The Gospel According to Once Upon a Time
#8 – Flying Without Feathers
Isaiah 40:28-31 (GNT)
By John Gill ~ August 28, 2024

You know, kids say amazing things. When our children were young, our son Benjamin and I we're driving somewhere in the car, and out of the blue, he said - in a very serious tone - “If people could fly, they wouldn't need cars.” I said, “Yes, I suppose you're right.” Then he added, “But we'd still need roads so we'd know how to get where we want to go.”

Being able to fly… For thousands of years people have fantasized about being able to fly; and even now that we can take to the air in planes and rockets, we still wonder what it would be like to be able to fly -like a bird -or like a plane- or like Superman! When I was a little boy, I did what I imagine most boys in America still do - I remember tying a bath towel around my neck and, pretending to be Superman, leapt off the sofa seeing how long I could be airborne before I crash-landed. I can still remember some of the vivid dreams I had as a child in which I actually experienced the heady sensation of zooming through the stratosphere; what complete and total freedom! Those dreams seemed so real that, when I would wake up, I would be sure that, in the night, God had bestowed on me supernatural abilities - that, if I could just believe it were true, I could climb up on the roof of the house and, with one great leap, take off, and never land. (Fortunately, I never actually had that much faith!)

Looking back on those fantasies, they seemed so ridiculous, so childish that I'm almost embarrassed to confess them to you. But you know what? When you think about it, it's not so ridiculous to want to fly.

As Christians, we understand that desire to fly, for we too long to soar. It's a major theme in scripture as well as in our hymns, that, with God's grace and power, we are not shackled to this world of sin we call home, but can soar above it, victorious in this life. We can even take wing right up to heaven itself!

It's not by accident that one of the most enduring symbols of the resurrected life is the butterfly, because God did not create us to die as caterpillars, but to be given the beautiful wings of flight. “But those who wait upon the Lord… will mount up with wings like Eagles…” “O that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest…” “Then, we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds… to them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever…” “Some glad morning, when this life is o’re, I'll fly away!”

No, it's not childish to want to fly. In a real sense, it is what the Christian life is all about.

As you may know, this is the 8th sermon in a series I'm preaching on “The Gospel According to ‘Once Upon a Time,’” in which we are looking at familiar stories of our childhood and seeing what biblical and eternal truths they might teach us. Probably one of the most popular stories of all time is the story of an elephant who dreams he can fly. Do you remember his name?

Dumbo? No! You're wrong! That's what the other elephants called him. His given name was… anybody remember? Jumbo Jr. (Oh, now THERE is a good trivia question for you!) But we can still call him Dumbo.

You might remember that Dumbo was born in a circus, and was very popular with the other elephants - that is, until they noticed a certain feature of his appearance that stood out - his gigantic years! Poor Dumbo was unmercifully picked on by the other elephants, so much so that he was forced to be a clown (and he wasn't even very good at that). Dejected, he is befriended by a tiny mouse named… Timothy! Timothy becomes sort of his agent. Timothy knows there must be something special about those ears that could make Dumbo the star of the circus. But he doesn't have a clue what that would be.

Then one night, as Dumbo sleeps, he dreams something remarkable. He dreams he can fly. But that is ridiculous! Everyone knows elephants can't fly!

But when Dumbo wakes up, he finds himself high in a tree, and, startled, he immediately falls out with a crash. Timothy is amazed and wants to know what happened, but Dumbo doesn't have the slightest idea how he got there. The mystery is solved, however, by a flock of crows who witnessed the whole thing. They SAW the elephant fly.

Timothy realizes that this is the key to Dumbo's future. But there is a problem. Dumbo does not remember ever flying. So, the challenge becomes - how to convince Dumbo that he really can fly. And, I’ll let Walt Disney pick-up the story from there:

Show video clip 1

https://www.google.com/search?q=dumbo+magic+feather+video+clip&sca_esv=37cfade011399915&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWILSxUTNlDwzIu4IiFS43iHxWgQxhQ%3A1724016156785&source=hp&ei=HGbCZu_-LeTzkPIP882k6A8&iflsig=AL9hbdgAAAAAZsJ0LMzvVRIjSCmS06G5NR2nzA5ChzEh&ved=0ahUKEwjv_PDUvP-HAxXkOUQIHfMmCf0Q4dUDCBg&uact=5&oq=dumbo+magic+feather+video+clip&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6Ih5kdW1ibyBtYWdpYyBmZWF0aGVyIHZpZGVvIGNsaXAyBRAhGKABMgUQIRigATIFECEYoAEyBRAhGKABSPx1ULUTWPZzcAZ4AJABAZgBgQKgAcskqgEGMC4zMy4yuAEDyAEA-AEBmAIooAKSJKgCCsICBxAjGCcY6gLCAhMQABiABBixAxiDARiKBRhGGPkBwgILEC4YgAQYsQMYgwHCAhEQLhiABBixAxjRAxiDARjHAcICCxAuGIAEGMcBGK8BwgIOEAAYgAQYsQMYgwEYigXCAg4QLhiABBjHARiOBRivAcICDhAuGIAEGLEDGNEDGMcBwgILEC4YgAQY0QMYxwHCAg4QLhiABBixAxiDARiKBcICBBAjGCfCAgoQIxiABBgnGIoFwgIFEAAYgATCAgsQABiABBixAxiDAcICCBAuGIAEGLEDwgILEAAYgAQYsQMYyQPCAgsQABiABBiSAxiKBcICCxAuGIAEGLEDGNQCwgIIEAAYgAQYsQPCAg4QLhiABBixAxiDARjUAsICBRAuGIAEwgIOEC4YgAQYsQMYxwEYrwHCAgYQABgWGB7CAgsQABiABBiGAxiKBcICCBAAGIAEGKIEwgIJEC4YgAQYChgNwgIQEC4YxwEYCBgKGA0YHhivAcICCBAAGAgYDRgewgIHEAAYgAQYDcICDRAuGIAEGMcBGA0YrwHCAgYQABgNGB7CAggQABgNGB4YD8ICCBAAGAUYDRgewgIIEAAYFhgeGA_CAgUQIRirAsICBRAhGJ8FmAMIkgcGNi4zMy4xoAeWlgI&sclient=gws-wiz#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:203a7318,vid:HAV9TGctF1E,st:0

