Stay Close

It's interesting to me how certain stories can really have an impact on a person. I suppose that's what a good story does. It has an affect on a person after the final page is turned or the closing credits stop rolling. It sparks further thought, discussion, and in my case, blog posts. If you were to sit down and read through each of the blog posts I have written over the past several years (which is an afternoon well spent, I think!), you would find that there are several stories that have evidently had an impact on me. For example, one of my favorite movies is Stranger Than Fiction, and if you want to read some of my thoughts that are drawn from it, you can click here or here. Another story that I greatly love, as do many of others, is the Harry Potter epic. Whenever I re-watch one of the movies or reflect on the book, the more I am impressed with the themes woven throughout this tale. If you want to check out some things I have written about this story, click here or here.

Over the past several week, I have been re-watching the eight Harry Potter movies, and last night I watched the final one, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. As I was watching, there was one scene, and particularly one line, that really struck me. If you haven't seen the movies or read the books and don't wish for the story to be spoiled, you probably don't want to continue reading right now, just as a fair warning.(If you want to watch the scene yourself, you can click here. I'm like Discount Hyperlink Warehouse today!) In the scene, Harry is going to the Forbidden Forest to meet Voldemort. He has just come to the realization that he must willingly allow himself to be killed if Voldemort is to be destroyed, and he has said goodbye to his dear friends Ron and Hermione. As he stands on the edge of the forest, he uses the Resurrection Stone to bring up visions of deceased loved ones who had died protecting him: his parents, his godfather Sirius Black, and one of his mentors, Remus Lupin.

It's such a climactic and emotional moment in the story. Harry stands there with those who sacrificed themselves for him as he prepares to sacrifice himself. And after talking with them for a moment, just before he steps into the forest to meet his destiny, he whispers the line.

"Stay close to me."

It may be inappropriate to derive spiritual truth from Harry Potter. But as I watched this scene last night, and as Harry whispered that line, I thought, "You know...that's not a bad prayer."

Harry's request is a call of desperation. By going into the Forest, he's showing courage, yes, but he also realizes that he's at the end. He doesn't have the strength to go on alone. He needs the strength of these loved ones. And in this desperate situation, he asks, "Stay close to me."

In no way am I suggesting that, when we pray, we are making requests to dead spirits or anything of the sort. We pray to the living God. But I think it would be good for us to pray simply, "Stay close to me." That's what we need more than anything else. We need God to be close to us. We need his presence. We need him alongside us each step we take.

And yet, we don't tend to pray this very often. We pray for a lot of things. We pray for friends and relatives who are sick. We pray for safety on road trips. We pray for success in our various ventures. In short, we often pray for what we already assume is going to happen anyway. "God, let this day go smoothly, just as every other day typically does. Let me sleep easily tonight, knowing that tomorrow is probably going to be just the same."

We don't pray out of desperation today. When we're honest with ourselves, we feel as though we don't need God all that urgently. We are comfortable with our lives the way they are. Like the church in Laodicea, we say, "I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing." We lead cloistered lives in which we take no risks, make few sacrifices, and remain in control.

In the American church, we have constructed a world and a spirituality that is safe and stable. In the movie scene, Harry prays "Stay close to me" because he ready to die and he is walking to his death. I don't know that many Christians in our country have that same sort of attitude. We walk out of our front doors with smiles on our faces and briefcases in hand, not with crosses on our backs. There's not a more desperate situation than when you are faced with death, and death is what we are summoned to. It's when we recognize that our call is not merely to exist for Christ but to live and die for Christ that we find ourselves in a place to pray "Stay close to me."

Yesterday I listened to a sermon by my former professor Mark Scott. In it, I was reminded of a hymn written in 1872 by Annie Hawks:

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford
I need Thee, O I need Thee
Every hour I need Thee
O bless me now, my Savior
I come to Thee

Stay close to me.

It's not so different from Peter's cry as he began to sink into the sea. "Lord, save me!"

The good news is that, when we pray this, I think Jesus is ready to answer. He himself promised as much.

"And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."