I have arrived at a well-known passage in C.S. Lewis Chronicles. In the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe the Sons of Adam and Eve are seeking for a solution to rescue the lovely Mr. Tumnus. The Beaver quickly shatters their intention when they speak of the witch who turns people into stone. The Beaver, however, does not leave them hopeless. He believes Aslan is on the move. When Aslan arrives:
Wrong will be made right, Aslan comes in sight, At the Sound of his roar, sorrow will be no more, When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.
Susan appears troubled by such description and wonders whether Aslan is safe. “Safe?” said the Beaver…who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King.”
Such descriptions of the great King have been vastly quoted, and rightly so. C.S. Lewis penetrates into the real biblical analogies. He strips away the superficiality. Randy Alcorn observes: “God is good. But until we understand the truth that He is not safe.” The “safeness” of God is conditioned upon adoption. If we are in him we find his arms to be protective, but when we are against him, we have every right to fear God. Ecclesiastes 8:13 says, “Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them.” The Psalmist declares that God is our shield. Lewis understood this quite well. In this particular narrative he zooms in on meeting Aslan. By doing so, he answers the question How shall we approach God? To meet Yahweh demands fear. Biblical fear is realizing that Yahweh is King. When meeting a king there must always be a sense of awe. But the fear of Aslan is the beginning of wisdom. As we commune with the King we are safe; not the cavalier safeness provided by false gods–presumably the safeness Lucy had in mind— but the refuge and strength of Martin Luther’s God. When evil is prevalent we cannot afford an unceremonious God, but One who will act in perfect justice for His people.
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