Finding Yourself in a Story

“Is there any meaning to my life?” Certainly, the question has crept up on you before. Amidst running your kids to soccer practice, waking up on Monday to go to work again, brewing in the latest headlines, and the shock of a sudden death, the words of Macbeth bubble to the surface:

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

We think it, but we can’t accept it. We demand some meaning in it all. And this is why we love stories. Stories go beyond a simple accounting of facts. Stories are more than chronology, more than a simple historian’s record of events and dates. There is drama, something significant is hidden, then revealed, and its significance stands out all the more for having been formerly hidden. To get beyond the veil, the best stories colorize people, times, and places and bring these all together for the great reveal, connecting and drawing them together like the rings of a curtain. And we say at the end, “Ah, so that’s what that was all about!”

Now, we look at life and wonder, “What is this all about?”

In his book, On the Road with Saint Augustine: a Real-World Spiritual for Restless Hearts, author James K.A. Smith reflects on the power of Augustine’s life story in making sense of our own. In short, Augustine was a man positioned for worldly success and pleasure, who vigorously pursued those things, found them empty, was led to Christ, and became one of the most significant bishops in Christian history by his writings. He met Christ “on the road” – the same road we traverse in search of home. Augustine’s story is well worth learning. However, Smith accounts that this story is simply rooted in the larger story that Augustine finally found himself in.

The common story that we share with Augustine and in which we likewise find ourselves is the story told in the Bible. The Bible tells us:

1.     Who we are and why we were made
2.     How things got messed up
3.     All the ways we went looking in the wrong places for satisfaction and redemption
4.     How God intervened to fix things
5.     What home looks like

When we ask, “What’s this all about?” our answer is found in the pages of Scripture. When we look at the people in the Bible, we see ourselves in them. We see imperfect people. Though laudable examples in many significant ways, Abraham, Moses, David, and many others also messed up in big ways. We see people who are hurting. People who suffered in a variety of ways even when they did nothing wrong themselves. And, we also see Jesus.

We’re not like him, but we know we should be like him. It’s Jesus who brings the whole story together, the rope pulling on the rings of the curtain. He reveals that there is a meaning in all of this. Our pain, our restlessness, our chaos – this is the experience of our separation from God because of sin. That is the divide Jesus crossed.

The God who makes sense of the cross will make sense of your life, when you see that even the worst and most insensible things inspired by the Devil are confiscated by the great Author; the Enemy is always playing into his hand to bring about the salvation of many. Salvation looks like us being with God forever, just as was his intent from the very beginning. All the joys and sorrows of this world are woven together toward that end.

As long as your vision of salvation looks like something else, you will always be disillusioned – whether that vision be realized, deferred, or denied. You will get the new house and now only in greater comfort continue asking, “What’s this all about?” Another child will be born, your daughter will graduate, your son will be married, grandparents you shall become and still you will be asking that question. You will be haunted by the ache for “something more.” You need to hear the true story of the cosmos, of our history, of your life that is told in Scripture. You will find your life explained there. You will discover the introduction to the next story there too.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new."

 -       Revelation 21:1-5a [ESV]