Of Witches and Wizards

Proper 11 + Year A (RCL)

It is hard to have lived anywhere in the world during the past 14 years and not have become aware of Harry Potter and the amazing literary success of the books and films. It is estimated that the total income from all sources surrounding Harry Potter is over 15 billion dollars (US$). What can explain that world-wide interest and willingness to pay so much for books, videos, clothing, toys, and all the other things that are for sale, including an entire section of the Universal Orlando Resort in Florida?

I think that three things attract us to the story. First, it is about teen-agers – young people who are just finding themselves and who are suddenly thrust into a battle for control of the world. This kind of story is hard to resist. The adolescents are brave, a bit naïve, and subject to all the challenges of growing up, but they have no choice except to enter the age-old battle with evil.

In a sense, every teen-ager does exactly the same thing. With growing freedom and the power to make their own decisions, today’s teens face temptation and evil all the time. Most of them, thank God, manage to survive and even resist the worst temptations. Some, however, do indeed go over to the “dark side” (to mix metaphors and movies), and fall prey to the lure of the world. In terms of today’s Gospel reading [Matthew 13:24-30], they find themselves trapped in the weeds, struggling to grow and blossom against the forces that would choke out the goodness in them.

Another attraction of the story is that it is simply riveting. JK Rowling, the author, really knows how to tell a good tale. The plot is compelling, the characters are developed to the point that we feel we know each of them personally, and the entire scene is fascinating. And of course the film’s special effects, such as dragons, unicorns, and flying broomsticks, add to the visual experience.

Finally, the story grips us because it addresses a fundamental question which human beings have faced since our earliest ancestors: why is there evil in the world, and what can we do about it?

It’s no secret that the entire series, beginning with the first of the books in 1997, has been somewhat controversial because of the subject that it considers: witchcraft. I live in a community where there are parents who refuse to allow their children to dress up and go trick-or-treating on Hallowe’en. These parents believe that dressing as witches, ghosts, and monsters is a form of worship of the Devil.

Let’s look a bit at that idea. There is a lot we could say about the character of Satan in the Bible, but I would like to focus today only on witches, as they may be found in Scripture.

The Hebrew Scriptures accept the existence of witches and the practice of witchcraft, and they condemn it. We can find condemnations of witchcraft and sorcery in the Books of Deuteronomy [Deuteronomy 18:9-11], Second Kings [2 Kings 9:21-23], Second Chronicles [2 Chronicles 33:6b], and the prophet Micah [Micah 5:12]. The Christian Testament only mentions witchcraft once, in Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, where it is listed among the sins of the flesh [Galatian 5:19-21].

Perhaps the most dramatic portrayal of witches in the Bible occurs after the death of the prophet Samuel. King Saul is left without his trusted advisor (although he had not paid a lot of attention to the advice that Samuel had offered in the past). Desperate to know what to do in the face of the Philistine armies, Saul consults a medium. She has been called down through history “the witch of Endor.” At first she is terrified, fearing that Saul, who has officially made witchcraft a crime, has come to trap her. But he assures her that he only wants her services as a medium, and he commands her to bring forth the spirit of Samuel. To Saul’s dismay, once Samuel appears, he tells Saul that his reign as king is about to end, and that his armies will be defeated and the kingdom given to David. [I Samuel 28:3-20]

Clearly, the existence of witchcraft was accepted as a reality in the Bible – one that must be condemned and never practiced. So, let us ask ourselves a question: are we, as modern Christians, supposed to believe in such things? Are we to agree that people can call up the spirits of the dead, cast spells, and do all the other things that witches are supposed to be able to do, because “it’s in the Bible”?

In short, the answer is “no.” Here’s why.

From the earliest times, human beings have felt powerless in the face of the things that happen to us. People die, often unexpectedly and in terrible disasters. Our own loved ones are taken from us; we fear the terrible illnesses and brutal accidents that can kill or maim us. It is therefore only natural that we should ask “why?” and “how can we be protected from these fates?”

