{"id":31691,"date":"2022-09-10T15:40:19","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/c-s-lewis-last-words-still-ring-true\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:40:19","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:40:19","slug":"c-s-lewis-last-words-still-ring-true","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/c-s-lewis-last-words-still-ring-true\/","title":{"rendered":"C.S. Lewis\u2019 Last Words Still Ring True"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Aaron Earls<\/em><\/p>\n

Last words fascinate us.<\/p>\n

Obviously as Christians, we think of depth of Jesus\u2019 declaration: \u201cIt is finished.\u201d<\/p>\n

The final statements often reveal an attitude toward death. Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez pleaded, \u201cI don\u2019t want to die, please don\u2019t let me die.\u201d George Washington, on the other hand, said, \u201cI die hard, but I am not afraid to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some may wish they could\u2019ve said something a bit more profound. Elvis Presley told his fianc\u00e9, \u201cI\u2019m going to the bathroom to read.\u201d Not quite the send-off the king of rock and roll may have deserved.<\/p>\n

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As an acclaimed Christian scholar and writer, C.S. Lewis enjoyed wide recognition during his life, but was overshadowed in his death by the assassination of John F. Kennedy on the same day\u2014November 22, 1963.<\/p>\n

Some of the last words Lewis wrote still carry immense relevance to church leaders today.<\/p>\n

Looking at his last published piece and the last letter he wrote, we can see two principles that should guide the public witness of Christians today. Be faithful. Be kind.<\/p>\n

Be faithful.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Most church leaders recognize we live in a culture that has embraced a faulty and unbiblical view of sex. Many act as if, however, this is a new phenomenon.<\/p>\n

Lewis observed and responded to the roots of the sexual revolution in his day that has born wicked fruit in ours.<\/p>\n

In his last published piece, an essay for the Saturday Evening Post<\/em> entitled \u201cWe Have No Right to Happiness,\u201d Lewis combats the then-growing, now-prevalent notion that personal happiness, and particular sexual happiness, should be allowed to govern our moral standards.<\/p>\n

In his creative, but logical manner, Lewis deconstructs the argument that individuals have an unlimited right to happiness, particularly as it relates to sexuality.<\/p>\n

He critiques the \u201cpreposterous privilege\u201d our sexual impulses have been given. \u201cThe sexual motive is taken to condone all sorts of behavior which, if it had any other end in view, would be condemned as merciless, treacherous, and unjust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite recognizing culture increasingly embracing this privileging of sexual desires, Lewis remained steadfast in his commitment to biblical morality, even if it cost him professionally.<\/p>\n

His desire to challenge culture, however, flowed from a heart for culture and those around him. Lewis was not seeking confrontation simply to be argumentative.<\/p>\n

He recognized the inevitable results of adopting this perspective. It was a matter of \u201cpursuing the well-being of the city\u201d in which God had placed him (Jeremiah 29:7).<\/p>\n

Christians and church leaders today should seek to uphold God\u2019s perspective on a host of issues that challenge and confront our culture, but the motivation should come from a desire to see our neighbors experience the joys that come with living a life of obedience to Christ.<\/p>\n

We should not shy away from inevitable confrontations that result from differing worldviews, but neither should we relish battles for their own sake.<\/p>\n

That motivation can be lived out in following the example of Lewis\u2019 last letter.<\/p>\n

Be kind.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As his fame grew, so did the volume of letters C.S. Lewis received from readers, including numerous children.<\/p>\n

While he regularly and joyfully corresponded with numerous friends through letters, it is unsurprising that Lewis also began to view his letter writing as a chore that he fulfilled out of a sense of duty.<\/p>\n

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See also  8 Ways to Persevere in Ministry<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In Surprised by Joy<\/em>, he wrote, \u201cIt is an essential of the happy life that a man would have almost no mail and never dread the postman\u2019s knock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite this, Lewis wrote well over 3,000 letters and did so until the very night before his death.<\/p>\n

Philip wrote the Oxford don to say how much he enjoyed the Narnia books and his parents appreciated Lewis\u2019 \u201cserious books.\u201d<\/p>\n

As was his practice, the accomplished scholar and famous author took the time, even while literally on his deathbed, to graciously and warmly encourage a child he had never met.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo begin with, may I congratulate you on writing such a remarkably good letter; I certainly could not have written it at your age,\u201d Lewis wrote in his last letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd to go on with, thank you for telling me that you like my books, a thing an author is always pleased to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lewis is recognized for his distinct and remarkable ability to communicate Christian truth effectively through both fiction and non-fiction writing.<\/p>\n

Perhaps even more importantly, we should honor him and follow in his footsteps of communicating Christian truth both a convictional, but loving manner.<\/p>\n

How much do we need to recapture a Christlike heart like Lewis\u2019 that welcomes little children and makes time for those who can offer us no boost in platform or paygrade?<\/p>\n

Facing a prolonged illness that had sapped him of his physical strength and dealing with financial stress after his health forced him to resign, Lewis was kind when he seemingly had every reason not to be.<\/p>\n

Too often we allow any excuse to give us a pass for being rude. Instead of seeking out ways to extend kindness we search for justification for our poor attitudes and behaviors.<\/p>\n

In The Problem of Pain<\/em>, Lewis wrote about how we often deceive ourselves about just how kind we actually are:<\/p>\n

The real trouble is that ‘kindness’ is a quality fatally easy to attribute to ourselves on quite inadequate grounds. Everyone feels benevolent if nothing happens to be annoying him at the moment. Thus a man easily comes to console himself for all his other vices by a conviction that ‘his heart’s in the right place’ and ‘he wouldn’t hurt a fly,’ though in fact he has never made the slightest sacrifice for a fellow creature. We think we are kind when we are only happy \u2026<\/p>\n

Lewis did not flinch in his convictions, but neither did he use them as rationale for attacking others. He remained faithful and kind until the moment he saw his Savior face to face.<\/p>\n

We would do well to remember and emulate with our lives Lewis\u2019 last words.<\/p>\n

AARON EARLS (@WardrobeDoor)<\/strong> is online editor of <\/em>Facts & Trends.<\/p>\n

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Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
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Letters of C.S. Lewis<\/h2>\n

FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Related posts:<\/h3>\n
The Friendship Path to Faith: The Case of C. S. Lewis What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Aaron Earls Last words fascinate us. Obviously as Christians, we think of depth of Jesus\u2019 declaration: \u201cIt is finished.\u201d The final statements often reveal an attitude toward death. Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez pleaded, \u201cI don\u2019t want to die, please don\u2019t let me die.\u201d George Washington, on the other hand, said, \u201cI die hard, but … Continue reading “C.S. Lewis\u2019 Last Words Still Ring True”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31691\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}