Starting January 25, we here at New Community Church in Tacoma are going to embark on a journey. It is a journey through God’s Big Salvation Story in the Bible. We will begin in Genesis and about twenty eight weeks down the road we plan is finish in Revelation. Of course we will not be able to tell every single story there is to tell in the Bible during this time since there are around 500 of them! We do plan to encounter main scenes from this story God tells about his plan to have a redeemed people who know him, love him and will spend eternity with him.
It is important that we understand that the Bible is one Grand Story. Tom Steffen said in his book, ‘Reconnecting God’s Story to Ministry’, “The Bible is not just a collection of isolated stories; it is God’s unified Storybook. While each of the 66 documents that comprise the sacred Storybook has its own beauty and value, the eloquence of each is maximized when taken as a collective whole." Lesslie Newbigin, a favorite author of mine, said “The dogma, the thing given for our acceptance in faith, is not a set of timeless propositions: it is a story. Moreover, it is a story not yet finished, a story in which we are still awaiting the end when all becomes clear…” (From ‘The Gospel In A Pluralist Society’)
This amazing story is rooted in history. It involves real people who struggled with the realities and limitations of life in this present world. People who had to grapple with their personal frailties, sins and failures as well as the sins and failures of the culture they lived in. Yet they found themselves being caught up in a much bigger story than simply the personal struggles of trying make it through life with all its difficulty. They found God, who was there, who was speaking and active in their world drawing them into relationship with himself and setting them on his mission to draw others into that same relationship.
Jesus stands as the central character and hero of this Great Salvation Story. The Apostle Paul said, ‘for by him (Jesus) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.’ (Colossians 1:16) Not only is Jesus the main focus of this drama, he is also the Master Storyteller. On the Sunday of his resurrection from the dead two of Jesus disciples were walking along the road to a village called Emmaus about seven miles out of Jerusalem. As they walked along Jesus joined them on the road but they were unable to recognize him at that point. He asked what they were so intently discussing as they walked. They said they were talking about the death of Jesus and how they had so hoped he was the promised Messiah (Savior). Now after three days it appears his body is missing from the tomb! This had them confused. Jesus knew that they hadn’t seen “the Big Picture” yet, so he began telling them the story. He started out in Genesis and traced the story right through the Bible and explained how he was the main character in the story.
A little later, when he sat down to eat supper with them in the village, he took the bread, blessed it and broke it and gave it to them. Those two disciples suddenly saw that he was Jesus, with that he disappeared from their sight. (He did this kind of thing quite a bit after he his resurrection.) However the thing those disciples continued to mostly talk about after this encounter with him was not the phenomenal disappearance but the fire they felt in their hearts as they heard Jesus tell the story on the road that day. (See Luke 24:13-35)
My prayer is that every one of us will experience this same fire of the Holy Spirit burning in our hearts as we hear and re-tell this amazing story. It is a story that each one of us is invited to be a part of!
