The Gospel According to Oz

Seeing Oz Through Christian Eyes

These are excerpts from what I am calling pre-chapters. The idea is to get my thoughts on paper and start working on how things need to flow so that I can see areas to fill in. These excerpts will give you an idea of where I am going with this and a little on each of the main characters Dorothy meets on the road to the Emerald City. The first excerpt gives a little of the synopsis for that chapter, the others do not. In the actual book the format will always be synopsis, then explanation. These are by no means final, nor are they carved in stone. Feedback and comments/ideas are appreciated. Feel free to discuss and post ideas in the forum. Thanks for reading.

Chapter 2

Not of This World

Dorothy awakens to find that her house has rested in a land of marvelous beauty. By description it sounds very much like Earth with bright sunlight, fruit trees, a stream, and green fields. While she wonders at the beauty, three men dressed in blue and a woman dressed in white, all of small stature, come her way. They say to her:

“You are welcome, most noble Sorceress, to the land of the Munchkins. We are so grateful to you for having killed the Wicked Witch of the East, and for setting our people free from bondage.”

At this Dorothy is taken back, what could they mean? A sorceress? A murderer? They must have the wrong person. The women points out to Dorothy two feet sticking out from the house and explain that her house has crushed the Wicked Witch of the East. This upsets Dorothy, but they tell her all is fine. She has done nothing intentionally but the event has freed an enslaved people, the Munchkins. It turns out the men in blue are Munchkins. The lady is not from these parts, but is a good witch from the north. They explain to her that she is in the Land of Oz and that there were four witches, now three, two good and two bad. One bad witch has just been smashed so the Munchkins are grateful. She is also told about a wizard who lives in the middle of Oz in the City of Emeralds.

The Wicked Witch was so old that she dried up quickly in the sun. All that was left was a pair of silver shoes. When a Munchkin tells Dorothy that they have an unknown power, Dorothy retrieves them. But Dorothy is really only concerned with getting home and asks them for help. Though they have no real answers, the good witch tells her to go to the City of Emeralds. Dorothy hopes they will go with her but the good witch refuses, saying,

“I will give you my kiss, and no one will dare injure a person who has been kissed by the Witch of the North.”

She kisses Dorothy’s forehead leaving a round shining mark. With final directions that the way to the city is paved with yellow brick, they are gone.

The Overcomer

We already looked at the death of Jesus as God’s plan to make us clean in His eyes so that we could have perfect relationship with Him. Now I’d like to see what else happened because of this sacrificial death. The house falling is a symbol of the death of Jesus. Dorothy had no control over the situation, but as she accepted it, she gained special privilege. And the house freed a people in bondage. As human beings we are in bondage to the rebellion against God that we each harbor naturally. Everyday we struggle or simply submit to these desires that we sometimes hate. Jesus’ death set us free from that bondage. He took that rebellion and it died with Him on that cross. When we accept this, we get special privileges.

Those privileges not only include a perfect relationship with God but we also gain eternal life or victory over death. In the Bible death is a consequence of our rebellion. God’s perfect judgment requires it. Separation from God is spiritual death. Right relationship with God is spiritual life or eternal life. Just as the Munchkin’s are no longer in bondage to the witch, we are no longer in bondage to the rebellion or the consequential death. So the witch is a symbol of that rebellion and death. It has been overcome.

But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through Jesus, death and sin has been overcome. Sin is the Bible’s word for that rebellion we’ve been talking about. This verse says that as followers of God, when we die, our bodies that are mortal will become immortal. The sting of natural death is overcome with spiritual life, eternal life. But wait, we said Jesus died. That’s the part where we see the overcomer in action, He did not stay dead but came back to life three days later. Only a perfect person could face death and overcome it. That’s what Jesus did. We can be assured of our coming back to life because of the fact that He did. Jesus told one of His followers who was mourning over the death of her brother, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” Believing this is crucial to making it through this life. Not only do we not have to fear death, we don’t have to fear it for loved ones who have accepted God’s gift. Peace and hope reside in a life devoid of fear.

We have seen that the Wicked Witch of the East represents sin and death. We will see later that the Wicked Witch of the West represents the devil and temptation. The Bible tells us, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” East and west don’t ever meet, this is why these directions are used rather that north and south. North eventually becomes south and vice versa. So the witches are not only a representation of evil but the directions associated with them represents how God views evil in relation to us when we personally accept His plan. It is no longer a factor in His eyes. We are seen as clean.

This brings us to the gift Dorothy received which is another special privilege that correlates to one we receive. The good witch sealed her with a kiss on her forehead. Dorothy is told that this will protect her. The good witch also gives Dorothy guidance in that she tells her what direction to head and the way to get there. We get the same thing in another part of God’s nature, His Spirit. This Spirit is a promise of our privileges but the Spirit also serves as a guide for us. The Bible tells us, “you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance.” and “But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth.” So what is truth? We already saw that Jesus said He was the truth. We see here that the Spirit guides us to the point that we can understand the truth as we have already talked about, that God had a plan, Jesus fulfilled that plan and now the Spirit is pointing us to that plan. When we accept the plan as fact, He then seals us in Jesus so that we can be in perfect relationship with God, who now sees us as clean, and pure. We are protected for this journey we call life but we are not only protected for life because death is no more, we have eternal life. Jesus once told a seeker, "For God so loved the world , that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Not of This World

