The Wonderful God of Oz

 

“We’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Those words comes from the classic 1939 movie (which was based on the 1900 children’s story by L. Frank Baum). In the movie The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and her dog Toto follow a yellow brick road to the Emerald City in hopes that the wizard will be able to send her back to Kansas, where she lived before she was displaced by a tornado. When Toto pulls back the curtain the cast learns that the wizard was really just a fraud, a man working machinery but devoid of power. At the end of the movie Dorothy famously declares there is no place like home. 

 

The Wizard of Oz is a fun story with lovable characters, including the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow. They are all disappointed to realize that the wizard they longed to see was actually powerless. He couldn’t give the lion courage, the tin man a heart, and the scarecrow a brain; he couldn’t even take Dorothy home. It would be crushing to learn that the one they sought, the one they believed would help them, was just a fake. 

 

I have good news. When it comes to our God, we never need to worry about the man behind the curtain. We will never discover that God is actually powerless, or that He is a fraud. The Bible tells us that God is powerful. We often describe Him as being omnipotent, or possessing all power. 

 

Psalm 62:11 says, “Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God.” Just a chapter later we read, “So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory (63:2).” God even likes to introduce Himself as El Shaddai—God Almighty (Genesis 35:11 for example).  

 

The power that is used to describe God in the Psalms and elsewhere is actually the Hebrew word oz. Because our God is El Shaddai, we do not serve the Wizard of Oz, but the Wonderful God of Oz. The wizard told Dorothy that he is “a good man but a terrible wizard.” Our God is not terrible, or even good; our God is great. He is not a trickster (or a “humbug” as the wizard calls himself). He possesses all power and is able to fulfill every promise He has ever made. 

Among those promises are forgiveness of sin to whoever calls on the Lord, and a promised home with the Him forever. Because of the Wonderful God of Oz, all who trust in Him will one day be able to say, “There’s no place like home.” 

 

Our Weakness, God's Power

On Easter Sunday in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte’s army was camped on the hills above the border town of Feldkirch, Austria, poised to attack. The citizens knew they could not survive the attack, and could only hope that the Austrian army would come to their rescue in time. The town council held an emergency meeting to decide whether to try to defend themselves or surrender. Fighting looked like a suicide mission, but surrender is never a popular option.

The pastor of the town church stood up to address the frightened people. He is reported to have said, "Friends, we have been counting on our own strength, and apparently that has failed. Since this is the day of our Lord’s resurrection, let us just ring the bells, have our services, and leave the matter in His hands. We know only our weakness, and not the power of God to defend us." The people agreed with their pastor, and they began to ring the church bells in celebration of the resurrection, and to let people know the service was still on. 

When Napoleon’s army heard the sudden peal of the church bells, they assumed that the Austrian army had arrived and was ready to fight. Before the service ended, Napoleon was in full retreat, and there was not a Frenchman to be found.

I like the way that Feldkirch pastor thought. All we know naturally is our own weakness, not the power of God. As Christians we should learn to understand more of God’s power, especially the fact that He has given that power to us. In Acts 1:8 Jesus told the disciples they would receive power once the Holy Spirit came upon them (which we now have as soon as we are saved), and Paul alluded to that same Holy Ghost power in Ephesians 1:19-21. His prayer was that the church would come to know “what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” 

That Greek word for power in both verses is dunamis, and it gives us our English word dynamite. No, Paul was not thinking of TNT when he wrote those words, because that did not exist. But when TNT was invented in 1867, the word dynamite was chosen because it accurately described the power that it held. That is the idea behind the power we have as believers. We have dynamite power to preach with boldness, pray, understand our Bibles, let our light so shine, and witness for Christ. We do not need to ask God for this power, because it is already within us as soon as we put our faith in Jesus. The question is not, “Do you have power,” but “Are you using your power?”