Mysteriously Moved

In addition to this day being Thanksgiving and the 55th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, it is also the 55th anniversary of the death of one of my favorite writers, C.S. Lewis. Lewis died without much memorial fanfair in the shadow of a horrific American tragedy. Yet he is beloved and venerated by so many. He is the author of some of my most favorite books: Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters and The Chronicle of Narnia, to name a few.

Recently, I have been listening to an audio biography about Lewis. About two days ago I came to the part where Lewis talks about his conversion to Christianity. He was a vocal atheist calling Christianity a "myth." He was introduced to Christianity slowly through the planting of many seeds by people around him, but it was a late night walk with J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson on Sept. 20, 1931, that pretty much sealed the deal. They talked of all manor of subjects way past midnight, spending a good bit of time on Christianity. Lewis wrote to a friend after that stroll on Addison's Walk at Oxford University that he was "mysteriously moved" by the idea of God "sacrificing himself to himself."

There was something about that statement that made me stop, rewind and listen again. This is not new information for me by any means, but the phrasing was sweetly simplistic and accurate. The idea of God in heaven being worshiped by countless sacrifices over thousands of years - which never fully atoned for His creation's disobedience - then coming to the conclusion that He must sacrifice Himself on our behalves is overwhelming. An all encompassing sacrifice so that we would never again need to atone: Christ has done it all. Of course, such a revelation would be profound for Lewis. As a result of this realization (and his acceptance of Christ into his life nine days later), we are the grateful recipients of some of the best books of the last century and some profound theology. Praise God for the persistence of Lewis' friends and God's unwavering patience for his lost children.

This is why I never give up praying for and sharing the Good  News of Jesus Christ through words and love to the people in my life who have not accepted Him as Savior. While it can seem a daunting task when it seems God's mercy is falling on deaf ears, hearing about stories like Lewis' is inspirational and encouraging. We can strive on in hope that those we love will one day be "mysteriously moved" by something which brings them to a point of reverence, repentance and acceptance. The end result is so worth it and changes the world time and time again.

I excitedly await the time those on my prayer list come to the realization that our Awesome God, who sacrificed Himself to Himself, loves them that much. What a day of rejoicing that will be. Just as the very day C.S. Lewis walked through the gates of Heaven to meet face-to-face the God who persistently pursued him. Glory to Him!

Eternal Devotion and Servitude

While ironing today I was watching the movie Matrix Reloaded. In one scene a young man is running towards the main character, Neo, played by Keanu Reeves. Neo appears annoyed by the young man approaching and another character comments to him, "You know what they say happens when you save a life," implying this kid will show eternal devotion and servitude to Neo. Sure enough, this young man offers to carry anything Neo needs.

It was the quote that got me: "You know what they say happens when you save a life." It made me immediately think about the fact that I was saved ... saved by the One True God in his Son, Jesus Christ. If that quote and the implied reaction - eternal devotion and servitude - are correct, what does that say about the millions of people who have been saved by Jesus Christ? Are we eternally devoted and serving Him with our whole being?

Jesus asks Simon a question in Luke 7 after telling the story of two men who are absolved of debt by their moneylender: one for 500 denarii and the other for 50. Jesus asks in verse 42: "Now which of them will love him more?" to which Simon responds, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven." This story by Jesus holds comparison to two people, equally forgiven, who apparently had different degrees of sin, one with 10 times as much. Simon acknowledges that the one forgiven the greater multitude of sins will love Christ more than the one with less. Sadly, this may in fact be true. If you lived a life where you committed many sins and Jesus came along and said, "Your sins are forgiven," wouldn't you be eternally devoted and obediently, wholeheartedly serving Him forever? Here's the thing, if all sin is equal in the eyes of God and all people sin, then it shouldn't matter if you've been forgiven for 50 or 500 ... we should be eternally devoted and sincerely serving Him with all we have. We have been saved. Because of Jesus Christ, we are washed white as 30+ inches of snow that recently fell in the Northeast. We are free! We will live for eternity with the One who created things as majestic as mountains, the stars and the ocean and yet saw fit to create us, too. We are that important. We are that loved!

Interestingly, the character Neo in this movie, is referred to as the One. He is the one predicted to save the all humans. We already have that. We already have the One who saved all human beings from themselves. And He paid quite a price for it.

We have been saved by the One. Praying we all move heaven and earth to go out of our way to be eternally devoted to Him and serve Him. Imagine a world where every Christian did that.