The Scotch catechism says that man's end is 'to glorify God and enjoy Him forever'. But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy him.
~ C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, p97
To describe God as glorious is to move into abstract thinking. We have to use our imagination, and even then we're on weak ground. Who do we compare God to? We read stories in the Scriptures, but even then there is a disconnect.
We're not the pious, observant Jews of the first century who grew up with great reverence for Torah, the Prophets and the Writings. We're cynical post-moderns who question everything. Are we even capable of describing any person, including God, as glorious?
C.S. Lewis makes the connection between what we enjoy and what we glorify. It may be that our appetite for enjoyment is too base, too low-class to connect the word glory to our pleasures. But the good that we enjoy in others ought to elicit a response akin to glory. At a simple level, when my Mum lathers icing on her shortbread cookies and gives a dozen of them to me for Christmas, I give her glory. I enjoy those cookies very much, and I enjoy the pleasure my Mum gets from me enjoying those cookies. I give glory to my Mum for shortbread cookies!
At a more profound level, I ought to give glory to my wife when she forgives me. I ought to give glory to my friend Don when he listens to me. I ought to give glory to my children when they are good to each other. I am thankful and enjoy all those activities, and thus give glory to the ones who are involved. And so for God, when I can see his activities in the world, when I can recount his activities in my life, and my response is joy - that is my way of giving God glory.
I suppose we could substitute the word "thank" for the word "glory" - there are similarities. Except that we probably don't think highly enough of being thankful, and thus we'll still miss the great act of giving glory. But humble thankfulness that is sincere and glad - that is getting closer to giving glory. Giving this kind of thankfulness in a public way is also crucial to giving glory. You can give glory to God in your prayers of thankfulness, but there's more joy when you glorify God amongst your friends.
Christmas has a way of bringing out the best and worst of us. The best of us wants to be generous, loving, hospitable, funny, and full of energy. The worst of us get jealous, envious, greedy, busy, cranky and tired. It doesn't help that advertisers purposefully fuel our discontent in order to prompt us to make that next purchase. It doesn't help that our culture fosters overindulgence when it comes to giving gifts - overspending and going in unaffordable-debt is not a recipe for joy.
This Christmas you may want to take some moments by your tree, after the kids are in bed, and reflect on what you are thankful for in your life. What are the gifts God has given you this year? In what ways has God been good to you? How has God made you smile amidst the hardships of life? As you pull together your thoughts, your response of gratitude is a form of glory. The next step would be to write it down, to share with your children and family, to share with some friends.
Enjoyment is meant to be shared; glory is meant to be public. You give glory to God when you share with your friends and family the ways that you are thankful for His work in and through you. It doesn't have to be preachy, just authentic. Your sincere appreciation for God's involvement in your life ought to provoke a story to share that points back to God and the people he worked through to help you.
At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises:
Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.
Luke 2v13-14 (The Message)
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