Let Christ’s word with all its wisdom and richness live in you. Use psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to teach and instruct yourselves about God’s kindness. Sing to God in your hearts. Everything you say or do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. [Colossians 3:16-17 (GW)]
I’m in the midst of reading a series of seven children’s fantasy novels, The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. Some of them, like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I read as a girl but others are new to me. The world of Narnia is a world to which one wants to return again and again and I’m enjoying my visit ever so much. C.S. Lewis, however, was much more than a writer of fantasy, non-fiction and poetry; he was a well-known lecturer, a brilliant scholar and a renowned Christian apologist.
Because of his tremendous faith and knowledge of Scripture, there is much more to his fiction than first meets the eye. Intentionally (and probably unintentionally), Biblical truths and Christian themes are woven throughout all of his writing. Lewis was so aware of God, so steeped in Biblical knowledge, and so in tune with the Holy Spirit, that I don’t think he could have written any other way, even if he’d wanted to do so. His faith emanated from him the same way a honeysuckle blossom emits a sweet aroma. His writing reflects what all of us are asked to do—share Jesus. Lewis’ knowledge of Scripture, his insight into the Holy Spirit’s ways and the enemy’s wiles, his love of Christ, his faith in a God who is good even when life isn’t, and his awareness of God’s presence in all circumstances are evident in his stories and yet there is nothing sermon-like about them. The adventures of the Pevensie children in Narnia brought them closer to a great lion by the name of Aslan and those same adventures can bring the reader closer to someone who (as Lewis suggested) arrived at the same time as Father Christmas, was the son of the Great Emperor, gave himself up to be killed by wicked people, came to life again, and is often spoken of as a lamb.
While we’re not likely to teach at Oxford or Cambridge, write over 70 books, sell 100 million copies of anything we might write or be asked to explain Christianity on a radio show, we are asked to share our faith. If Biblical truths become a part of us, they will become second nature and will be evident in all that we say or do. We don’t have to become theologians or write a best-seller; we just have to emit the sweet aroma of Christ in our lives.
I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else. [C.S. Lewis]
I found an odd synchronicity in my morning’s reading. The verse for the day was Matthew 7:12, the Golden Rule: “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.” Following that was a story by Christian author and speaker Lysa Terkeurst. She wrote about speaking to a group when a woman walked up on stage, stood next to her, and then leaned into her. Standing before an audience of 6,500 women, unsure of what to do, the author simply put her arm around the woman and continued speaking. The woman later said she needed God and thought if she got close enough to the Christian speaker, she just might feel Him. The third portion of my reading included the above selection from C.S. Lewis’ writings.
Since Jews are prohibited from possessing any food products containing leavening (chametz) during Passover, a Muslim Arab-Israeli man in Abu Ghosh now owns most of the bread, pastries and beer in Israel. As they have for many years, Israel’s two chief rabbis sold all of the leaven food from state-owned companies, the prison system, and the national emergency stores to him. He symbolically purchased the chametz for the duration of Passover by making a small down payment. Having promised to pay an enormous sum at the end of Passover, at week’s end he will tell the rabbis that he can’t pay up, the deal will be canceled, his down payment returned, and Israel again will own its yeast-laden products. Here in the U.S., some Jewish families “sell” their chametz to non-Jewish friends and then put the food in an out-of-the way cupboard. Technically, while still on their property, it’s not really theirs because they’ve “leased” the cupboard to the Gentile buyer. After Passover, the lease expires and the food is sold back to its original owner. While this may circumvent the law, I’m not sure it’s what God had in mind when He commanded, “There must be no yeast bread or any yeast at all found within the borders of your land during this time.” [Exodus 13:7]
As for the “House of Lost Dreams,” about which I wrote yesterday—almost overnight, where once a dilapidated ruin stood, a beautiful house now stands. The roof tiles are repaired and clean, the house is freshly painted, the overgrown yard tamed, and a “For Sale” sign stands in the yard.
I have a young friend who’s quite a sports fan. Not only can he spout statistics for his favorite baseball and football players, he can recite the biographies of the top American Ninja Warriors as well. He knows about several athletes and yet none of them know anything about him or would recognize him on the street. I don’t know which team he favored for last Sunday’s Super Bowl but I’m sure he knew who led in kicking and punting or kick and punt returns. Enthusiastic fans do more than know the stats—they often wear team jerseys and may even paint their faces. The prevalence of blue and red shirts on Sunday made it clear the fans at our church favored the Patriots. Considering all the whooping, hollering, high fives and fist bumps that occurred later that day while watching the Super Bowl, you’d think the fans were the ones scoring the points. Using the pronoun “we” for their favored team, they moaned about calls, trash talked the opposition and analyzed plays as if they were on the field. Although fans can dress like their favorite team member, know the stats for the players, and watch every game, they’re not on a first name basis with any of the team. Neither friends nor acquaintances, they’re just fans.
Devotions of the Heart 