Most of us are familiar with the children’s tale about a little girl from a farm in Kansas who gets whisked away by a tornado to another world; an imaginary world of yellow brick roads, a wise wizard, talking animals, flying monkeys, good fairies, munchkins and wicked witches.  Yes, the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz has been one of those timeless classics that continue to entertain kids of all ages. Even the song, “Somewhere over the Rainbow”, is etched in our memories, a song of longing for hope, encouraging listeners to keep dreaming and believing in a better future.  Of course, Dorothy, the little girl in the story realizes in the end of the movie that what she longed for: acceptance, love and family was not over the Rainbow, like some magical place called Oz, it was always where she belonged, her farm in Kansas.  After all, there is no “place like home”.  

Sometimes as Christians we too need a reminder that the things we long for, our acceptance, love, godliness, our home, we already have it.  It’s found in Christ.  For most of us let’s face it, when we first accept Christ as our Savior, we become “Somewhere over the Rainbow” Christians.  We sing of better days, long for what will be in the sweet bye and bye, we strive to be right with God, we hope and pray for what we think we don’t have like patience, love, godliness and we spend most days dreaming for a home away from home, anticipating our mansion up in the sky.  Yes it is true we don’t have the perfectly spiritual bodies yet and there will one day be a new heaven and earth and that is something to look forward to but we have so much we’ve been given now!  We don’t have to be chasing after rainbows when all along everything we need is right inside of us.  You don’t have to wait till you die, in fact you already have died.  The Bible says that we have been crucified with Christ, Galatians 2:20.  Romans 6:3-7 tells us, we died to the sinful nature when Christ died, we were baptized or immersed in His death, buried and rose again with Him through the Holy Spirit.  When He died the Old nature died too and we were given new life.  2 Peter tells us, “His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires.”  Do you see it?  He has given us, past tense it’s already done.  What has He given us?  His divine nature!  Christian, your nature is not changing little by little, you are changed!  Then in verses 5-7, Peter exhorts us, “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness, with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self control with endurance, endurance, with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.”  Most of us read that and see the words effort, we see the words, supplement or in some translations, it says to add to your faith and then we go back into “Somewhere over the Rainbow” Christians following the yellow brick road of doing more, reading our Bibles, praying harder trying to sin less to avoid the flying monkeys and the Wicked Witch.  We seek God like He’s some far away Wizard and somewhere along the way if we prove ourselves worthy by our diligence, He will give us a medal, a badge for our courage, and ruby slippers for our feet.  The truth is we are to make every effort but it’s not to produce the virtues, it’s the same way we received faith, not by works but by grace.  We make every effort to know Christ and make every effort to remind ourselves, renew our minds that we have been given everything required and needed for life and godliness!  It’s already been given to us!  Make every effort not to work for it but to rest in the fact that just like faith is a gift, we have also been supplied with all the other virtues, the fruit of the Spirit.  It comes with our new nature and the only way for us to know this is to believe his promises that this is already true of us!  All Dorothy had to do to get home, was not to click her heels but to wake up from her dream and see she never left to begin with, and everything she longed for was there all along.  And that is true for us too!  Stop skipping along the yellow brick road of trying to overcome in your own effort the lions, tigers and bears of this life, and just remind yourself, that in Christ you have everything inside of you already.  You don’t have to wait till you die, you already have died and now Christ who is your life, dwells in you and everything that is in Him is now in you.  The many rooms that He said He was building was not some mansion, some pie in the sky, it was You! Wake up from your dreaming and into the reality that you are now His abode and He is your abode and together, “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home”.    

