I went back to school this week and picked up the final course in my program– Counseling. We talked a lot this week about the stories people tell. We are a people who figure out life through our stories. Stories help us know who we are. Stories carry down family values from one generation to the next. Stories have the capacity to heal, and they certainly help form us as a people. If I want you to know who I am, I could load you down with biographical information of my birthdate, social security number, jobs I’ve held, but that wouldn’t tell you much. If I really want to let you in, I’ll tell you stories: stories of growing up in a family of zany brothers and one sister, stories of growing up in a little cow town that still doesn’t have a stoplight. I’d tell you the story of meeting Marcia...maybe stories of how God brought us to Tennessee.
If you’re around Hopwood for long, you learn about who we are through the stories we tell. Stories like: How old Mr. Hopwood was put on trial for praying to be filled by the Holy Spirit. Stories of how in the middle of the Depression, the women of the church baked meals and pieced quilts to rebuild this building. Or what about Randy R.’s first day as youth minister when the rescue squad and the police showed up? Some of the stories make us laugh. Some bring a tear to our eyes.
Each week we gather around this table and pull out family stories. As we re-tell our stories, and read more stories from the Word week by week, a couple of things takes place. Our ancestors come to life in our midst...they regain their voices, they re-inhabit their places among us...in a very real sense, we re-member them, we once again give them hands and feet and voices and invite them to continue to live among us. And we remember that we are a part of something larger than ourselves, building upon the foundation of those who have gone before.
Our readings this morning remind us that we are a part of a drama that began long, long ago...and will continue for who knows how long after we’re gone. We do well to remember that this is not simply an old book of disjointed family stories, but that somehow it all fits together...it tells one story, it forms a progressive account of God’s relationship with us. Somehow these bits and pieces all fit together
Some of the stories make us laugh...some tales that make us think...and some of the scenes force us to close our eyes and not want to hear any more. We catch a sense of the gospel as comedy in our Old Testament Scripture from Genesis. The Lord comes to a 99 year old childless man and says, “I’m going to make a great nation of you; you will be the ancestor of many nations..I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.” The joke wasn’t lost on Abraham and Sarah; after they got done chuckling they got to work and had a son, who they named “Laughter.” They believed God at his Word, and established an abiding friendship between God and all the children of Abraham...a friendship that has reached all the way down to us.
But our family story is not simply one long comedy. It also contains bitter tragedy. God’s covenant was broken; God’s friendship was scorned. Over and over the people of God went their own way and rejected God’s guidance. It is during this season of Lent that we remember the heart-rending tragedy of how far God’s offer of friendship has compelled him to go...God went ahead and offered the gift that Abraham avoided...the sacrifice of his own son, that the power of death might be forever destroyed and God’s rebel children might find forgiveness and a place at the table. Before the Gospel of Jesus Christ is good news, it is first hard news, terrible news. Our morning gospel tells the story: “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed...He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
We’ve got many lovers of theatre here at Hopwood, many readers of great literature. Perhaps you will resonate with students of this Word who look at the Old and New Testament not as a string of random events, but as a story, a long drama that details God’s involvement with his people in at least five acts. Samuel Wells, in his book Improvisation (53-55) outlines the epic drama like this:
Act I – is the story of God’s love expressed in Creation – God’s grace was poured out in acts of unmatched creativity. Everything we know and see and experience came into being under his watchful eye. God’s love was too abundant for Him to keep to Himself, and so he formed us in his own image and his love spilled into our lives.. We catch glimpses of the beauty and harmony and wholeness of those happy days of Eden, but through a glass, dimly...we have forgotten all but the glow. With shame we recount how our ancestors rebelled and pulled away from God. All of creation was subjected to brokenness and pain and guilt and sin.
Act II – tells the story of God’s pursuit of a relationship with his chosen people, Israel. That’s where our first reading took us today: God established a covenant, a relationship, a friendship with Abraham and his descendants. In a thousand ways, the Old Testament fleshes out the cycle of God’s love. God loves his children and longs for friendship with them. His children rebel, chasing every bright and dirty object in their path. God punishes, grieves, and stews like a spurned lover, unable to live with Israel, and totally unwilling to go on without her. He sends a stream of messengers and representatives, trying to get his message through to his hard-headed people. Still Israel resists.
