The Weight of Glory

Lewis' sermon, "The Weight of Glory," is probably the toughest read so far. During the first read through, it seems as though he's packing too much into it, but after a second (or third, or tenth) read, it all connects extraordinarily well. There are two ideas that I would like to share and explore.

The first one is about desire and long, and I really like Lewis analogy he presents. Lewis compares our desire for heaven to a schoolboy's desire for the enjoyment of reading. The schoolboy find enjoyment in his readings of "English poets and romancers suitable to his age." However, Lewis implies that Greek literature is superior, and more expressive and imaginative than English. Instead of studying the Greek language in order to enjoy Greek literature, the boy neglects his Greek studies, and settles for English readings. Then, Lewis makes this point:

Now, if we are made for heaven, the desire for our proper place will be already in us, but not yet attached to the true object, and will even appear as the rival of that object.

The boy's desire is the enjoyment of reading, which can be satisfied with Greek literature. In the same way, our desire for our proper place, heaven, can be satisfied by a relationship with God. Just as the boy is settling for English literature, we often find ourselves settling for earthly things that temporarily satisfy our desires. As the boy neglects his Greek studies, we neglect the proper cultivation of our relationship with God to prepare ourselves for the infinite satisfaction

found in Him. A quote later on in the sermon gives a good comment on our desire for heaven.

A ma's physical hunger does not prove that that man will get any bread; he may die of starvation on a raft in the Atlantic. But surely a man's hunger does prove that he comes from a race which repairs its body by eating and inhabits a world where eatable substances exist. In the same way, ... I think it a pretty good indication that such a thing exists ... A man may love a woman and not win her; but it would be very odd if the phenomenon called "falling in love" occurred in a sexless world.

The second idea is about approval by God. As Lewis establishes that glory to him means fame, he mentions that different Christians have taken "heavenly glory quite frankly in the sense of fame or good report. But not fame conferred by our fellow creatures -- fame with God, approval or (I might say) 'appreciation' by God." This was first presented as sort of new idea to me, as I can't really imagine or understand how to take heavenly glory as approval by God. Lewis clears it up with this example:

[No] one can enter heaven except as a child; and nothing is so obvious in a child -- not in a conceited child, but in a good child -- as its great and undisguised pleasure in being praised. ... Apparently what I had mistaken for humility had, all these years, prevented me from understanding what is in fact the humblest, the most childlike, the most creaturely of pleasures -- nay, the specific pleasure of the inferior: the pleasure a beast before men, a child before its father, a pupil before his teacher, a creature before its Creator.

I love how beautifully Lewis puts it. I would imagine that the way he "suddenly remembered," is almost the same as the surprise I had in his revelation this concept. Just as a child takes pleasure in his father's approval, we can take pleasure in God's approval.