“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11, ESV)
I’m sure you’ve found it much too easy to lose your honor playing golf. You might lose the honors on the next tee with a bad hole, but more painfully you might forfeit your honor by missing a tap-in or whiffing the ball, or some other shameful type of execution or reaction.
Yes, honors and honor alike are fickle. Most of us in life will come to a day when we can’t believe we are that kind of spouse, that kind of parent, that kind of child, that kind of Christian… Most of us will also face a day when we lose face in a very public way. Missing two footers as a professional golfer seared my heart with shame; yelling at my husband burns me with the wrath of failure at loving him well; and having chronic pain plants a dagger of despair in all my strength. Where shall I go when my honor is gone?
C.S. Lewis in Prince Caspian introduces us to a little mouse called Reepicheep, who was hurt in battle and lost his tail. Reepicheep was very sad that his tail was gone. But not everyone was sad…
“It becomes you very well, Small One,” said Aslan.
(…)
“But what do you want with a tail?” asked Aslan.
(…)
“Sir,” said the Mouse, “I can eat and sleep and die for my King without one. But a tail is the honor and glory of a Mouse.”
“I have often wondered, friend,” said Aslan, “whether you do not think too much about your honor.”
Ah, yes. C.S. Lewis writes with brilliance. Of course we think too much about our honor! Yet Christ does not leave us without hope. We forget that the way down is up, and that to lose our life is to find it. Sometimes our honor stands in the way of experiencing the unmerited grace of God in Christ Jesus. Having lots of merit can blind us to the truly selfless and free love of our Father. Maybe it is in his kindness that he bids us lose our honor, because he wants to bestow us a better honor, his own Son. Maybe our loss actually becomes us very well, for isn’t it then that we pray? Isn’t it then that we see our great need for forgiveness? Isn’t it then that we grasp on to Christ and wish never to let go? Isn’t it then that with full hearts we worship? Isn’t it then that he becomes an everlasting prize? Isn’t it then that we love fellow sinners?
The beauty of Christian fellowship shines when our perishable reputations and achievements wither and fade. There we find the bearing of burden and the sharing in sin and suffering. The fellow friends of Reepicheep, concerned for his well-being and seeking to cover his shame, said to Aslan: “We are all waiting to cut off our own tails if our Chief must go without his. We will not bear the shame of wearing an honor which is denied to the High Mouse.”
Christ himself lost the honor rightfully due him. We must not forget that his humiliation on the cross preceded his resurrection. Should we bear honor while he was stripped naked in shame and spit upon? Where shall we go? To Christ and his people. If you happen to lose the honors or your honor, remember that there is one who lost everything that you might gain him. You do not need your honor in order to be loved by him.
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Isabelle Beisiegel
June 18, 2015
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.