The drama builds to Act III – When the stage is set, and the time is right, the Author Himself steps on the stage. In this Act we see into the true heart of God. In Jesus, we learn what God thinks, what God cares about, how God loves. Our morning Scripture recounts the hinge point of Act III, when Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem. This is the scene we replay in each Lenten season, taking time to ponder the depths of God’s love. Will God’s people receive him into their lives, or will they reject him? Jesus is rejected and abandoned by all. He is raised up on a cross, and all the world goes completely black. From now on, I want you to remember when you fear the worst is about to happen, that the absolute WOSRST has already happened. The misery and tears of Good Friday seem to bring an end to the drama...then the Light bursts forth from the tomb and we rise to our feet!
Act IV – introduces the Church. God is not finished with the world. Now he’s got people to work with. Redeemed by Jesus’ Sacrifice, Empowered by the Spirit, the Church becomes the embodiment of the Body of Christ for the salvation of the world. People’s lives are ignited by the power of the Spirit. God gives good gifts of His Presence, His Word, baptism into a new life, Holy Bread and Wine for the Church’s sustenance and every good gift needed to reach a lost and dark world. The church spreads to every corner of the globe.
This is where the drama catches us. We are still heirs of the promise, with Abraham. We are still disciples of Jesus, still bearers of the cross, still servants of the Son of Man, sent out with a message of service and love.
The final Act, Act V, recounts the End of the Age...the Eschaton, the closing of the books. Here the Author will once again rise to the stage, draw all things together and make all things right. Here justice will kiss mercy. Here the Lamb will lie down with the Lion. Here a little child will lead us. This will be a terrifying time for those who have hoarded wealth and abused power, and for all who have resisted the Kingdom...for every enemy will be defeated, including the darkest one...the beast and hell and death. But those who bear the name of the Risen Jesus, those who live under the sign of the cross will shout with joy and sing with gladness as the people of God enter the celebration at the Father’s House which will have no end.
As we live out God’s great drama, we must be careful to recognize that we are participants in a five act play that has still not reached the end, not a one act that is all wrapped up at Easter. It is a mistake to think that the Books have been closed, that the deal has been sealed, that the play is all but over and all problems have been resolved. Jesus has done amazing things for us, and assured us of victory in our struggle against sin, but let’s not think that we can hang up our work clothes. Right now we’re square in Act 4...the Age of the Church and there’s plenty of space for us to play our parts. Too many Christians think that they’ve got their tickets punched, that they’ve been “saved”, that all they have to do now is hang around for the bus to heaven to show up. The play’s not over! Don’t quit on us now! Open your eyes and see that God has got all kinds of work for his people to do before this drama is brought to its conclusion.
Hey, the drama is not over–we’re still right in the middle of this great age of the church and we’re called to influence the world. Let us be agitators for peace and reconcilers between enemies and healers of the wounded, and speakers of truth. God is not through with us yet. We are God’s spokespeople in this day and age. We are advocates for Christ in this season of killing and confusion. Don’t think this is a one-act play. There’s still a lot of action in Act four. We are still servants of Chrst to our families, in our communities, in our work, and in the world.
Jesus said: ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’
The other mistake we must avoid is placing the church in the wrong act. We’re not in the first Act, creating something new from scratch. No, we have joined a drama that has been in production for a long, long time. We have joined a community with deep, deep roots. We learn from the stories of those who have gone before. We build on the shoulders of those who have walked this path before us. We learn from their experiences and we heed their warnings. And we don’t make the mistake of thinking we’re in the final Act, either, as if we’re alone responsible for how the story comes out. Let’s leave that responsibility to the One who knows the end of the story.
It has been left to us to faithfully, persistently tell the stories of what has gone before, so that we remember our part in this great drama. It has been given to us to take up the work today, faithfully reaching out to a lost and cold world, sharing the gospel with friend and foe, caring for the weak and hungry and sick, binding up the war torn and hurting, carrying the message to those who do not know it. You come into this community by being reborn by water and Spirit. You participate in this community by allowing your life to be formed into a cross-shaped offering to God and the world. The Fourth Act is underway. It’s time for your entrance.
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