves in impossible situations.
To all outward appearances, to fetch the broomstick of the
wicked with would seem an impossible task. But with the help of
God, all things are possible. He will ask us to do what seems
impossible, but whenever He calls us to do something, He will
also always provide the grace and the means by which we can
accomplish it. And then, it will be as if by magic that we are
able to do it, because of His anointing.
Dorothy was innocent and compassionate. When acting out of
compassion, she conquered all wickedness by throwing water on the
scarecrow who was on fire, thereby accidentally eliminating the
witch. She said, in all sincerity, "I didn't mean to kill her.
Really I didn't. It's just that he was on fire."
Dorothy's innocence is a portrayal of the innocence of the
saint, or believer in Christ. She means no harm by throwing
water upon the scarecrow; in fact she means good. Yet this
brings about the demise of the witch. Evil is vanquished
automatically when we seek to do good only and do not seek to
return evil for evil. Dorothy was ingenuous and innocent. It
was these qualities within her that enabled her to conquer over
the forces of evil, without even necessarily intending to.
When they tried to glorify Dorothy for vanquishing evil, she
did not take credit for it. When we are obedient to God, all of
the powers of wickedness are defeated, yet we can claim no credit
for this. We may be elevated to the status of heroes and
heroines, yet it is really through no doing of our own. God
exalts the humble, and Dorothy became a heroine throughout all of
Oz without the slightest intention on her part of receiving fame.
Such an idea had actually never even entered her mind.
Dorothy is also a model of selfless resignation to whatever
circumstances God will allow, with no bitterness or anger.
Toward the end of the film, she said that she knew that the
Wizard of Oz didn't have anything for her. She didn't try to
force his hand. She didn't consider herself deserving. And she
was rewarded for her gracious attitude by his offer to take her
back to Kansas with him.
But she died a death to this when circumstances were such
that it didn't work out. When the wizard of Oz, in his attempt
to take Dorothy with him back to Kansas, began to rise in his
balloon without Dorothy, she appeared to be left in a place of no
hope. The wizard was quickly disappearing, and she thought he
was her only hope. Yet, in her moment of despair, God
intervened. Suddenly, magically, help came upon the scene.
Dorothy was told, "Look, here's someone who can HELP you," and
Glinda appeared and provided the very answer that she needed for
her situation.
And so it is for those who follow the path of the Lord--the
path of righteousness. While Dorothy and her companions were
traveling along the path that they were directed to follow, they
encountered evil of various kinds, and it was at times very
frightening, but they always managed to get through it safely.
If we are obedient, God will get us through the frightening and
evil things we encounter, and He will actually grant us great
success in our spiritual battles.
Yet, when all is said and done, we cannot take credit for
success in finishing the course, or fulfilling His call. We can
only obey God and wait for Him to do the impossible. We are only
able put into operation God-given courage, love, and obedience,
and He takes care of the rest. The end result will be the
destruction of evil.