He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. Eph 1:10 (MSG)
The Story – Stories Part 2
Go to PART 1
I’m always getting into trouble from my husband for embellishing the stories I tell. My imagination blurs the lines and the way I remember the details does not always reflect reality. Sometimes (I can’t believe I’m telling you this…) I get my dreams mixed up with real life. When I was growing up, I would tell my parents these stories, that when finished, they would look at me and say, “Darling, I don’t think that ever happened…” (hmmm). Needless to say, I love a good story. And a TRUE story beautifully told? Heaven!
Unlike me, Jesus retells the story of our lives with grace to bring reality to it, not distance it further from it. Situations and circumstances both within and outside of our control can blur the lines of our eternal and momentary reality. Our origin and true identity can often be masked by hurt, pain, offense, neglect, sin nature, greed, hate, a misplaced self-worth, a lie presenting to be the truth. And it's hard to tell what the truth actually is. Have you ever seen a movie based on a true story? One that you are intimately acquainted with? Where you know the details, the real-life characters, the setting and the narrative? Only to have the representation of that story to be far from the truth? Yet others who see the film have no idea if the story is true or not, and most take the story presented to them as gospel. It feels like an injustice when our stories are told horribly; when we are misrepresented, misunderstood and seen to be something that we’re not, taken out of context.
I think Jesus knows exactly what that feels like. The divine and infinite, the essence of life, is threaded through all things. And age upon age he watches people hear a story that they believe to be the truth but is, in fact, a misrepresentation, a contortion and twisted version of it. Only half of the story, containing just enough truth to appear real, and just enough lies to taint and pollute.
Truth like: you’re a sinner, you’re going to die, life is short, the world is in trouble, you’ll never make it alone, do what it takes, make it count.
Lies like: you’ve blown it, fear death, the world is in trouble and it’s your fault, OR the world is in trouble so take advantage of the opportunity that that presents, you’ll never make it alone so use people to get ahead, do whatever it takes to be happy even at the expense of others, if it feels good do it, your worth is built on fame and fortune and influence and image, nobody loves you, nobody is worth loving, it's you against the world… and more.
For each of us, the combination of truth and lies presents in different ways, different scenes and moments, but the narrative of the story is the same: Separation. Division. Disunity. John talks about it in chapter 15 of his letter as being disconnected from the vine – the source of life.
But Jesus came in human form, the manifestation of the divine, as a son and a brother, to retell the story. To set us straight, reveal the truth and unravel the narrative of life that has gotten so twisted up.
In Eph 1:10, the way the word ‘unity’ is translated there are a few different words that we could use to describe it. Some of those are: gather together, to sum up, to recapitulate, to bring back together under one head. Jesus is bringing back together, reconnecting and summing EVERYTHING up in him. He is retelling the story in such a way that we see the reality of our connectedness, that there is grace, grace, grace for us all, and God’s love – the signature of all things – is written across every page of life.
He is redeeming us all, everything, one by one, heaven and earth, back to himself. He is our common denominator, the glue, the author, the essence of life that connects us all. And through us, this story is being retold to a world that has lost hope.
Jesus is the truth about hope, faith and love, written with grace, inked with blood. Permanent and fixed.
Go to Poetry in Motion – Stories Part 3
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