The Weight of Glory

The Weight of Glory was a sermon originally preached by C.S. Lewis in 1942.  He begins with a discussion about the reward promised to Christians in the Gospels.  He says that this reward is not a like that of a bribe paid to mercenaries.  It is “the very consummation of their earthly discipleship. Lewis says that we have we cannot begin to know this reward at all except by “continuing to obey and finding the first reward of our obedience in our increasing power to desire the ultimate reward.”  He states that the desire for heaven is already in us but it is “not yet attached to the true object, and will even appear as the rival of that object.”  This desire causes us to think that beauty is actually in things such as books and music whereas the reality is that the beauty is only coming through them.  He goes on to say that his desire for Paradise does not prove that he will enjoy it, but it rather gives a pretty good indication that such a thing exists and that some men will.

He goes on to talk about the idea of glory.  He admits that this idea had not immediate appeal to him at all.  Glory suggested two ideas to him.  One was the idea of fame which seems to be a competitive passion from hell.  The other idea was that of luminosity and he says that he was not fond of the idea of being a living electric light bulb.  He then says that after reading what other Christians had to say on the matter, he began to see glory more as fame or good report with God.  This idea is like a good child who take pleasure in being praised by its parents.  He then speaks of the weight of this glory.  The fact that some of us will survive examination by God, that we will be approved by God, that God will delight it as an artist delights in his work; this fact seems impossible and it is a “weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain.”

Lewis goes on to talk about the weight of our neighbor’s glory.  He says it is hardly possible to think to often of about one’s neighbor’s glory.  Lewis says, “The load, or weight of my neighbor’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it.”  Everyone is destined to become a creature of infinite splendor or eternal horror.  All day long we are helping each other toward one of these destinations.  “It is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit- immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.  According to Lewis, we have to take each other seriously.  

I really loved reading this sermon.  It is so deep that it took a few times through of slow reflective reading to really allow it to sink in.  It is full of such rich, deep insight that is so lacking in the church today.  I do not often think about how I am made for heaven and not for this current world.  I think this conclusion can be reached if one truly examines their desires and looks at how often they do not attach them to the true object.  This false attachment seems evident in the way that modern people live their lives.  People search for meaning by often going around and attaching their desires to whatever seem like the right thing to attach them to at the time.

The fact that we are going to be approved by God is stunning and impossible sounding.  It was hard to see at first, but I am starting to realize what Lewis actually is getting at by calling it the “weight of glory.”  The fact that we Christians will be approved by God and that he will delight in us does seem impossible and there does seem to be a  weight or burden of glory that goes along with it.

The section that struck me that most in this sermon is the last section.  I personally feel that it is easier to see the weight or burden of my neighbor’s glory than my own.  The idea that everyone around us are all either infinite splendors or eternal horrors defiantly puts a weight or burden on how we treat our neighbors.  I love when he says that this is just as true when dealing with the simplest, dullest of people.  They to are immortals.  The weight of their glory compels me to treat them very differently than my sinful nature compels me to treat them.  It is a hard thing to see people for the spiritual reality they are.