The Gospel of Oz
Rev. Andrew Petro
Great Plains Regional Director
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Titus 3:4-5a).
For some, the first glimpse of a robin provides the unmistakable sign of the arrival of spring. For others, it’s the first pitch of baseball’s Opening Day. When I was a kid—at least in our house—the telltale sign of spring was the airing of the Wizard of Oz.
The movie recounts the adventures of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. These unlikely companions set out on an epic journey to the Emerald City, where each hopes to secure the one thing in life each needs most. The Emerald City was home to “the Great and Powerful Oz,” a wizard of some renown. The travelers long to receive their hearts’ desire which the Wizard, purportedly, had power to give. The Scarecrow longed for a brain; the Tin Man, a heart; the Cowardly Lion, courage; and Dorothy, a home.
We readily identify with these friends. We, too, are pilgrims on our way to a glorious City, where our longings, likewise, will be fulfilled. Each of us comes needy, each with our particular, poignant lack. We come without any claim for favor—mere strangers begging for help.
Although Dorothy and her friends don’t know it, the Wizard isn’t what he seems. He’s a charlatan, a showman, a pretender, making promises he’s powerless to keep. Like so many others on similar journeys, these companions have been deluded by a false hope.
Remember how the story goes? Dorothy and her companions have become absolutely dependent on the Wizard’s largesse. Yet he refuses to give them what they so desperately need. Instead, he makes them work for it. They must first bring him the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West. Yes, he would help them; but first, they had to merit his favor. He would help them; but they must help themselves first. This, we might say, is the Gospel of Oz.
Lest we think this “doctrine” resides only over the rainbow, we should consider the false religions that proliferate under the sun. Almost invariably, false religions have as precondition of salvation some system of merit. In most cases, they require the performance of a sufficient number of good works. In others, they demand the attainment of some arcane wisdom. In every case, however, those in need of divine blessing must, by hook or by crook, earn it themselves.
That, my friends, is not the Gospel of Christ. We come into God’s presence as destitute as Dorothy and her companions, and as dependent on the good graces of the ruler of the “city with foundations” (Heb. 11:10), as they were on the Emerald City’s Oz. But God receives us, and He grants us our heart’s desire, without demanding that we fulfil a single precondition. He does not compel us to prove ourselves worthy of His help. Grace is God’s favor lavished on the undeserving. That’s the distinctive marvel and beauty of grace.
What we bring into God’s presence is mere abject need. Without grace, we’re too brainless to grasp the truth of our condition, too heartless to discern the wreckage made by our sin, too fearful to entrust ourselves to someone else to save us, and too lost to have any hope of finding our own way home. If the Great and Powerful God does not help, we are powerless to help ourselves.
But God, in His great mercy, promises to save us, not because of what we have done, but because of what Jesus has done on our behalf. That’s a far better gospel than the Gospel of Oz.
