Return with the Elixir

What more could I possibly say about Story? The life of Jesus is Story, and Story is the gospel. God calls out to us in every aspect of creation. The heavens declare the glory of the Lord. God's eternal power and divine nature are seen through the things he has made. He has made the mountains, he has made the oceans, the forests, and he has made Story. In every Story. Every. Single. Story. We can see the power of God if only we are willing to look.

Return with the Elixir

While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

Luke 24:51

       We come at last to the final step of the journey.
       The Hero, having come through her final sacrifice, has secured once and for all the treasure. All the conflict that plagued her world is resolved, wrongs made right, all is well. The treasure has changed her world, and the world around her, bringing peace and hope. Where there is no conflict, there is no story. So it's time for this tale to end, and that's okay. Our Hero and her Allies have earned the rest. Now it's time for Dorothy to go back to Kansas, because "There's no place like home."
       Michael Mann's 1992 adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans ends with Hawkeye, his adoptive father, and the woman he loves, looking out over the American wilderness. When we first met Hawkeye, he was a carefree trapper, with obligations to no one but himself. Seeing Cora, however, changes his life. The rest of the story is about him trying to rescue and protect this strong woman. He even offers to sacrifice his life for hers. Instead, another man takes his place.
       Cora isn't the treasure. What she and Hawkeye represent as a couple, their combined fortitude and commitment, is the treasure. The characteristics they bring out of one another are what the American frontier need, and together they will nuture something great. The Love Interest brings out the true essence of the Hero and in the best love stories, the Hero brings out the true essence of the Love Interest. The relationship is the treasure.
       The same is true in the story of Jesus. The relationship is the treasure. For a time, the only way to know God was through religion and the Law. There was no room for a proper relationship. When Jesus came, he followed the Law perfectly. He passed the test! Now we can say, "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." Is there any other kind of relationship closer than parent and child?
       But there's more. Jesus' last recorded words on this earth before he returned to heaven, were these: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of earth." God's restored relationship with us extends so far that he, as the Holy Spirit, is with his believers always. Paul tells us that it is "a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."
       Finally, after Jesus told his followers that they would tell the whole world about him, and that God would be with them, he returned to heaven. Then two men in white robes (presumably angels) said, "This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." The next part of the story is this: Go. I will be with you and give you aid. I will come back.
       Returning to The Last of the Mohicans, we recall the movie's most famous lines: "No! You stay alive... Submit, do you hear? You're strong! You survive! You stay alive, no matter what occurs! I will find you! No matter how long it takes, no matter how far, I will find you!" There's a reason this moment resonates so strongly with us. It calls out to the longing we all have deep in our hearts for safety and rescue.
       Where are you right now, right this very moment? Are you safe? Not just from hell (though that is important), but from being overwhelmed by the fears of this world? There can be absolutely no peace in this life without having absolute certainty of where we will spend the next. How do we know? The only way to know for certain that we are safe is say to God, "I believe in you, and accept the work of Jesus on the cross. I want a relationship with you. Not rules and religion, but to know you and your mercy and grace. Please come into my heart. Please come into my life."
       And if we have told God those things, we must live them out by faith. We may not feel power and love and self-control. But God tells us that his Holy Spirit provides. And like everyone who has ever been in a wonderful, exciting relationship, we must tell everyone about him.
       Someday the conflicts of our lives will be resolved. God will write "The End" and all will be well.

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith and not by sight.

2 Corinthians 5:6-7

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,

and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,

and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;

and a little child shall lead them.

Isaiah 11:6