Throughout my education years, I have experienced great amazing teachers and I have had my share of not so great teachers.  I remember when I was in seventh grade, my French class teacher would hand out worksheets for us to do, and then sit behind his desk and read a book all the while yelling at us from time to time for being too loud.  Kids would be burning pencils, throwing spit wads, he would do nothing about it, just warn us to stop it and then he’d go back to handing out more worksheets.  I could tell he was more concerned about the chatter because he couldn’t concentrate on his book rather than concerned about us learning something.  He just wanted to get through his day, so all one had to do was just put up and shut up and try to do your worksheet and he’d give you an A.  Maybe it was because we were a special education French class, that he looked down at us like we were a joke and treated us like we were punchlines.  Who knows, but you could tell he had no desire to be there and neither did we the students.  Other teachers I had, would just bore you to death with long lectures, there was very little interaction, just a head mouthing “blah, blah, blah.”  And of course you had those communist dictators, the ones that if you just looked at them wrong, would send you to the principal office or let’s face it, if they could, they would send you off to the gallows, ordering “off with your head!”.  You know, those lousy, miserable souls that just made you want to join a rebellion with other students, march down the school halls, and shout the war cry made famous from Pink Floyd, “Hey teachers, leave those kids alone!” But every once and awhile there would be someone like a refreshing wind on a hot summer day, that would blow on us as a cool breeze, a wind of inspiration.  A teacher, who didn’t need to demand our respect because he or she treated you with respect.  They didn’t talk down to you but saw you as a person, as someone who had worth, potential and encouraged you rather than give you a beat down if you got it wrong or asked a dumb question.  I remember one of my favorite teachers was my math professor, Mr. Connors.   I hated math, it was my least favorite subject, I didn’t do very well but he always worked with me, never made me feel stupid and helped me so that I could be my best.  I remember one time before he came into our classroom, one of the students got up and on the chalkboard, drew a picture of the map of Canada as a sad face with tear drops and wrote the words “steroids”.  I was living and going to school in Canada at this time and this was a reference to the 1988 Olympics, when track star, Ben Johnson who was representing Canada, won the gold medal and broke the world record for fastest man ever.  He then later tested for steroids and the gold medal and world record was quickly taken away.  All of Canada was embarrassed and mourned that day.  Mr. Connors, when he came in, saw the drawing on the chalkboard. I’ll never forget, instead of erasing it or yelling at the person who drew it, he spent the whole hour talking about it.  He asked us how we felt.  He listened to us vent our frustrations and let out our anger and sadness.  There was never any mention of math that day nor was there any homework.  He didn’t care about math, it could wait another day, he cared about us and it showed.  That moment really impacted me.  It made me want to be my best for him.  He even got together with another math teacher and planned a way for us to take our final exams at a local campground.   Afterwards we spent the beginning of our summer vacation, sleeping in cabins, canoeing, swimming and hiking.  He was an awesome teacher and he is forever in my heart because he cared for me not as a student but as a person, as if I was his own kid.

As Christians, we too can find ourselves under two teachers.  Meet Professor Law.  He is strict, He never smiles, He is about following his rules his way.  He always points out our shortcomings, tells us what we need to do in order to become, and when He grades our papers, if we get one question wrong, he fails us and then sends us to the principal’s office to be punished.  He demands perfection and nothing else matters.  Yes, this is where most Christians often think they have to attend class in order for God to be pleased with them and give them their diploma.  But they forget that they don’t have to take his class anymore.  Jesus, who was born under the law, came and took our test for us.  He got the A and all we need to do is sign our names on the test under his.  By faith we passed the test of perfection, we have our diploma.  We were the kids in the group project that did nothing but got the A cause the other kid, Jesus, did all the work.  The Bible tells us that when we believe in Christ, we are now dead to the law.  Not just the ceremonial law but all of it, including the ten commandments. Romans 7:4,6, tells us, “So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead…But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”   We are now enrolled in another program taught by Professor Grace.  He smiles, He says we are already perfect, we are already blessed, loved, forgiven, and have everything we need for life and godliness.  “Just be yourselves”, he encourages us.  “Don’t try harder, just be who you are, perfectly loved!” 

Christian, if you find yourself trying to study and make good grades so that God doesn’t expel you from the program, stop it, leave your books, and shout,  “Hey, Law leave God’s kids alone!” His classroom was never really meant for you to stay there, but to point out your need for a better tutor.  You’ve already got a free hall pass, just make your way down to Professor Grace’s classroom.  Where is it?  The Spirit will lead you, it’s just on the other side of the cross.

Galatians 3:23-24 NKJ

But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.  Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  

Titus 2:11-12

The grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.  It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.