Behind Day 22 of my Advent Calendar is:
THE GRAND CANYON
Some years ago, for her 50th birthday, I took my long suffering wife away for the weekend. Now, given how perilously close I have just come to revealing my wife’s age, I should, for the sake of my own frail longevity, make absolutely clear that, by ‘some years ago’, I actually mean, ‘18 years into the future’!
The centrepiece of the weekend was a day in London but, being the romantic old bratwurst that I am, I didn’t actually tell my nearest and dearest all that I had planned for us to do, choosing instead to adopt an air of mystery and reveal only the next scheduled activity on what was going to be a pretty busy day. That is to say, there was always a little more for me to tell her up until the point we reached the highlight of our excursion, namely the taking in of a West End show.
Well it’s a bit like that with this blog since, what I told you yesterday wasn’t the whole story. Because, whilst it remains absolutely true that the rescue achieved on Good Friday and Easter Day is greater than the Christmas Day arrival of the rescuer, there still remains something even more marvellous to mention.
Because what we are rescued for is even greater than the rescue itself.
‘Well OK’, you’re probably thinking, ‘what is it that could possibly be more important than our rescue? And will you insist on rambling on about something that is supposedly even more amazing tomorrow?’
Well to answer that I’d like to take you to the first question of the Westminster Catechism which was written way back in the 1640’s. The truth it contains hasn’t changed one iota in the last 320 or so years and, since it deals with the fundamentals of our very existence, it will remain every bit as true for all of eternity to come.
So then, the first question asked by the aforementioned summary of the Christian faith is this: ‘What is the chief end of man?’. And it gives as its answer: ‘The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever’.
It’s sometimes said that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. And here it’s being suggested that the main thing is the glory of God and that the purpose of our existence is to both add to and enjoy that glory. Or, better put perhaps, our purpose is to glorify God BY our enjoyment of his glory.
So here’s the thing – we don’t glorify God by dutifully acknowledging his existence, on the contrary, we magnify his worth by joyfully expressing our love for him by our heartfelt and exuberant praise for all that he is and all that he has done.
Now I appreciate that to some the glory of God might not sound particularly exciting or indeed something to take pleasure in – but that will surely be the case only for those who struggle to see just how wonderful God really is and prefer to find their satisfaction in other things instead.
But, as the enigmatic author of the book of Ecclesiastes tells us, without God,
‘all the things that are done under the sun…are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.’ [Ecclesiastes 1:14]
And he that wrote these words should know, for having tried everything that this world had to offer, he found it all somehow lacking. And so he concludes that, in and of itself, this life cannot satisfy – not in any ultimate sense.
This is not to suggest that this life doesn’t offer us a wealth of good things that we can take pleasure in, far from it, for many are the good and perfect gifts that God gives us to enjoy. [James 1:17]. But whilst they sometimes might seemingly be able to satisfy us, without God, even the best things in life will not fulfil us. For even the very best of times will eventually come to an end.
Take for example the day out in London that I mentioned earlier that my wife and I enjoyed – you remember, the one that took place in 2041! First up we went on the London Eye and then we took a boat trip down the River Thames complete with, and this will show you just how much I love her, a pre-booked coffee and a mid-morning snackette! [I know – impressive eh – but it meant I could skimp on buying her lunch!] Next we visited the Houses of Parliament where we later indulged in a little tea on the terrace. And lastly, we went to the theatre and saw ‘The Lion King’ – you know the one, ‘Hakuna Matata’ and all that.
We had a genuinely lovely day…
…but eventually, of course, it came to an end.
And similarly, no matter how pleasant Christmas turns out to be this year, in a week’s time it will all be over. Because all good things do inevitably come to an end – that is the nature of our human condition.
So what are we to do?
C.S. Lewis, author of the Chronicles of Narnia, wrote :
‘If I find in myself a desire which no earthly experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world’.
But where might that other world be – where might our longing for infinite joy be eternally satisfied?
To answer that question it may help to consider this. Have you ever enjoyed a wonderful view from the top of a high mountain, or the waves as they crashed spectacularly against a rocky coastline? Have you ever marvelled at the night sky or been spellbound by a beautiful sunset as you headed home one evening? If you have, have you ever wanted that feeling of being caught up in something bigger and better than yourself to go on forever?
