Wicked
- Amy Oden
- Jul 1
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 3
Church of the Resurrection Insights - sermon series on films
Amy Oden reflection on Micah 6:6-8 in conversation with film, Wicked
In Wicked, both Elphaba and Glinda see the Wizard as the pinnacle of success, the goal they should be seeking. The Wizard seems to have it all – a castle, a kingdom, minions to do his bidding, magical powers. But the closer Elphaba gets to “having it all,” the more she sees it is false and empty. As the curtain (literally) falls away, she sees the Wizard for who he really is, an insecure person grabbing for power and willing to hurt others for his own gain.
Once Elphaba sees the injustice of it all, she can’t pretend to not know or to not see. She sings, “Something has changed within me…Too late to go back to sleep.” Her path is now changed, converted, turned in a completely new direction. Once she wakes up to the injustice, she is freed, lifted, defying gravity!
Micah also lives in a world where people are scrambling for success and willing to hurt others to get there. Micah tells of “ill-gotten treasures” and “dishonest scales,” where the “rich are violent” and “liars” (6:10-12). Micah himself falls into these notions of the good life, assuming God, too, wants all the trappings of human success, so he offers them to God – unimaginable wealth (thousands of rams) or the security of provision (a year-old calf). He offers God the “good life” should bring wealth and happiness.
God answers Micah with a completely different list. Not thousands or rams or barrels of oil. God requires not wealth or human “success,” not religious programs or “burnt offerings” that merely go through the motions. Instead, God requires justice, kindness and humble living (Micah 6:6-8), so much harder to give. God asks for our hearts.
I know in my own life how I have chased so-called success and the way it has de-formed by heart. I have also tasted the freedom God offers when I wake up and see the real human cost, the injustice of that success. I want to be awake, I long to be freed. I pray to be lifted, to defy gravity and soar!
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