Ring Under My Pillow

Recently, well a few weeks ago now, I was listening to a sermon by one of my favourites, Tim Keller (a few of my readers may have heard of him, and I highly recommend listening to him). He was talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Mark, the first chapter. Well, as he was exasperating on the text he made mention of this one children's fantasy book, written in the 1870s. I immediately vowed that I would get this book and read it.

I apologize that I have to do this, but it is imperative that you have some knowledge about the history of the book before delving into what I want to.

The book starts out with Irene, a little eight year old princess. She is sent off to live in the foothills of the mountain, in which the goblins dwell (the goblins had previously been "sun-creatures" who were forced into the mountains by the royal family many generations before Irene and her father). The goblins had swore revenge on the royal family, no matter how many generations that it would take them.

Well, on one rainy day, Irene travels up a long stairway, one which the end was not in sight. After getting lost and crying, she hears a humming noise coming from one of the doors around her. She then enters the room to find her great-great grandmother, also named Irene.

I feel it necessary to interject here to allow my readers to konw that the goblins only came out at night and on rainy days. Once the sun went down, or once the rain came, Irene had to be safely in the house.

After a few more meetings with her "great BIG grandmother," Irene was given a string with a ring attached to it. Her grandmother told her that whenever she was in trouble she should place her ring under her pillow and begin to follow the extremely thin string, for it was woven out of spider webs.

One night, the goblin's creatures had come up to Irene's door, setting Irene into a panic. She immediately placed the ring under her pillow and began to follow the string (by the way, I am finally getting at the heart of what I have intended to talk about, although I felt as if the introduction were necessary).

Rather than lead her right into her grandmother's loving arms, the string leads Irene outside, during the middle of the night. Not only does it lead outside, but it leads into the caves of the goblins. What Irene does not realize at this point is that one of her friends is stuck in the cave.

In what is one of the most beautiful pieces of writing, George MacDonald paints a picture of a dejected young girl face-to-face with a pile of rocks with a string that seems to go nowhere. Little did she know that on the other side of the rocks was her friend Curdie. She began to tear away at the rocks, but the string didn't turn back. It led further into the caves. Curdie had tried to pursuade Irene to turn back and follow the string out of the cave, but, having already tried this, she refused. After some time, the string led to the grandmother's room.

So, what does this have to do with anything one might ask? Think for a second....

(Sorry, Dr. Keller, I cannot articulate this as well as you, and I am writing something similar to your sermon).

The cost of discipleship. Give up you family,

career,

home,

former friends,

life,

these are just some of the things that Jesus call us to concede to him. And for what? The ability to 'follow him' (reference the calling of the first apostles).

But following Christ is not always what we expect or what we want. Our strings lead us places we don't want to go. The lead us into the caves.

John the Baptist's string led him into the hands of Herod, where he was beheaded. Paul's string led him into many different prisons and punishments. Luther's string led him to the difficult task of correcting the error of the Catholic church.

But the glory of Christ's death and ressurection is that his string led Him into the bowels of Hell so that our's lead right into his open and loving arms.

What will be your response to this gospel? How will you respond to your string? Will you follow it whereever it leads?

References: Tim Keller, The Cost of Discipleship, www.redeemer.com (store, sermon store, search keyword Mark)

George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin