Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Did you ever stop and think about the similarities between the Wizard of Oz story and Christian discipleship? Look, – an unfulfilled farm girl is looking for happiness in the glitz and glamour of the carnival.
She’s on a path to disaster when her world is turned upside down (literally). She lands safely, but in a strange new world.
In this new life she finds a community of people willing to help her on her walk. She finds the way is made perfectly clear to her.
She finds an advocate in the good witch. Someone who helps her fight evil. Because evil does pursue her but can’t overpower her.
Hmm…
Isn’t that what Christian discipleship is all about? Sometimes God turns our world upside down to keep us from disaster. He offers us a new life in him. If we choose the new life, we have the Church, our community, to help us.
The way made clear to us. Jesus said “I am the Way.”
An advocate in the Holy Spirit, and victory over evil in Christ’s death.
Have you set out on the path of discipleship?
Or are you still in Kansas?
Strap on those ruby slippers and start skipping!
Scripture Verses:
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.”
John 14:16-17
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you.
Galatians 2:20
Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.
Discussion Questions:
- Has God ever shaken your world to get your attention?
- What do you think it means to be a disciple? Do you consider yourself a disciple?
- What keeps you from following Jesus more closely?
- What do you think it means when Jesus says “I am the Way?”
- What is your reaction when you hear the promise that we have a new life in Christ? Does that excite you, scare you, confuse you?