Chasing Shadows

One thing is clear about vacations:  even the best getaways aren't heaven, not by a long shot.  We just returned from a week of vacation with my family in my hometown of Des Moines, Iowa.  (Now if my Mom is reading this, I'm already in trouble.  But stay with me, Mom!).  I know, you might not expect Des Moines to be the coveted vacation destination, but we had a great time seeing family and we enjoyed some classic midwest activities.  We visited the beautiful and historic state capitol building and had a private tour by my aunt who is a tour guide there. We visited Living History Farms where my kids (and the adults) got to milk a cow, feed chickens and see what farm life is like.  We enjoyed the zoo and a great water park, and catching up with my family was wonderful.  We even had a classic midwest thunderstorm and my kids got to play in warm rain!  But as I said, no vacation is heaven.  We had a seriously delayed flight out and didn't arrive until 1:15am; my daughter Kaitlin took a fall and scraped up her leg, and did I mention that August in Iowa is HOT?  And of course, unlike heaven, the vacation ended!  Even the best vacations are filled with ups and downs.  And in summertime when we take a break and get away from it all, we easily put too much hope in these escapes, and even the best vacations leave us wishing for something more that can only be had in glory.  

Recently I read a sermon/lecture by C.S. Lewis called The Weight of Glory which he preached at a church in Oxford in 1942.  Ever since then my head has been spinning a bit with a couple of ideas that I'd like to share with you.  I'm not going to try to review or summarize the sermon entirely, but merely give a few jewels that I'm still inspecting in my own mind.  

In general his sermon is about the idea of glory in the Scriptures, particularly as it relates to us (the hope of glory that is held out for us).  We have in all of us a deep longing for glory, a desire to be with Christ in heaven, and nothing else can satisfy this desire. The problem is that we try to find other things that serve as a replacement on earth.  We chase shadows, so to speak, seeing in earthly pleasures the echo of the only thing that will truly give us satisfaction.  Lewis reflects on the way we tend to observe and enjoy beautiful earthly objects as though they were the goal:

"The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing.  These things - the beauty, the memory of our own past - are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers.  For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited."  

How helpful this is in understand how idolatry works!  As a musician I know this struggle deeply.  I love great music, and the beauty and power of a well-crafted composition is captivating.  In the midst of enjoying such music, there is a kind of longing that can be felt.  But it is easy to assume that the longing felt means that what we really seek and need is more music!  The desire that is produced should instead move us toward God himself, since the desire awakened in us cannot be fully satisfied by the earthly pleasures we enjoy.  In this way the beauty of a piece of music is to be a pointer to the Author of beauty.  The enjoyment of some earthly beauty is a good thing and not to be spurned because of the possibility that I might turn it into an idol, but it can easily become the thing on which I place my hope.  

It is in this context that Lewis pens one of his most famous quotes, which is worth mentioning if you've not read it before:

"If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Paul speaks to Timothy about the basic goodness of all things mixed with the warning against making them ultimate things:

"As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy" (1 Timothy 6:17).

Great help is provided here to maintain the proper balance in the use of the things of this world.  "Riches" seems to be broadened by Paul in its application when he says that God "provides us with everything to enjoy."  Several points to consider: 

1.  The things in this life can be a detriment to our holiness if not used properly - "as for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty..."

2. The things in this world can easily become a god to us - "charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches..."

3.  All things are a gift from God, and such a view will enable us to hold them with an open hand - He "richly provides us with everything..."

4.  The things of this life are meant for our JOY!  "He provides us with everything to enjoy."

I believe Lewis is making this point when he says that "these things - the beauty, the memory of our own past - are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers." Likewise we find ourselves content in the mud puddle, setting our hope on worldly things and not seeing them as good gifts from God designed to turn our eyes toward Him.  

So let's end with a question:  what are the things in your life that are good gifts for you to enjoy?  If we're honest in our self-assessment, we know exactly how and when we set our hopes on them.  We lose them and we get angry or frustrated.  They don't provide all we want, and we get bitter or disappointed.  The good news is that these things are still good gifts, but never designed to bear the weight of being God in your life.  Jesus is the only One who can give us what we desire!  

"Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth" (Psalm 50:2).

Today as you enjoy the good things God has provided, look through them with the eye of faith to see the beauty of the Savior.

There is more to chew on from this sermon by Lewis,  perhaps in a subsequent post.  

Blessings,

Pastor David