I know I've not been posting anything this week. I've had a bit of the writers block. Plus my kids don't really do anything cute that I want to brag about. But today, I feel inspired to share.
Today I had the unexpected opportunity to hear Dr. John Lennox speak. Excuse my limited vocabulary, but he is, well, realllly smart. A professor of mathematics at Oxford (in England, not North Carolina). A world-respected scientist. A textbook writer. And above all these things, a Christian. He has been very involved in the science-religion debate for years. This is a topic that is debated way too much on “liberal” college campuses.
The theme of his lecture was the universe and God’s role in it. Now you tell me - what are the odds of me, Science Doofus of the Free World, a person who would never knowingly go into any lecture that involved scientific concepts, hear about a science lecture? And being interested? Well none really. I only went to the lecture because it was an assignment from my boss…the guy who signs my timesheet. But when I returned from the assignment, I nearly kissed my boss right on his dreary, grizzly, whiskery cheek.
Anyway, I looked up Dr. Lennox after I heard him speak, I had to do a little research for the article I was writing about him and it turns out that this guy is pretty famous. People all over the world have used his words in their speeches and sermons. I dig it, so I’ll share it (just an excerpt):
“When you ask the question of how will God come, you are told of the central expectation of Christianity, that Jesus Christ Himself will come, He who loved us, He who freed us from our sins. He is coming. Jesus Christ Himself will come.
And you say, ‘You’re a mathematician.’ That’s right. Or, ‘You’re a scientist from Oxford.’ That’s right. ‘Do you seriously mean to tell me that in the 21st Century that Jesus Christ will one day come?’ I do, ladies and gentlemen. I do.
After all, it stands to logic that if Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is risen from the dead, how is it that we think we have heard the last of him? The one who invented the atom, the human brain, who painted every color there is…how is it that we have heard the last of him? [emphasis mine because I love that]
There is another world and it’s real. This world is not the only world there is, and the issue that confronts us today is not which world do we live in. That’s obvious. We live in this one. The issue is which world do I live for?
…Imagine I were to come to your home for lunch and you put there a beautiful steak and I eat it and you try to talk to me and I don’t say a word. It would be difficult after awhile. I’m enjoying it, you’re talking and I’m eating. You go into the kitchen and you bring apple strudel (which I love by the way,) and then you put it on the plate and I eat it. You put on my favorite CD and I still don’t talk to you. Finally, at the end, angry, you say, ‘Don’t you see I’m here?’ and I turn to you and say, ‘The music is wonderful. The food is beautiful, but as for you, I’m not interested in you. In fact, it doesn’t matter to me whether you exist or not."
That's exactly what I've always wanted to say to the people around me who are atheists or agnostics. I have two in my office. There are millions of people in our world today who are exactly there. When it comes to Jesus Christ, He stands. He stands at the door and he knocks. The handle is on the inside, on my side. I can invite him in to eat with me and be with me, and enter the most important relationship of my life that has sustained me, my marriage, my family for the past 41 years. Or, I can live for the by-products of life and end up disastrously missing the goal. These are the biggest things in life.
As Donna-Jo said…”if that don’t light your fire, your wood’s wet.”
The man who arranged Dr. Lennox’s visit to Elon said that when they were in the car this morning, Dr. Lennox mentioned off-handedly that C.S. Lewis was one of his professors in college. The guy nearly slammed on his brakes. Dr. Lennox looked at him and said, “Oh. Do you think that might be of some interest to the audience?”
And the guy said, “Um. Yeah. I think I’d mention that if I were you.”
Can y’all imagine? I wish my husband had been here because he is the biggest C.S. Lewis lover ever born.
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3 comments:
Holley, thank you so much for sharing that. I don't know if you knew but I work at BYU and am surrounded by this all the time. I hope we all appreciate it around here. I sure do since moving here from San Jose. His words are inspiring. The phrase I loved was "After all, it stands to logic that if Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is risen from the dead, how is it that we think we have heard the last of him?" Have a good day.
That is awesome. He's got a great outlook - "Which world are we living for." Love it!
Wow...that's sweet. I think my favorite part was the "if that doesn't light your fire then your woods wet..." I swear i didn't miss the point of the speech but your random commentary cracks me up!
Seriously though that sounds like an awesome experience. Thanks for sharing.
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