The Reward

There's nothing like a good story to lift our spirits. Our lives can seem overwhelming, but reading about or watching someone overcome even bigger obstacles can help us put our own struggles into perspective. When God wrote the Story of Jesus as the template for all stories, he didn't spare him any of the hardships that we all face. Relationship requires relatability, and Jesus came to restore the relationship between God and man. But God also provided for Jesus all the rewards, that we might be reminded to hope. 

       The Reward

"I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."

Luke 19:40

       Stories tend to move back and forth between positive moments and negative. Often this is deliberately worked in from one scene to the next within the various steps. Sometimes it happens from one step to the next. The Ordeal is a difficult time for the Hero. Even if she comes through victorious, having faced death, literal or symbolic, the Ordeal has taken a toll on her. The Reward moves the story into a more positive moment.
       The Ordeal is a fight. The Reward is a moment for the story to slow down, to let the characters (and audience) catch their breath. Often this is a love scene. At the very least it's a moment of bonding, as the characters realize the importance of their friends.
       In the first Thor movie, the Ordeal is when Thor attempts to reclaim his hammer and is unable to because of his unworthiness. The hammer represents his identity as the first of son Asgard and as a warrior. When he finds he can no longer take up his iconic weapon, he is humiliated. Sacrificing everything he believed about himself allows Thor to claim a greater reward: friendship. Obviously, if you have seen the movie, you know that claiming this reward leads Thor to his moment of ultimate sacrifice and total redemption.
       After Jesus confronted death and overcame it, by calling Lazarus from his tomb, he continued teaching for a time. But his Journey was to go to his ultimate sacrifice and our total redemption. Luke tells us, "And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem." If you've been around a church in the early spring, you know about Palm Sunday, with all the little Sunday schoolers waving palm branches (and someone inevitably getting poked in the eye). "As he was drawing near... the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen."
       Matthew tells us that Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey fulfilled another ancient prophecy, and it did. But at the time, to those shouting, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" it looked like a huge celebration of all that Jesus had done and everything they expected him to do. Yes, they misunderstood much. They thought he was coming to set up an earthly kingdom, having only a vague idea of the broken relationship between God and man that Jesus was actually coming to mend. Nevertheless, they weren't wrong to throw a party. The Pharisees told Jesus to make the crowd settle down. He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."
       The Reward must be celebrated.
       Our lives may seem like one Ordeal after another. Yet for those of us who have put our hope in God, we have a promise. Paul reminds that, "For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."
       Paul doesn't downplay that what we suffer now is affliction. Here and now, the pain is heartrending and intense. But he puts it in the perspective of eternity. When we enter into unending days wrapped in God's love, today's agonies will seem like a blink of mild discomfort.

Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation and my God.

Psalm 42:11

     

The Ordeal

Even though no one does it anymore, diagramming a sentence can help us untangle its meaning. Similarly, understanding the structure of a story, with all its moving parts, can help us determine the author's purposes. God built the framework of story. We can hang different narratives on it, but the structure is always the same. And the framework is the Story lived by Jesus Christ. By studying Story, we can have a greater understanding of his life, and ours.

The Ordeal

Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?

John 11:37

       Open up your movie streaming service of choice, and skip to somewhere between dead center and three quarters of the way through. Unless the director has decided to do something experimental, odds are you'll see the world of the Hero being torn to pieces, his plans countered, his friends in danger or worse. Screenwriters call this the midpoint (because not even screenwriters can be creative all the time). Others call it the Ordeal. Up to this point, there has always been some danger, but the Hero and her allies have managed. By the end of the Ordeal, however, the stakes have been raised so high victory seems impossible.
      In 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Robin and his merry men have had a rousing time (it's a Robin Hood movie, so all times must be rousing) robbing from the rich, giving to the poor, and generally causing the Sheriff of Nottingham grief. But when blind Duncan returns to Sherwood and apparently dies, Robin is faced with consequences of his actions. Immediately, the Sheriff's men attack and nearly everything is taken away. Their forest sanctuary is burned, his friends captured and sentenced to death. Now Robin must make an impossible choice. Does he turn his back and run, saving his own life? Or stay stay and fight a battle he cannot possibly win?
       The gospel writers tell us much about Jesus' ministry, and it wasn't all preaching sermons. He healed the sick and blind, fed the 5,000, forgave the woman caught in adultery, and more. For someone so drastically upsetting the religious establishment, he was doing quite well. But in every story there is a moment where the Hero must confront death. Even Jesus had an Ordeal.
        Near the end of Jesus' time traveling and preaching, he received word that his friend Lazarus was very ill. But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." John tells us clearly that Jesus was only two days away, and we know that he could have healed Lazarus. Instead, he waited.
       Since the original Call to Adventure, when Adam and Eve gave into temptation and brought death into the world, evil, brokenness, and deterioration have become the way of things. While we know that God can intervene, sometimes for reasons we don't understand he chooses to wait. The waiting is often the Ordeal that we must face. However, God tells us, "For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give [my people] their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them." The Apostle Paul reminds us, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."
       God doesn't cause bad things. But in his wisdom he knows exactly when step in for the most powerful impact. And when he does, good things happen.
       When Jesus arrived, Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. His sisters, also close friends of Jesus, didn't understand why Jesus had waited so long to come. Mary said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." She hadn't lost faith, even as she struggled with her grief. She was confronting the Ordeal as best she could.
       "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." Jesus didn't tell her she was wrong to be upset, or not to ask questions. All he did was promise her what she would find beyond the Ordeal. John also tells us, "When Jesus saw her weeping... he was deeply moved." He knew what was coming. He was in control of the outcome. Yet he still empathized with her pain.
       The Hero must confront death. Jesus went to the tomb and said, "Take away the stone." Lazarus' other sister, Martha, tried to talk him out of it, warning him of the smell. Not just the smell, I'm sure, but also considering the horror of opening up the tomb of a recently lost friend. Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" And after a moment of prayer, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." And the man who had died came out.
       What is the Ordeal that you face today? Like Mary and Martha, it could be the inexplicable death of a family member or friend. It could be the process of waiting for a long desired hope. Perhaps it's an evil situation, past or present, and it seems that justice will never come. Maybe, like Robin Hood, it's an impossible choice. If Robin Hood had fled Nottingham, leaving his men to die, the story would have ended prematurely. Ordeals must be confronted if the Story is to continue.

