Real Ultimate Story

By Rev. Jonathan Fisk

Hi. This article is all about story, Real Story. This article is awesome.

Facts: 1. Stories are awesome. 2. Stories happen all the time. 3. The purpose of stories is to pump us up and give us heroes.

But there are rules. Stories can’t just do anything they want. They can’t just flip out and make bad guys into heroes. It doesn’t work. The “anti-hero” has been tried, but there is a problem. He’s not cool. No one cares about him. No one wants him to win. The anti-hero is not a hero at all.

Why is that? If everything is relative, and truth doesn’t really exist, then why are all our good stories always the same story? Why is there a pattern to our stories that always need a hero? And why do all the most real ultimate heroes always have swords?

That last part may be just my opinion, but I don’t think the light saber was a coincidence. Still, the cool thing about stories is that the more you pay attention to them, to the protagonists and antagonists, to the storyarches and resolutions, the more you find that the value of every story—the thing that makes it either totally sweet or just plain lame—is how close they resemble the Real Ultimate Story. It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about the Green Lantern, Dr. Xavier or Harry, Beowulf, Odysseus or Hamlet, the rule applies: The pure value of the story is directly related to how much or little it shadows the one, True, Eternal story, which God the Father is telling through the redemption He purchased for us in His Son, Jesus Christ.

The person who first observed this fact about “myths” was C.S. Lewis. He saw that all the great myths of history borrow from the One UN-Myth, the True Religion, the Real Ultimate Story that happened and is happening in Jesus. The colors sometimes shift and the pieces that are borrowed vary, but the pattern always remains the same. It goes something like this: Things were good, (the Galactic Republic) but now they’re bad (the Empire). There’s a problem (Death-eaters), and that problem was caused by someone who is evil (Voldemort). This problem is now affecting many people,(“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”), and they can’t fix it themselves (“Where is Superman?”). A hero must arise to take the burden on himself. (“The Force is strong with this one.”) He leads (Aragorn), he fights (Wolverine), he inspires (Spartacus). He is special (Captain America), different (Harry), better than the rest (James Bond). And he wins (In every good story, ever). But first he almost loses (Rocky) Sometimes he dies (Neo). But every time he wins. (Always). Sometimes he finds his own redemption (Tony Stark). Sometimes he redeems others (Luke and Anakin). But in the end he always wins, one way or another, (did I mention always?) and this winning is good (“Freedom!!!!”) Good for everyone (The End).

That’s a pretty bare bones outline, but you begin to see the golden thread running through it all. What’s amazing, what’s fantastic, what’s real and ultimate, is that the golden thread, of all things, is none other than our Lord Jesus.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that Jesus saves people by the coolness of Optimus Prime’s AllSpark. I’m saying that the coolness of Optimus Prime’s All-Spark, as that inkling that appeals to us in all great stories, is a giant cosmic hint, a slight, natural push in the right direction—a bit of Law built into our world which, through the thorns and thistles and pain that we bear, is teaching us one of the most important Truths we can ever learn: We need a hero. We need a Savior.

What C.S. Lewis observed about stories is true. All good stories everywhere are always told for the same reason: We need hope, and we know instinctively that true hope is found in a hero. Unfortunately, we still are perplexed by our inbred desire to be that hero, to be the most special one, to be the Savior. Stories alone can’t save us from this original habit of desiring to replace God with ourselves. At the same time, as Christians, born again through water and the Spirit, our regeneration opens our eyes to see the glory of our Lord’s Real Ultimate Story at work behind all the great stories of the world. Our hope is no mere myth! What is only a story in all tall tales is reality in our real Religion.

Truth exists, and always tells the same story: the pattern of the Hero who saves people because that’s who He is. That’s what He does. Every hero before or since is only a shadow of Him. Every sacrificial death lies beneath His cross. Every dawning triumph waits for His empty tomb.

Oh, and just like the best of them, He always fights with a sweet action sword.

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and from his mouth comes a sharp sword....

Rev. Jonathan Fisk serves as pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Springfield, Pennsylvania. He can be reached at revfisk@gmail.com.