I have – and it felt good.
To enjoy such an experience is to acknowledge that true happiness comes, not from within ourselves, but from outside, not from being admired, but rather from admiring that which is truly admirable.
Because as John Piper says, ‘No one goes to the Grand Canyon to increase self esteem’. On the contrary, we go to the Grand Canyon to go ‘Wow’ and, what’s more, enjoy doing so!
And so it seems to me that to be infinitely and eternally happy we need something infinitely and eternally glorious to admire or, to put it another way, something infinitely and eternally glorious to worship.
And that something is, I believe, a someone – namely God himself.
King David says as much in Psalm 16 where in v11 he writes:
‘[O God,] You make known to me the path of life, in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.’
You want infinite joy? David says it’s found in the presence of God
You want everlasting pleasure? David says it’s found at God’s right hand.
The rescue that was heralded by the prophets of the Old Testament, that began with the arrival of Jesus at the first Christmas and was secured by his subsequent death and resurrection at the first Easter, will one day find its fulfilment when Jesus comes back. Advent is that season of the year when, as well as looking forward to Christmas, we anticipate Jesus return. Because whilst it’s good to remember Jesus’ first coming at Christmas, it’s better still to remember that one day he’s coming back.
For then we’ll see Jesus as he really is – and praise him as we really ought.
So then, if we’re looking for infinite and everlasting joy, let’s not put our hope in a few fun-filled days at the end of each December, pleasant though those days may be. Let’s not put our hope in our seventy or perhaps eighty years of life, for those years are soon gone and one day we will ‘bring our years to an end with a sigh’ [Psalm 90]. Instead let’s hope in God and the new heavens and new earth that he will establish when Jesus returns. Because this is a sure and certain hope, – one that will one day undoubtedly be realised!
Finally then, don’t misunderstand what I am saying here and imagine that I am encouraging a selfish pursuit of one’s own pleasure. Not at all. Nor am I suggesting that life for Christians should be trouble free – on the contrary, – life for Christians, just as it is for non Christians, is often hard – sometimes incredibly so. But Christians are, nonetheless, right to long for the infinite and everlasting joy that will one day be theirs when they finally know God in all his glorious splendour.
It’ll be like enjoying that wonderful view we thought of earlier – only more so. And it will be our delighting in God, marvelling at who he is and what’s he’s done, that will honour him so much more than our dutiful religious observance ever could.
So then, like the angels on that Bethlehem hillside, let us delight to give glory to God, like the shepherds tending their sheep, let us excitedly tell others of what we have seen, and like the wise men with their gifts, let us humbly bow down and worship Jesus Christ as the King of kings and Lord of lords that he truly is.
For with our past misdeeds forgiven and a bright hope for the future, we have every reason to do so.
*****
And so to a song. I did consider ‘When I’m 64’ by the Beatles, but decided that would be asking for trouble so I’ve opted instead for ‘Hakuna Matata’ that well known song from ‘The Lion King’ that I mentioned earlier. As you are probably aware, ‘Hakuna Matata’ means ‘No worries’ which, whilst making for a great little song, is a rather facile philosophy for this life if it’s not grounded in anything that can genuinely relieve us of our fears.
Even so, I’ve chosen it as today’s song because those who are ‘in Christ’ know that, since a day is coming when they will have ‘no worries’, there is a sense in which, despite genuine ongoing anxieties, they have nothing to worry about now.
I appreciate that sounds like a contradiction but it really isn’t and though a little complicated is all tied up in the very helpful theological framework known as “‘The Already’ and the ‘Not Yet’”. If you’re interested you can read about it here in something I wrote back in the days of the pandemic. Alternatively you can just enjoy the song!
Previously from ‘A Christmas Countdown’:
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 21’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 20’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 19’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 18’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 17’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 16’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 15, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 14’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 13’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 12’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 11’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 10’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 9’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 8’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Part 7’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 6’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 5’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 4’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 3’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 2’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 1’, click here
To read ‘An Advent Calendar – Complete’, click here
Some musings 