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Genesis 50:20

   

Approach

Before Jesus' death and resurrection, the only way to connect with God was through the Law, a set of rules defining how God would interact with his chosen people. Jesus came to restore the relationship between God and man, opening it up to all people. The prophets had told his story from ancient times, and in Jesus the story was lived out perfectly. The Law was a checklist. Jesus checked every box. The Law was impersonal. Story, by its nature, is personal. Jesus, as we are beginning to see, lived the perfect Story, the patterns of which echo through every tall tale, legend, and film. God builds a relationship with us through his creation, Story.

Approach

"I and the Father are one."

John 10:30

       Once the Hero has gathered her resources from the Mentor, overcome the First Threshold and its Guardian, and determined her Allies, she finds herself in a place of greater conflict. Without conflict, there is no story, and every narrative must gradually raise the stakes to keep the audience invested. This is usually a point where the Hero and his friends are experiencing some success, even as the dangers increase. Yes, it's hard, but they're getting there. As they Approach the major conflict, the Hero and company begin to learn just how capable they are.
       In the early 2000's classic A Knight's Tale, we see William determining his strengths. While he is more skilled with the sword, he desires the fame that comes with the joust and works to improve himself even if it kills him. This is also the moment where he meets Jocelyn, who fulfills the archetype of the Love Interest. Her presence, while serving to make his life more difficult (if not downright miserable), also forces the Hero to become a truer version of himself. In order to fulfill his quest, he will need to be brought down to his essence. The challenges William faces in the arena and interacting with Jocelyn are part of the process of purification so that William is established in his identity.
       The Gospel of Matthew tells us that after gathering his disciples, Jesus began his ministry. "And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people." Ever since the relationship between God and man was broken in the Garden of Eden, law and religion were the only ways to connect with God. The ministry of Jesus was not just to clear a path to heaven, it was to repair the broken relationship. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Even a quick look at the ancient descriptions of the Messiah show that Jesus fulfilled every single prophecy.
       Jesus was also very clear about establishing his identity. The gospel writer John tells us that, "The Jews gathered around him and said to him, 'How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.' Jesus answered them, 'I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one."
       How is your present situation establishing your identity? For the Christian, the Apostle Paul sets the example when he says, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." If we are still making up our minds about Jesus, we must ask ourselves who was he? He could not have been both a great moral teacher and a man who flagrantly lied about being God. Was he crazy? Or was he exactly who he said he was?

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

I John 3:1

Tests, Allies, and Enemies

Jesus existed. We know this. His story was written and distributed while people who could have refuted it were still alive. Yet they didn't. The timeline simply does not permit Jesus to be a myth or legend. Nevertheless, the story of Jesus follows the same rhythms and structure of every story ever told. Why? Because the story of Jesus, the story of the Gospel, is the one truth myth.         

Tests, Allies, and Enemies

Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Matthew 4:19

       Once the Hero has defeated the Threshold Guardian and entered the Special World, he finds himself in unfamiliar territory. There are new challenges and she can't face them alone. This is the time when our hero begins to shape and grow, to really show just what he's made of. In screenwriting terms, this step marks the start of act two, which takes up roughly half of the movie.