We have no way of knowing when the first human being got the idea that there were supernatural powers that controlled, or could prevent, the terrible things that happen to us, but it is clear that such ideas have existed for a very long time. Every religion deals with these questions in some way, even if only to say, “there’s nothing you can do – you just have to accept it.”

Also from the earliest times, it appears that there have been people who either sincerely believed that they possessed special powers to answer these questions, or who took advantage of the situation and persuaded those around them that they had magical abilities. From these, we get mediums, spiritists, and even those who are identified – by themselves or by others – as witches.

How, then, are we to respond?

First, it is entirely true that there are supernatural powers. The word “supernatural” means “above nature.” A supernatural power is one that exists outside the confines of our physical world, one that can intervene in the laws of nature. There is indeed such a power – it is called “God.” God created the universe and set it to working according to natural laws, such as the laws of physics. God liked the  creation – at the end of each “day” in Genesis, we read, “and God saw that it was good.” [e.g. Genesis 1:10 NRSV]

This tells us that a loving God prepared a wonderful home for you and me, a home where we could depend on natural forces to work in such a way that we are able to eat and drink, to live long lives, to fill this planet with God’s children. This is a good place, or at least it started out that way. But something went awry along the way. As we say to God in Eucharistic Prayer C, “You made us the rulers of creation. But we turned against you and betrayed your trust; and we turned against one another.” [Book of Common Prayer 1979, page 370] The Eucharistic Prayer for Immigrants says it even better in Spanish: “…we fell into sin and turned our backs on you. We took responsibility for that which was yours and we mistreated it; we turned one against the other and turned the paradise which you entrusted to us into a hell of pain and misery.” […nosotros caímos en pecado y te dimos la espalda. Nos apropiamos de lo que era tuyo y le pusimos un cilicio de alambradas; nos volvimos unos contra otros e hicimos del paraíso que nos encomendaste un infierno de dolor y de miseria.]

Once we humans had made a mess of this wonderful world that Our Father created for us as a home, we fell into despair. How are we going to make things right again? How can we get back to what this world was meant to be? To whom can we turn for help? At that point, persons who saw an opportunity took advantage of the situation. “I can help you,” they said. “I will compel the powers, the spirits, the elements, and I will make them obey.” Sometimes, it must have looked like these people succeeded, because many came to believe in them and follow them. But if anything at all worked out the way that these deceivers predicted, it was merely a coincidence or an ordinary outcome of nature following God’s laws.

There is only one supernatural power – it’s that simple. Anything else is a fake, a coincidence, or a thing that is misunderstood. There are no witches, wizards, mediums, or anyone else who has any power to control the universe – only God. Now, this does not mean that God does not act through human beings. Jesus calmed the sea and storm. He healed the sick and raised the dead. He even left some of his authority and power with his disciples and those whom they ordained – the awesome power to forgive sins and commemorate the Last Supper. However, no priest or bishop has any power of his or her own, only a tiny share in the absolute and unique power of God.

So, how do we react to the Harry Potter books and movies? It’s simple – we see them as harmless entertainment, a fictional escape from reality. We watch the adventures and misadventures of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and we fear for them when they are in danger and rejoice when they escape. At the end, we are glad that evil has been conquered and good has triumphed, but we never confuse the mythology in these stories with the reality that only God has any power over evil.

And so we can answer those two basic questions that have haunted humanity since the beginning:

Why do these terrible things happen in a world that God created as “good”?

Because of the evil things that we have done and continue to do.

How can we escape the inevitable consequences of the evil that we have brought into the world?

Only by turning to God– the only supernatural Being who really exists – in faith and prayer; by acknowledging, as we prayed this morning, that God “knows our necessities before we ask” We waste our time if we look to witchcraft or mediums for help. Instead, we call upon Our Loving Father to “mercifully give us those things which, for our unworthiness, we dare not – and, for our blindness, we cannot ask.” [Collect for Proper 11, Book of Common Prayer 1979, page 231]

It’s fine to escape into a fantasy world and enjoy the adventures of imaginary characters, even when they represent a false hope and a eons-old deception. But we know to Whom we need to turn when we really need help – the only supernatural power that exists: God our Loving Creator, Redeemer, and Sustaining Spirit. Amen.