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"Looking for the Larger Story"
April 11, 2004
The Rev. Dr. Christopher Carlson
Like any good mystery novel, the clues are there. I'm talking about the story God tells in the Bible. The clues of the fact that God is up to something--up to something big, bigger than anyone can imagine. He is up to forgiveness and the destruction of death itself. And the clues are given in the Old Testament. They're there, but not everyone sees them. In fact, most people don't. In our first Scripture this morning from Isaiah, in fact, one of the biggest clues is given about what God is going to do. In the second Scripture, from Luke, we find two of the lesser disciples (not of the twelve), two disciples walking along the road, processing what has happened to Jesus Christ, their Savior (though they don't know it yet). And they are still in the midst of that darkness, wondering what God is up to. First from Isaiah:
On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine-- the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.
In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."
From Luke 24, the story of the road to Emmaus, reading from Eugene Peterson's version of the New Testament called The Message.
That same day two of them were walking to the village of Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was. He asked, "What's this you're discussing so intently as you walk along?" They just stood there, long-faced, like they had lost their best friend. Then one of them, his name was Cleopas, said, "Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn't heard what's happened during the last few days?" He said, "What has happened?" They said, "The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene. He was a man of God, a prophet, dynamic in work and word, blessed by both God and all the people. Then our high priests and leaders betrayed him, got him sentenced to death, and crucified him. And we had our hopes up that he was the One, the One about to deliver Israel. And it is now the third day since it happened. But now some of our women have completely confused us. Early this morning they were at the tomb and couldn't find his body. They came back with the story that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Some of our friends went off to the tomb to check and found it empty just as the women said, but they didn't see Jesus." Then he said to them, "So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can't you simply believe all that the prophets said? Don't you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?" Then he started at the beginning, with the Books of Moses, and went on through all the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that referred to him. They came to the edge of the village where they were headed. He acted as if he were going on but they pressed him: "Stay and have supper with us. It's nearly evening; the day is done." So he went in with them. And here is what happened: He sat down at the table with them. Taking the bread, he blessed and broke and gave it to them. At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him. And then he disappeared. Back and forth they talked. "Didn't we feel on fire as he conversed with us on the road, as he opened up the Scriptures for us?"
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God!
Have you ever lost something--like your keys? You put them down somewhere and you just couldn't find them. I do that all the time. And for me it starts with kind of a sense of panic, especially if I'm to go somewhere. And the first thing I do, of course, is walk around where I've been. I look on the floor and if it gets really bad and I can't find them, I start taking out the cushions on the couch looking for my keys--looking all over the place for them. And then suddenly, I find them. And, lo and behold, they were right there, out in the open. I had passed them by probably ten times looking for them! Do you ever have that experience? I know you have. We all have it from time to time. Why does that happen? It's because we put those things in a place we didn't expect, and we weren't really looking for them there. And because we didn't expect it, we didn't see them.
I think this is partly what was going on with these two disciples in the story on the road to Emmaus. They were walking along, processing, as all human beings do, something that had happened. The person they thought was going to be their Messiah had been killed in the most horrible way. And as they were talking about these things, Jesus Himself comes up and walks with them, but they don't recognize Him. Why? Because they don't expect Him to be there! He was dead! He doesn't look any different, really. They just don't see Him because they don't expect Him to be there.
But there's something else going on as well. They were doing what all human beings do when something bad happens. We usually, when something bad happens to us, lose our sense of perspective and we tend to focus on that thing and we only see it. We don't see the bigger picture. We see the small picture, and often tend to interpret everything in terms of what's going on right then and there. And that's exactly what they were doing. They only saw part of the story. But they couldn't see the larger story.
And this is what I want to talk to you about this morning. It is about the larger story of our lives and what God is doing. You see, I think it helps to look at God as a storyteller, and to look at history, if you will, as "His story," because that's what it is. God is the author of history, and history is His story. And in history, God is telling literally millions and billions of stories in the lives of human beings. And each story makes up the larger one. And within that story, God is telling the biggest story of all, the story of how He made us. And within that drama of His story, a tragedy happened. Human beings rebelled and were lost. Human beings rebelled and have rebelled since the beginning of time. Somewhere along the line in the story, something really bad happens. And the story God is telling us how He is redeeming us again. It is the story of Himself, if you will--not just us--and what He is doing in this world. Now He, God Himself, in a way we cannot understand and yet we believe, He became one of us, a human being who walked on the earth--literally--in the person of Jesus. He did that to show us exactly who He was. Because as we are, we can't see the larger story very often, the larger picture. We can only see a small part, so He came to our level to tell us who He was and is. But within that story, another story happens--something terrible. Humans beings don't recognize God for who He is and they kill Him!
It's interesting to me, and I think it's really wonderful in a lot ways, this movie The Passion has raised so many questions and people are talking about who Jesus is again. If there's one thing about the movie--you may have heard varying opinions of that movie itself--one thing that's really good: people are talking about it again. Time magazine: "Why did Jesus have to die?" Now, I have to admit, I haven't read the article. I plan to. But I can just imagine some of the things they're saying.
But the story is God's story. Jesus died for a particular reason. Yes, evil men and women, people, killed Him--and it doesn't matter whether it was the Romans or the Jews. It was, in a sense, all of us. But God is such a God that nothing that's bad can change the story He's telling. And He has taken that sacrifice, that death, and said, "Yes, it counts." It counts as a sacrifice for us, so that even in the midst of something terrible, God is doing something good. He is bringing forgiveness for you and me. But even more than that--even more than that--He is telling the story about how He's going to reverse what has happened: the curse of death will be taken away when Jesus rises from the dead.
