His Story is My Story

The cruel, ugly crucifixion. The dark, cold death. The bright, glorious resurrection.

It's an impressive story. Who can deny that?

The story which we call the Gospel receives superior ratings from anyone who takes the time to understand it and judge it.

After that ordeal of deepest despair and darkness, suddenly a bright new beacon of hope and light breaks forth. This is not the end after all. The grave does not win! Death is not the victor! No, it is God and those who love him who have the last laugh, and this is not a laugh of spite or derision.

It is not a laugh of na-ni-na-ni-na-nah.

It is not a laugh of ho-ho-ho, the joke is on you.

It is not a laugh as if some great con artist has successfully hoodwinked his prey.

This is not like the end of the movie “The Sting” in which actor Robert Redford stands up after playing dead and wipes a little fake blood from his mouth and begins to giggle deviously with Paul Newman at the success of their scheme.

No, the last laugh in this story belongs to God and to those he has saved. It's the laughter of pure joy and innocence. It is the laughter which comes from that incredible surprise that, no, all is not lost. In fact, everything is gained. It's wonderful, it's hilarious, it's grand.

Yes, it's an impressive story. No one can deny that.

The only problem I see with the whole thing, is that for so many, it is just that—a story. Oh yes, an impressive story, an unforgettable story, a hope-inspiring story, an incredible story, and for most of us it is even a factual, historically accurate story, which because it is not fiction or fairy tale or make believe means it is even more an amazing story of stories.

The problem I see is that so many of us do not allow it to become anything more than a story.

You see, if the gospel story is left only as a story, even as his story, it then has no essential, rudimentary effect on those who hear it.

It may have an emotional affect, yes. We can be moved to tears and laughter by it. Artists can portray it and recreate its horror and beauty on canvas, on stage, on screen or in poetry and in music.

Intellectual affect, yes. We can gain a whole new perspective on how we perceive God or how we think about the world. Theologians and philosophers can dissect and debate minutiae of various aspects of the story and gain tremendous insights into how the atonement works.

But spiritual affect, that is, a fundamental change in the condition of our souls, no.

The way I see it, each of us is left to take this story and make of it what we will. But the fullest blessing of God is granted to those of us who take this story, which is his story and allow it to become our own story. So that it impacts us, infiltrates us, at the very core of our being and changes who we are. It reshapes, reorients, reconfigures who we are.

How do I do this? How do I take a story from nearly 2000 years ago and appropriate it for myself? How do I come to the place in which I can point to the cross and the tomb and the resurrection of Jesus Christ and say, this is now my story too? How can I point to the cross and say, I no longer live, I have been crucified with Christ and now the risen Christ lives in me?