So, what was the solution? A gimmick! A magic feather. With that feather clutched tightly in his trunk, Dumbo believed that he could fly. But, when he lost the feather he was in trouble. When it got right down to it, Dumbo's ability to fly had nothing to do with his feather, but everything to do with his faith. And therein, is “The Gospel According to Dumbo.”

You see, when it comes to the spiritual life and our hope of salvation, lots of us clutch our own magic feathers, convinced that they can make us fly - only to discover, when they slip out of our hands, that the key to soaring spiritually has nothing to do with feathers, but everything to do with our faith.

Like Dumbo, you and I cling to magic feathers. What are some of the feathers you and I might be placing our hope in?

As I mentioned last Sunday, some of us clutch tightly onto the feather of good works. We have convinced ourselves that we can fly to heaven based solely on all the good things we do - the brownie points we think we have earned with God. But, over and over again, scripture exposes the folly of that way of thinking: “For by grace you have been saved through faith,” Paul says in

his letter to the Ephesians, “and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God- not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” If the Bible is to be believed, there will be a lot of faithless do-gooders in hell, still clutching their false magic feathers of good works.

There are others of us hanging our hopes on the feather of someone else's faith: kids and young adults who grew up in the church, but now only go to church on special occasions or when they our home to visit mom and dad; husbands and wives who may say they believe, but are content to let their spouse take care of the religious matters in the family. They think that they will ride the coattails of their parents or spouse’s faith right up to heaven. But they will be sorry when they stand at the pearly gates and see the sign that reads “No Feathers Allowed.”

For some, the feather they clutch is their baptism or their church membership certificate. They think that it will be their ticket to heaven. But there is a huge difference between the church’s role book and the Lambs Book of Life that we read about in The Book of Revelation, in which is written the names of all those who are saved. I am constantly amazed at how many people are adamant about keeping their names on the church membership rolls, but who couldn’t care less about keeping the faith. I'm afraid there are going to be a lot of good Methodists who are going to discover that, “when the role is called up yonder…” their name won't be listed.

And in this election season, as there is talk about “Christian Nationalism,” and voting in such a way that (they believe) will restore Christianity as the bedrock of our society, it's sad to realize that there are people in America who equate patriotism and citizenship in the United States with faithfulness and citizenship in the Kingdom of God. Friends, just because we claim to live in a Christian country, (and even speak of ourselves as “God's new chosen people”), does not mean we are saved. If that is what we think, we are no better off than the Jews in Jesus day who had convinced themselves that, simply because they were “God's chosen people,” they would be guaranteed entry into heaven.

Listen to what Jesus said to the Jews who thought like that: “Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘we have Abraham as our ancestor;’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now, the axe is laid to the root of the trees; Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” In other words, neither Jewish ancestry nor a US passport will gain you entrance into heaven. It is not enough to claim that we are Christians simply because we live in a Christian country. God knows where our real allegiance lies.

Yes, we all want to fly… and we are desperately holding on to our magic feathers thinking they can save us. But the tragedy is that the feathers we think can make us fly are only gimmicks - they have no power to make us fly - they cannot save us. And, if we rely on them to give our spirits wings, we will be very disappointed, indeed. We are in for a very bumpy landing.

Then, what can make us fly? Only faith. Listen to how our text from Isaiah puts it: “Those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles.” Or, as Barbara Winter put it, “When you come to the edge of all the light you know, and are about to

step off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen: there will be something solid to stand on, or you will be taught to fly.”2 It is God, and only God who can teach us to fly.

I want you to be honest with yourself this morning. Have you been putting all your faith in a magic feather? Have you been counting on good works to get you into heaven? The faith of someone else that you assume will also cover you? Having been baptized or your name on a church roster? Living in a Christian country? Or whatever it may be that you have been relying on as a substitute for having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Whatever your feather… whatever your spiritual crutch has been, it's time to give it up and to find out for real whether or not you can fly - on your own.

In a few moments, we will be coming to receive the Lord's supper. I'm going to ask that as you come you bring your feather with you. I'd like for you to prayerfully consider what that feather might signify in your life-what false security you might have been relying on to give your spirit wings. As you put your feather in the basket, I invite you to imagine yourself letting go of that fraudulent feather - to give up your spiritual crutch, and then, to ask God to give you the faith-to fly.

© 2024 by John B. Gill, III

Footnote:

Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or percentage of a work. Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on all the circumstances. See, Fair Use Index, and Circular 21, Reproductions of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians. https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html

1 Dumbo. Walt Disney Co. 1941 2 Winter, Barbara quote from https://jenwoo.com/ramblings/2011/01/24/when-you-come-to-the-edge-of-all-the-light-you-know-and-are-about-to-step-off-into-the-darkness-of-the-unknown-faith-is-knowing-one-of-two-things-will-happen-there-will-be-something-s-per9n