Harry at the Open Door

So here's the 5-7 minutes talk I gave at the Open Door last night. It was well received, and the millions of revisions paid off, because some of my earlier versions would have overlapped too heavily with the actual sermon (which was fabulous.) I'm a real fan of the guy who gave the sermon. He's a seminary student and truly blessed with the gift of preaching.

The scripture is Acts 17:16-34. The version I linked is The Message, a modern paraphrase/translation. So here's my talk:

In the passage we’re about to hear, Paul is connecting with the Athenians on their turf. He comes at them with their literature and points out where their culture has made room for the one true God. So that’s why I thought it was important to bring up Harry Potter. Harry Potter is this huge cultural icon and if you have read any of the books or seen any of the movies, you instantly have something to talk about to most American adults and children. So that is why I suggested to BJ that I could make a pamphlet and he suggested I come up here and give you five minutes.

You know, as a Christian, and a librarian, I shouldn’t say this, but I have not read all seven books in the Narnia series. But I have read all six Harry Potters. Why? Because JK Rowling is a fabulous writer and she’s funny. I love to laugh. If someone had said to me you have got to read Harry Potter, it’s a really funny book, I might have read it in 1997 when it first came out. As it was, I didn’t start reading the books until 2002. Because if you’re going to tell me Harry Potter is about wizards and witches, and all that stuff, I’m not instantly sold. JK Rowling hasn’t read all seven Narnia books either, and halfway through writing the first book, she was appalled to realize she was writing a fantasy book, because she’s not particularly fond of the genre. But JK Rowling can turn a phrase and draw an image in your mind, and she can make you laugh. Don’t get me wrong, I was an English major; I read serious books, but these days, if I’m reading a book for pleasure, it had better have some jokes. For me a book has got to be about relationships and it’s a bonus if it’s funny. Harry Potter has both of those things and more. For one, he is so human: he is just as messed up as the rest of us. He falls in love, he’s got a crush, it doesn’t work out, he fails in class, teachers are mad at him, and I mean this is the everyday sort of stuff. Don’t mistake me—there are scary parts, and Harry Potter isn’t for everyone. I’ve read book six, but I read it quickly, to bypass the unpleasant parts. Right now I’m having a real hard time listening to the last two tapes of the audio book. If art imitates life, we know there are hard times, things we don’t understand and things we have to overcome. I’m not coming here as an expert on why you or anyone should read Harry Potter. I recommend Connie Neal’s book as a resource, What’s A Christian to do with Harry Potter? Her book is an invaluable tool and I would recommend it heartily to anyone who is curious about Harry Potter. I’d like to read the last paragraph of her introduction.

"Not every Christian who will read this book will arrive at the same conclusion. I designed it to help you come to the right decision for you as you seek to please God and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life. In keeping with 1 Timothy 1:5, the goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith. Whatever decidion you come to about Harry Potter, my prayer is that this book will help us all obey Ephesians 4:3: 'Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.'"

As a Christian, I have had to defend my love of Harry Potter to friends that would make JK Rowling out to be an occult writer and the books themselves textbooks for dark magic. So I’ve read articles, and books and I’ve searched the Internet. The truth is, there are a lot of Christians that think Harry Potter is pretty cool, and not only that, his books are great evangelistic vehicles. Rowling has smuggled the gospel, some say, and her books clearly point to Christ. JK Rowling believes in God. She goes to church. (She's even a Presbyterian.) When asked if there is Christian symbolism in her books, she has said, “Well, it’s not like Dumbledore is Jesus or anything.” There are pamphlets in the back that give information about why Christians find these books important. There’s one for adults and one for parents and kids to share, and the one for kids has a booklist. It’s not a typical Harry Potter list, with books like the Narnia series, or even Lord of the Rings. The books on my list are mostly funny books that I have read with kids that have great friendships.

The story of Harry Potter is a story often told, of an orphan who finds that he comes from a great bloodline. Just about the time when kids are really being mean to kids that cry easily, Harry discovers that he is special. That he had a mother and father that loved him; in fact his mother loved him so much that she died so that he, Harry, could live. In book three, Harry discovers something else, that he had a godfather. I didn’t have a godfather, but I had a grandmother. She died this year. She was ninety-nine. We had three great years before she got sick. I was twenty-five and she was ninety-one, and in these three years she was the grandmother I’d always wanted—I called her on the phone and we talked, she wrote me letters and told me family secrets. My grandmother adopted a sea turtle in my name. She was a special person to me; she was family at a time when I didn’t feel really connected to my parents.
Before Harry meets Serius Black, his godfather, Harry longs for family. He now knows his parents loved him, but they’re dead. Sure, his professors dote on him, and are often parental figures, but they don’t give him outrageous gifts or call on him at odd hours or send him letters. Serius did all these things. Unfortunately, Serius was only in Harry’s life for a short time. But for that short time, Harry got to know what it was like to have an adult that cared for him with a fierce love. My relationship with my grandmother was special. She knew more about life than anyone I knew, and had made more mistakes than I had. My grandmother’s wide range of life experiences gave her an honesty that penetrated my life. I will never forget her. The love she expressed for me in those three years before she got really sick was radical. Isn’t that what the Christian life is all about? Radical love? Christ himself knew the pain of loss, knew he would die for all of us, and loved us, taught us how to love. This is the story of our faith, told time and again: Ruth lost a husband, married Boaz. Abraham lost his native land, and gained a nation for us all. David sinned, lost a son, and became the father of King Solomon. Job lost everything and gained it all back, double fold. We have all lost love, yet if we know Christ, we know that we will find love again. And that is why I love Harry Potter. Because he knows what it is like to love someone and lose them. He knows what it is like when the letters and phone calls stop coming. Harry Potter loves and loses, but he always loves again. This is the real magic of Harry Potter: he is the boy who continues to love.

Bibliography: Neal, Connie. What's A Christian to do with Harry Potter?. Colorado Springs: Waterbrook Press, 2001 (p.9)