To better understand today’s reading from CS Lewis, I want to set it in the context that Jack himself had in mind. What do Christians believe about heaven? What does the Bible teach? Let me share the typical answer much of the church would give today (Can we let Billy Graham be the spokesperson?) followed by Lewis’s response to such thinking.
Q: Do you believe that we'll be reunited with our loved ones when we get to heaven? I deeply hope we will be, but with all the millions and millions of people up there, how will we ever find them? Maybe I shouldn't worry about this but I do. - Mrs. R.E.
And, yes, there will be a vast number of people in heaven, for every person through the ages who has trusted Christ for their salvation will be there. The Bible says that because of Christ's death for us, heaven will be filled with "a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb (Christ)" (Revelation 7:9).
But you shouldn't worry about getting lost, or never finding your loved ones in heaven - not at all. If God brought you together on this earth - out of all the billions of people who live here now - will He be able to bring you together in heaven? Of course.
Never forget: Heaven is a place of supreme joy - and one of its joys will be our reunion with our loved ones. But heaven's greatest joy will be our reunion with Christ, our Savior and Lord. Is your hope and trust in Him?
Talk to me about the truth of religion and I’ll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively. But don’t come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don’t understand.
Unless, of course, you can literally believe all that stuff about family reunions ‘on the further shore’, pictured in entirely earthly terms. But that is all unscriptural, all out of bad hymns and lithographs. There’s not a word of it in the Bible. And it rings false. We know it couldn’t be like that. Reality never repeats. The exact same thing is never taken away and given back. How well the Spiritualists bait their hook! ‘Things on this side are not so different after all.’ There are cigars in Heaven. For that is what we should all like. The happy past restored.
And that, just that, is what I cry out for, with mad, midnight endearments and entreaties spoken into the empty air.
C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed (London: Faber and Faber, 1961), 22-23.
For those wishing someone other than Billy Graham to represent "most of the church," here John MacArthur giving about the same answer: http://www.gty.org/Resources/Articles/562
ReplyDeleteKen, there is a child like quality within each of us. I recall childhood experiences that I wish I could re experience again and like Jack I know that I cannot reach out to the past.
ReplyDeleteWe are all too familiar with the phrase "Don't look back." We recommend to our friends or children to move on after they have experienced a failed relationship.
The loss of a loved one, words are inadequate to describe the emotions one goes through. No matter what is said or sorrow expressed it will not remove the pain or bring joy into that person's life again. It is necessary for a rebirth to take place for the sorrowing one.
I feel sorry for Jack and I must confess I have not experienced the loss of a wife or a child so I cannot truly relate to him.
However having said that, without being judgmental I perceive Jack somewhat lacking faith and without hope.
His statement.
"Talk to me about the truth of religion and I’ll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively. But don’t come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don’t understand."
Speaks volumes about Jack and each and everyone of us.
Hope is all one has in this life without it life is not worth living.
When difficulties arise and tragedies strike it has a way of revealing the true character that resides within each of us.
All we have from Jack is his writings, and in this one paragraph. I'm uncomfortable with what he is telling us.
"Unless, of course, you can literally believe all that stuff about family reunions ‘on the further shore’, pictured in entirely earthly terms. But that is all unscriptural, all out of bad hymns and lithographs. There’s not a word of it in the Bible. And it rings false. We know it couldn’t be like that."
"And that, just that, is what I cry out for, with mad, midnight endearments and entreaties spoken into the empty air."
Whereas reading Billy Graham I am joyously uplifted with hope and assurance.
Do you have N.T. Wright's opinion on this subject? I believe he would side with Lewis. I know Mr. Wright says most hymns are sweet but the words are not scripturally sound. It might be interesting to dig into the Bible and come up with all the passages that have to do with heaven but that would mean getting into Revelation and for most of the guys in our men's group that would be far too scary.
ReplyDeleteHere again, if it is perceived that I am being (please forgive me) too harsh toward Jack, and I realize he is not here to defend himself nor his words.
ReplyDeleteI detect that he is equating religion with God. There is a definite distinction between the two. He is right religion doesn't and cannot console anyone it is a waste of time.
What he fails to realize is that God voluntarily sacrificed His Son in behalf of humanity. Is there any way to measure and compare the suffering that Jack went through and the suffering that the Father went through when His son was in Gethsemane, and then barbarically crucified on the cross?
We are told in scripture that God is touched by the feelings of our infirmities, He is able to relate to us in our time of sorrow and grief.
He desires that we, His children in our sorrow, pain and grief turn to Him for solace that only He can provide.
I love Lewis here. Again, his honesty is cutting and very unsettling. He is still too raw and grief-stricken to find comfort in the idea of some strange and wondrous "eternity" that he can't fully fathom. Yet, he's too intelligent and brutally truthful to console himself with images of heaven that he recognizes, clearly, as being grounded in earthly perception and wishful thinking. I don't see him as lacking in faith or hope; Intellectually, he still believes in "eternity." But on a purely emotional level, he desperately wants things back the way they were, and he knows that's an impossibility. "Reality never repeats." While heaven will surely be better, it will not be "the same;" and at this point in his grief, "the same" is the one thing Lewis desperately desires. I can't wait to see where he goes with this....
ReplyDeleteI am quite surprised that Jack's words seem at all shocking. After all, in His greatest hour of need, Christ cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?". Jack does a great job of pointing out that faith does not just soothe us and make us smile despite hardship and make all suffering easy to withstand. During crisis, we can continue to assent to faith and continue in our religious duties, but it is not some opiate that takes away the pain we endure.
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