The Scarecrow is a picture of an unfortunate problem in the church today. That problem is one of lack of preparation and teaching of new Christians. The Scarecrow had only been made the day before yesterday and put right to work, just as people often make a decision to follow God and instantly they are put to work in the church. They don’t know why they are serving or how. They just know they have been told what to do, whether it’s going door-to-door witnessing or whether it be keeping the nursery. Rather than spend time getting the milk of God’s word that a “baby” Christian would need, they are off serving, which is not a bad thing in itself. They lack foundation and that renewing of the mind that we mentioned. A new Christian needs different information than one who has lived the Christian life for years upon years. That perfect relationship with God has to be developed from our side of things. Perhaps sin patterns need to be broken, guilt needs to be dealt with or maybe it’s just that knowledge needs to be attained. Whatever the case we are all different and whatever the case it takes time. Instead of taking the time, the new Christian works, and works, and works and then burns out. When there is not a solid foundation, there is no protective covering, and burn out becomes very real. You can imagine if the Scarecrow had to hang there very much longer. Two days and frustration had already set in. First day, excitement, the crows stayed away. Second day, failure, they were mocking him. Day three what happens? The crows get together and disassemble the scarecrow to make nests? His future was dim indeed and so is that of the untaught or undiscipled Christian. To be a disciple means to be a “follower of” and if the new Christian only has the shallowest of information about God and His plan for his life then how can he be an effective follower?

As we observe, learn and practice what we observe and learn, we will mature so that we can effectively serve. It will be harder for someone to mislead us with false teachings and lies. If the Scarecrow had been trained, he would not have become frustrated so easily. If he had known the crows were so aggressive and tricky, things may have been different. So many Christians are afraid of what they may encounter from family or friends outside the church that they completely avoid any reference to Christianity and never share the good news that is a part of it. They are paralyzed by fear that someone may ask a question they can’t answer or don’t understand. The Scarecrow didn’t even know he had a story because he had never shared it with anyone. It’s a sad fact, but there is hope. We will soon see the Scarecrow thrive when joined with others that act as examples and he blooms with the same kind of confidence that we need. What he perceived as lack of brains, will become unimportant when in a group and he is fulfilling his role.

Chapter 3

First Love Lost

What a sad picture we see of the Tin Woodman. Dorothy’s reaction reminds us of a story Jesus told about a man who had been hurt by robbers and left for dead. People continually passed him, seeing his situation but choosing to ignore him. Finally a man, a Samaritan, one of the most despised people of the day, passed by and had compassion on the man and helped him. The Tin Woodman could have been here for another year or perhaps more if it were not for the trio passing his way but that would be worthless if they weren‘t willing to help. Dorothy certainly had better things to focus on, but nonetheless took the time to be compassionate and help. She essentially breathed new life into him when she oiled him. From Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan,

…a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. Luke 10:33-34 (NASB)

The Tin Woodman’s story is fantastic in the truest sense of the word. Something like this could never happen but we can accept it because love is at the “heart” of it. His love for the Munchkin girl is quenched by the Wicked Witch of the East. Remember her? The symbol of sin and death? She can no longer enslave him but the damage is done. He has lost his first love. What he has lost is not a physical heart but a symbolic heart, passion. He has lost his passion when he lost his true love. His true love was lost because of sin. Ironically enough on the Table of Periodic Elements the chemical symbol for Tin is Sn. In Revelation 2 we see a letter written to a church in a city called Ephesus. First we see commendation; I know your deeds and your toil…and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. Then we see a problem; "But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first…"

They left their first love. It’s not that they weren’t Christians anymore but that they had let sin get in the way. They had persevered, as certainly as the Tin Woodman had in his quest but had eventually lost the passion to keep on. Good passions and desire, real love, was replaced by sin. It wasn’t long before pride set in and he was in a worse predicament than ever. Fortunately, the good news that Dorothy and the Scarecrow were able to share was all it took to get the Tin Woodman back on the right track. Some compassion and a ray of hope was all he needed and he was ready to go. Ready to serve in whatever way needed. Even if it meant clearing the road for others to safely continue in the way.

Chapter 4

Bold as a Lion

From the time the Lion was born, he supposed, he had been a coward. In reality when he was born, he had a title, “King of the Beasts.” Rather than accept that he was king, he chose to deny it and live fearfully. Constantly afraid that someone would find out he was a fake, that he was really a coward and not fit to be king. This made him no less a king except to himself and he was unable to relate to those around him as king because he avoided them. Oddly enough, when a little girl slaps him on the nose, he suddenly becomes vulnerable and all the fears of his life come rushing out. The insecurities that he has felt all this time, and hidden from the other animals, are suddenly exposed. What exposed his insecurities? The friends on their journey of hope exposed them.

Let’s turn this back on us, as Christians we are reborn so to speak into God’s family. We are no longer orphans but children of our real Father. With that comes privilege as we have seen already. The bottom line is that we are children of the King. We could choose to deny the gift that God has given us and deny the heritage that is now ours, but if we do we will live defeated lives. It’s not the life God intended. God tells us He wants us to live an abundant life, not a life of going around pretending we are something we aren’t. In the Lion’s case he was having to pretend he was something that actually was but just couldn’t accept. As is the case with the other characters, we will see the Lion flourish under the friendship of the group. We will see the value of community. When we come along side each other to help each other on the journey, we flourish. When we fulfill our individual roles, no matter how insignificant we view them, we flourish.