But, of course, these disciples can't see that. You know, we really shouldn't blame them. They're just human beings like everyone else, and they tend to look at the bad over the good. That's true of all of us. We do that. We have bad things happen in our lives. Some of us are suffering all kinds of things. Some of us don't suffer very much at all, but we will. And when the bad things happen, we question, "God, what are you doing? What are you up to?" We can't see the larger story and we don't understand.
I love the "Peanuts" cartoon that has Linus reflecting on something that he's seen. He's seen Lucy fall down onto the concrete and she comes up crying. And Linus--being the philosopher that he is--he says, "For thousands of years little girls have been falling down on the sidewalks. And for thousands of years, the sidewalks always win."
And for thousands of years, little girls have been getting sick, and having cancer. People have been hurt, and maimed, and diseased--all kinds of things. Things in the story we don't always understand. But we need to look at the larger story. Because if we get mired in simply the small details--and they're important, but in the small story if we don't see the bigger story, we will not see what God is up to. That's what Jesus was up to when He tells these two about the Scriptures. He's essentially saying, "Don't you see the larger story? Don't you see what has been promised at the beginning? Don't you see that God is telling a bigger story than just this piece that had to happen this way?"
Let me ask you another question. Have you not read a story in which something bad happens and yet, if that bad thing didn't happen, what happens later that's good couldn't have happened? The bad thing had to happen in order for the good thing to happen. We've all read stories like that. We've all seen that in our own lives. I bet all of you could name a time in your life in which something bad happened to you that you didn't understand. And yet later, as you look back, if that bad thing hadn't happened, something good wouldn't have happened.
It happened to me when I was in college. I was a football player. And in the third quarter of the first game that I started--because I'd been working at this for years. As I started a major college football game, I got the ligaments torn in my knee! But do you know what happened? Later on I accepted the Lord. And later on still, I considered transferring to another college because football had been taken away. If I had not been hurt, I wouldn't have considered leaving the college I was at to go to another college. But I did, and I went. And at the other college, I met my wife, I joined the Presbyterian Church, I did all kinds of things that wouldn't have happened had I not had my knee hurt. I like to tell my children that if I hadn't got my knee hurt, you wouldn't be here!
That's the story God tells. So I encourage you to see the larger story. And as we do, it changes our lives. It changes how we live our lives now. For the last several years--I haven't seen it in the last few months or years, but I used to see these little stickers on cars that said, "NO FEAR." Now this is how out of touch I am. I haven't yet, to this day, figured out what that means. It could be a rock band, or it could be some line of clothing, as far as I'm concerned. I used to think when I'd see that, "That's how a Christian should live--with no fear." And we see that in the disciples. Once they finally get it, and they see the bigger story, once they see Jesus risen from the dead, they become fearless people. Fearful people who become bold people, who are willing to stand before the authorities and say, "Do with us what you want to. It doesn't matter." Because they know the larger story.
And we can live bold lives. We may not be called to stand before authorities, but there are things in our lives that call for courage. Being in the hospital facing tests. Or sitting with someone who is dying. Or standing up to the school board. Or whatever it is. We can live courageous lives. And we can face death differently. All of us are going there, but we don't have to be afraid.
There's a story told about a pastor talking to a group of second graders and he asked the question, "What do you think was the first thing Jesus said when He walked out of the tomb, risen from the dead?" And one little girl said, "I know! I know!" "What did He say?" She stood up and said proudly, "Ta-DAH!"
He meant, "Ta-DAH!" Jesus is risen from the dead--"Ta-DAH!" And we can, in a sense, look forward to the day we cross over.
Another story. It's about a man who lived in England who, when he was ten years old, had an accident that caused him to be blind. He went on to study and get a degree at one of the major universities in England. Even as a blind student, he did so well. And then he fell in love with a woman and was going to get married. It turned out that he could have an operation and, if this operation was successful, he would see again. But if it wasn't, he would be blind forever. And he decided that after the operation, he wouldn't have his bandages taken off until his wedding day. And so that's what happened. And all kinds of people came--you can imagine. And he stood there, waiting for his bride, and the surgeon was right next to him. His bride came up and the surgeon took off the bandages and he saw her. And he said, "You're more beautiful than I ever dreamed!"
You know, when we leave this world and we see Jesus for the first time in His glory, it's going to be a little bit like that. He's going to be more glorious than we ever imagined. And heaven, and our lives after this, will be more glorious than we can ever imagine. Because that's the larger story.
The story that God is telling is that death is not the end of the story. And we tend to live our lives that way. We tend to live our lives as though this is all there is. But it's not. This is not all there is. It's important, but it's only a small piece of eternity. And we are called to live not just in this story, but in the larger story, because of what Jesus Christ has done.
Because He is risen--He is risen indeed--we can live boldly, with confidence. We can live "Ta-DAH!" lives and look forward to the glory that will be ours because Jesus Christ is risen.
So go forth on this day, remembering once again what the Lord has done for you and the promises that He has given. Live not in the small stories, but live in the larger story of what God is doing and has done. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Rev. Dr. Christopher Carlson Senior Pastor Faith Presbyterian Church Minnetonka, Minnesota
[Transcribed from an audiotape of the 8:30 a.m. worship service on April 11, 2004.] |
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