Sunday July 22, 2001
LUKE 10:38-42

o I would like to tell you a story today
o Actually I would like to tell you
o Several stories
o Obviously there is the story
o Of Martha & Mary
o But I also want to tell you
o Your own stories
o That is, your big story
o & Your little story
o & To do all this I am going to tell you
o The story of "Cinderella"

o How many of you have ever heard
o The story of "Cinderella"
o Sure, everyone knows that story
o Cinderella was a beautiful young girl
o Who lived with her stepmother
o & Her 2 stepsisters
o I say she was beautiful
o Because she was
o I have seen the picture books
o & I went to the movie
o She was absolutely gorgeous
o Only Cinderella did not know that
o Not because there were no mirrors
o But because her stepsisters
o Kept telling her how ugly she was
o They told her, over & over again:
o That she was ugly

o That she was no good
o That she was not smart
o That she was only good enough:
o To be the servant girl
o To take care of
o The cooking & the cleaning
o & Eventually, over years of time
o Cinderella came to believe
o What her stepsisters told her
o & She accepted her place
o There in the kitchen
o Waiting hand & foot on
o Her stepmother
o & Her 2 stepsisters
o She "knew" they were far better
o Than she would ever be
o She "knew" her place
o & Her place was to be
o A servant / really a slave

o You know, the psalmist tells us in Psalm 91
o About all the arrows
o That fly around us every day
o & In truth, we have all been hit
o By the arrows, haven't we?
o Very early in life the arrows start flying
o & Most of us / probably all of us
o Get hit
o We are wounded
o & Often we never get over
o These wounds

o & Often the arrows
o That seem to do the most damage
o Are the ones we receive as children
o Girls often learn
o That in order to be OK in the world
o They most be beautiful
o They must be attractive
o But then someone tells them
o "Your hair is too curly"
o "Your hair is too straight"
o "Your nose is too big"
o "Your nose is too small"
o "You are too fat"
o "You are too skinny"
o & Pretty soon little girls
o Are doing all sorts of things
o To be beautiful
o Because, like Cinderella,
o They "know"
o They really are not beautiful
o So they do all these other things
o So people will like them
o So they will be OK
o Boys, on the other hand, are usually told
o They need to be strong & athletic
o But that does not always work out,
o Does it?
o I still remember being in 5th & 6th grade
o At recess the whole class, boys & girls
o Would go out to the ball field
o & Choose up sides for baseball

o I remember this, because I was the one
o Who was nearly always chosen last
o The message was "loud & clear"
o I was no good at sports
o Therefore, I was no good
o There are all sorts of arrows
o That have been shot into our hearts
o Things like:
o Parents who argue & fight
o Or drink too much
o Or even get divorced
o Or, the girl friend who left you
o For someone with a flashier car
o Or, the boy friend who left you
o For someone with blonde hair
o Or, the spouse who died with cancer
o Or, the boss who gave someone else
o Your promotion
o Our world is filled with these arrows
o & They hurt us
o They can even destroy us
o Cinderella had been hit
o With 1,000's of arrows
o & Deep down insider her
o The "real" Cinderella
o Was almost dead

o But one day the Prince decided
o To hold a grand ball
o His purpose was to choose his bride
o From among those who attended

o Now Cinderella's stepsisters
o Immediately made plans
o To attend the prince's ball
o & They, of course, required Cinderella
o To make their gowns
o & Make them as beautiful
o As she could
o They each wanted to be the one
o Who would be chosen as
o The prince's bride
o But something happened
o Deep down inside Cinderella
o A chord was struck
o It was very, very faint
o Almost inaudible
o But it was there
o It was not dead yet
o Somehow deep in her heart
o Cinderella wanted to attend that ball
o But of course, she "knew," didn't she
o That she could never attend
o The prince's ball
o After all, she was ugly
o She had no business being around
o All those "refined" people
o Like the ones who would be
o At the ball
o She "knew" she was not good enough
o The arrows had hit their mark
o The stepsisters had made their point

o A book I have been reading recently
o By Brent Curtis & John Eldredge
o Describe this as 2 stories
o That we all have a choice to live
o A big story & a little story
o They say that because of the arrows
o We have all experienced
o We tend to give up on the big story
o & Only live out the little story
o The big story is one of
o Intimacy & beauty & adventure
o It is the story we all dreamed about
o When we were little children
o A story that was much, much bigger
o Than we were - or are
o A story in which we would play
o Such an important role
o It is the story the little boy dreamed of
o When he carried his wooden sword
o Into battle to kill the dragon
o Or carried 2 "six-shooters"
o To rescue the rancher's daughter
o But the arrows tell us
o This is all just child's play
o We need to be practical
o We need to get a good joy
o Settle down
o Raise a family
o & Eventually retire comfortably
o In other words, the arrows tell us
o We need to live out the little story

