“Once Upon a Time: The Gospel and Snow White”

Text: Revelation 21:1-7

a sermon by Kevin Fleming

June 9, 2013

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - EVANSVILLE, INDIANA

We’re beginning a little summer fun, this morning, with the inaugural sermon in a four-part series entitled, “Once Upon a Time.” Our purpose is to take a look at a few of the classic fairy tales and see what they may be trying to tell us about the Christian faith and how to live it. Our focus is, primarily, on three Germanic tales and one from the pen of an Australian woman. All four of the fairy tales under our consideration have become legendary because of the film versions from the Walt Disney studios. In many cases, Disney changed the stories to accommodate a particular vision of the way life should be. In some cases, the stories themselves were dramatically changed to accommodate the “Disney treatment.” (For you Disneyphiles, the most egregious example is “The Jungle Book.”) So, let’s set the record straight right from the start. Unlike the presumed perfection of the Disney world, in the real world: - there is not always a happy ending, - love does not always conquer all. - people do not always live happily ever-after, - step-parents and step-siblings are not always evil, - there is not always a prince in every man, nor a princess in every woman, - there is not a fairy-godmother to do everything for you, - sometimes women want to be more than a princess, - and sometimes the prince falls in love with another prince and a princess with another princess. There are other divergences, but you get the picture. The idealized world of a Disney movie is pure illusion. And, no matter how subtle, there are prejudices on display. That’s the prologue to the series. Now, let’s consider Snow White.

© 2013 Kevin Scott Fleming It was in 1934 that Walt Disney got the idea to make a full-length cartoon version of Snow White. Based on the classic Grimms Brothers fairy tale, the film became known in the industry as “Disney’s Folly,” because no one could see how people would be interested in a full-length cartoon and because the effort nearly bankrupted Disney in the process. In 1937, the film was released and became a sensation. It’s the story, however, that attracts our attention. Now, we could approach the story in a variety of ways – focusing on one element or another. You can drop down in any of a dozen places in the Disney telling of the story and find some connections with familiar stories and sayings: - the dwarfs (“the meek of the earth”) inheriting the earth (or at least its diamonds), - Grumpy refusing to be washed, much like Simon Peter in the Upper Room, - the peace and security of the forest home, with the animals living together in harmony – a veritable “peaceable kingdom” But, rather than choosing one part of the story, let’s consider the whole, over- arching story. Because that whole, over-arching story is really our story. As Christian people, we’ve heard this story before. This is familiar ground for us. The story begins with a princess who has been enslaved by an evil step-mother. The step-mother is obsessed with being “the fairest one of all,” and to insure her dominion in this cosmetic contest, she keeps the beautiful young princess doing hard work and menial labor. Snow White lives in rags and is always less than she was meant to be. Sound familiar? Welcome to the world “post Eden.” Evil has entered the world and has enslaved the created children of God. Created to be so much more, they are enslaved to hard labor and menial work. They must plow the land and earn their bread by the sweat of their brow. Every man and woman, every boy and girl is, in their own way, Snow White. We live as less than we were created to be. There is danger. The evil queen seeks the death of Snow White. She commissions her Huntsman to murder the young princess in the woods. But the Huntsman is too tender hearted and cannot bring himself to murder her. Snow White flees deep into the wood for safety and security. As she flees, she comes upon a humble place - a home – where there is disarray and disorder. Seven small chairs and seven small beds and a sink full of dirty dishes, cobwebs covering the beams of the house, and dust and dirt everywhere greet Snow White. Along with her woodland friends, she begins ordering the chaos, cleaning and tidying, preparing food and setting the table. And for a moment, we catch a glimpse of someone else we know. Snow White suddenly becomes a messianic figure – a picture of Jesus – bringing harmony where there was discord, happiness where there was dreariness, purpose where there was indifference, and tranquility where there was disarray. Snow White goes about the work of – dare we say it? – “saving” the dwarfs. And they, in turn, love her. They are devoted to her. She changes their world and they love her for it. Before Snow White, their lives were routine and dull. Up

in the morning, off to the mine to “dig, dig, dig, then dig some more.” “Heigh-ho, heigh-ho it’s off to work we go!...Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! It’s home from work we go!” Day in and day out. But with Snow White, there’s music, and singing, and dancing. With Snow White, there is laughter and joy. With Snow White, the dwarfs discover real life. Sound familiar? Well, you can’t have people discovering real life and joy. You can’t have people receiving good news. You can’t have people reordering their lives and living around concepts that threaten the power and structures of the world. So to bring to life the age old truth, “to silence the message, silence the messenger.” The evil queen disguises herself to trick Snow White and conjures up a spell that produces a poisonous apple. You knew it would be an apple, didn’t you? And at this point two strands of the story become intertwined. Snow White becomes Adam and Eve and eats the apple and falls asleep. Snow White is all of us – asleep beneath the power of sin and transgression. And Snow White is also the Christ-figure, being struck down by the power of evil and the powers of the world. God’s messenger of hope, peace, love, and joy is silenced. But in this death, there is another. The dwarfs arrive in time to see the evil queen departing their house and chase after her. In the penultimate moment of the movie, the dwarfs chase her up a crag, from which she falls into a chasm and is destroyed. Do you get it? By the death of one – Snow White – death itself is destroyed. Sounding familiar? The dwarfs place Snow White in a glass coffin. It might as well have been a tomb freshly hewn where no one had ever been placed. They keep vigil over her. They mourn her. But then, one day, the Prince arrives. He goes to Snow White’s lifeless body and gives her “loves first kiss” – the only thing that can undo the power of the sleeping death. The Prince kisses her and she rises to life. Death is undone. Death’s power is forever broken. Snow White rises from the dead, and she and her Prince – the Bride and the Bridegroom – go together into the sunset, where we see a castle in the clouds – a new kingdom, “coming down out of heaven from God.” The parallels are profound. That’s because these ancient fairy tales were intended to teach us the story of God’s love and the ways of faith and life. It’s not, as one of my agnostic friends claimed, “one fairy tale begetting another fairy tale.” Not at all. It is one story inspiring more stories. It is people who have been touched by the fire of God’s love trying to discover new and imaginative ways to tell the story to others. It is each generation taking the heart of the greatest story ever told and telling it in new and vibrant ways – whether with princesses and dwarfs, hobbits and elves, muggles and wizards, or Jedi and Siths. God comes looking for the lost creation and restores it – bringing life and love and hope and joy. God comes looking for us in Jesus Christ, to break the power of sin and death and to bring us what we cannot gain for ourselves. God comes looking for us – inviting us to life in God and life in a restored creation where the stranger is a friend and every person is a neighbor. God comes looking for us –

welcoming us and feeding us. God comes looking for us – God takes the first step – God makes us God’s own. And so we are. For now and evermore. Amen.