Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Psalms 37:4-6
I was just informed I’m a baby boomer. I had been under the impression that I missed this significant generation by being born in 1961. Someone recently educated me and told me that the cut off was 1964. So I now belong to a group of 73 million people, or is it 73 million people plus one? Being an honorary member of this generation means there are some experiences I can relate to that perhaps the X or Y generation would consider (gulp) old or antiquated. One experience involves family rides in the country. This meant packing up our Malibu station wagon with my twin brother and I in the “way” back – without safety belts. We didn’t have luxuries like Dvd players, Ipods, or CD players. If we were “plugged in” for trips, it was a single ear bud that we would wear while trying to tune in our transistor radio to a cool radio station with a signal that would hopefully last twenty miles. Another exciting event that we would look forward to revolved around the eager anticipation of watching annually aired shows broadcasted on TV. We didn’t have videos or ways that we could watch “on demand” any show we wanted, therefore, when a particular show was set to be broadcasted, we were there with our fake wood and golden edged TV trays in the living room with all eyes excitedly glued to the tube. One such show that stirred the talk of kids young and old in the surrounding neighborhood was, The Wizard of Oz. When it comes to Great movies, The Wizard of Oz is listed number six by the American Film Institute. I remember sitting on our orange and green shag carpet, totally absorbed by the movie and its characters. As I consider now those characters it occurs to me that there are some great lessons that can be learned from this show.
As a child I probably could relate most to the scarecrow - if I only had a brain. I’m sure my parents would have agreed with this characterization as they reflected on some of the stunts I attempted such as trying to fly off our neighbor’s house with palm flax tied to my arms - Hey, it worked for Gilligan! As disciples the bible encourages us to keep our brains protected by wearing our helmet of salvation. (Eph 6:17) When we forget the salvation God has given us, we become nearsighted and blind. (2nd Peter 1:9) That is why we must Eagerly Examine Everyday God’s scriptures. (Acts 17:11) How are you doing in your daily devotional times with God? What jewels have you dug up lately? Are you open with the people in your life regarding struggles with your quiet times? We’ve got to be honest and faithful with our relationship with God. Seek advice on what to study if you’re stuck.
Secondly, there was the tin man. He had no heart. How many of us have misplaced our hearts? Disciple of Jesus, where is your heart? If the words used to answer this question sounds like, “Well you don’t know or You got to understand that…” then your heart is probably missing. You got to find it! Perhaps we are heartless or unloving to our wives or our brothers and sisters. It can be easy for us in our sinful nature to draw a line in our heart etched by the engraver of selfishness and pride. We can contemplate in our hearts who we will fellowship with and who we want nothing to do with. This is never right! The bible says that the world will know we are Christians by our love for one another.(John 13:34-34) Perhaps our hearts are not being affected by the scriptures because they have become hard.(Mark 4:15) Maybe we have allowed the cares and worries of the world to choke out our love for God and His mission.(Mark 4:18) We can’t do this! With out a heart engaged for God we are worse than a Tin man.
Dorothy was the star of the show, she was also a good skipper! Dorothy grows discontented with her life and wishes for something different, something over the rainbow. Sadly, as disciples we can be deceived just as Dorothy was. We can search for the elusive promise of joy and happiness away from home; away from God, his church, and the scriptures. (Eccl 1:12-2:26) For some, that has been their journey for the last three to four years. Like Dorothy we need to come to our senses and realize what God has given us through His church and our relationship with Him. That his kingdom is something far better than anything the world can offer.(Luke 15:17) When the tornados of life hit we must turn to God and hold on to him for dear life or else we will be swept away.
Lastly, there is my favorite character, The “Cowardly” lion. How could you not love this guy! As a random thought, what would our lives be like if we ran from sin the way he runs from the Wizard?! I also liked the lyrics of his song:
Courage! What makes a King out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to
wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk, in the misty mist or the dusky
dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage!
It seems to me that as Christians, the battle within our hearts for courage and boldness is continual. We want to do great things for God, but we are afraid. Perhaps we are emotionally fearful or are simply afraid of failure. Tornados can leave people paralyzed and crippled. Maybe because of these fears we have hidden our God given potential and our service to the master as described in the Parable of the Talents. (Matthew 25:25) Maybe we are afraid of sharing our faith boldly. At one point the cowardly lion was afraid of little tiny Toto. When we are out of practice of being bold and courageous, we become “Dandy” lions. We lose our edge and our convictions. No longer do we resemble our King, “The Lion of Judah”. (Rev. 5:5) How is your evangelism going? Think about this week…who have you invited to come to church? If not many, why not? Are you out of Courage? There is only one way to get it back and that is to do courage required events. (Joshua 1:6-7, 9) It was only after the Lion helped to destroy the wicked witch of the west that he gained his valor. When we find ourselves in situations that require courage it teaches us a few lessons. First we learn how much we need God and his strength to do the impossible. This means more time on our knees. Paul himself struggled with boldness and courage at times. Paul pleads with the disciples in Ephesus to pray for him to have courage and boldness, “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”(Eph 6:19-20) We need to pray for each other for boldness. We also must have the same conviction as Paul that we Should be fearless when it comes to sharing the gospel with the lost. Secondly it shows us how much we need each other. What is discipleship anyways? It’s a scarecrow, a lion, a tin man, and a girl working together to complete a grand mission. It’s friendship. A great scripture that defines discipleship is found in Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”. It’s interesting to note that the Lion had a heart, the tin man had a brain, and the scarecrow had courage. We need each other to help and complete each other. We also need to love one another dearly from the heart. (1st Peter 1:22) That means when someone is in a bunker and a tornados starts to sweep them away, we don’t forget them, we look for them. We find them and we do what we can to heal their wounds and get them strong again.
The Wizard of Oz ends happily. Dorothy returns home and our heroes receive the desires of their hearts. God wants to give us the desires of our heart.(Psalms 37:4-6) Let’s commit our ways to Him, trust in Him and see what He does with our lives. At times there will be tornados, other times their will be the whispering of Satan threatening, “I’ll get you my little pretty”. We just might find ourselves on an unexpected journey smack Dab in the Land of Oz. That is when we need to remember Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will direct your paths”. There will be times when we find ourselves lost in the land of Oz. Even when we are lost and confused God will help us find our way home if we simply trust in Him and follow His Yellow brick road – the Bible. Than, when we have arrived back home to the family of the believers, the company of the committed and the arms of our heavenly Father, we will realize that Being Home with God is better than anything over the rainbow!