o The big story is just a dream
o It is not real
o But every now & then, like Cinderella,
o Something strikes a chord
o Deep down in our hearts
o Every now & then
o Even as so-called "mature" adults
o We long for the big story
o The story of adventure & romance
o We long to commit our lives
o To something that is bigger
o Than we are
o Every now & then
o We get a sense that there really is
o A big story out there
o A story that is much, much bigger
o Than all our little stories
o The stories that seem to make up
o All our day-to-day lives
o In her heart Cinderella knew
o There was a bigger story
o But because of all the arrows
o She just could not believe
o Her life had anything to do with
o That bigger story
o So she just continued to live out
o Her little story as a servant girl
o Even though deep in her heart
o She longed to be a part of
o The bigger story

o Now - let me let you in on a secret
o There really is a bigger story
o & It is the biggest story of all
o & Each one of us is personally invited
o To be a major player in that big story
o The big story is the story of God's love
o GOD LOVES YOU!
o You were created for only one purpose
o - So that God could love you!
o Look back at the story of Adam & Eve
o In the garden of Eden before the Fall
o The only reason humans were created
o Was so that God could love them
o It was only when Satan
o Fired that 1st arrow, & Said,
o "Surely God doesn't mean that ..."
o That people began to choose
o To live in their little stories
o Of delusion & self-worship
o But just because people
o - Including all of us -
o Have chosen to live
o Their smaller stories
o Does not mean the big story
o Does not exist
o God still loves us
o In fact, the whole Bible
o From cover to cover
o Is nothing but a love story about God
o Pursuing the one He loves
o - You & me -

o Maybe the greatest tale
o Of God's love for us
o Was when He shed all His glory
o & Was born like one of us
o As an infant in a cattle stall
o & Then lived like us
o Coping with the same arrows
o Of rejection & humiliation
o That we have dealt with
o & Then died for us
o So we could respond to His love
o & Become His heavenly bride
o There is a big story
o & It is God's love for us
o & His pursuit of us as His Beloved
o & God is not
o Just the author of the story
o Totally disconnected from
o All the characters
o Like authors tend to be
o No - He is the central character
o & He wants each of us to join Him
o In this big story
o He wants us to go to the ball
o The wedding feast
o Reserved for us in His glory

o But what does it look like
o As God pursues us in this big story?
o Well, as I said, it is a story of
o Adventure & beauty & intimacy

o Sometimes you will sense its presence
o In a sunset
o Or the birth of a child
o Or in the laughter of good friends
o But at other times it looks like
o Flat tires & bounced checks
o & Rained-out picnics
o You see, God does not always make
o All your troubles go away
o He wants you to see & experience
o Just how little your story really is
o That is why:
o God allowed the people of Israel
o To wander for 40 years
o In the Wilderness
o God sent a major drought
o To destroy His people's crops
o God allowed their enemies
o To defeat them in battle
o & Haul them off into exile
o He did all these things
o Not our of spite, but out of love
o Over & over again
o God tells His people
o These things happened
o So they would let go of
o Their little story of
o Worldly pleasures & riches
o & Return to the big story of
o The intimacy & beauty & adventure of God's great love

o We are all being pursued
o By God's love
o By His big story
o But we just keep living out
o Our little stories
o Even though deep down in our hearts
o We know we want to be a part of
o The bigger story
o We know we want to go
o To the prince's ball

o Well, thanks to her fairy godmother
o Cinderella got to go to the ball
o & There she was courted & loved
o By the prince himself
o Who wanted to marry her
o But at midnight when the clock struck 12
o Cinderella fled from the ball
o She still had one of the glass slippers
o But she just could not believe
o The prince could really love her
o The so-called "real" her
o The servant girl
o The stepsister's arrows
o Were still lodged deep within her heart
o Just like ours are
o & They had convinced Cinderella
o That she was only fit for the little story
o But, of course, the prince knew better
o He knew she had a much bigger story

o So he pursued her, searching for her
o Until he found her
o & Then he married her
o & He made her his bride
o You see, even when we have tasted
o The goodness of God's love & mercy
o So often we still just cannot
o Really believe it is for us
o We feel we just are not good enough
o For the God of the Universe to love
o So we run in terror from the "ball"
o Racing back to our little story
o To do all the things
o People have told us
o We have to do
o The arrows of the world are truly
o Very, very deep in our hearts,
o Aren't they?
o So we flee from the big story
o Of God's great love for us
o & We return to all our little stories
o The stories we live out every day
o But God does not give us
o He is still pursuing you like a lover
o Who will not be turned aside
o & When you will finally let Him
o He will let you put on
o 'The other glass slipper'
o & You will be His bride forever

o Luke tells us Martha was worrying about
o All the details of fixing a big dinner
o For Jesus & His disciples
o She was scurrying around
o Living out her little story
o While the Messiah / the Christ / the Son of God Himself
o Was sitting in her own living room
o Meanwhile Mary, Martha's sister
o Was sitting at Jesus' feet
o Listening to every word He spoke
o Mary had chosen to live out
o The big story
o The story of her relationship with Jesus
o & Jesus said,
o "Three is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it - and I won't take it away from her."
o Mary had chosen the big story
o Which story are you living?
AMEN.