Metanarrative

I came to one of favourite coffee places this morning, decided I was going to try and have a cup.  I have been sick for the past 5 days and have not had coffee - oh I was just staring at the coffee beans all day!

I came to this little place also because it's quiet, good internet and a great place to read.  I wanted to reread my written piece for my capstone project - see if I needed to add, delete or change anything.

When I came in there was a new young woman I had not met before.  Of course I needed to talk a bit.  There was no one else in the shop, so she had time.  I introduced myself, told her I wanted to work and ask if it would be ok.  She wanted to know what was I working on.  For some reason I felt that I just needed to be honest, and I told her this morning I was going to look at the Big Story of the Bible.  

She sat down beside me and said, "I do not believe there are any grand stories that give meaning to all of life or defines what is true.  I think the Bible is just a collection of odd stories and they can be interrupted in a myriad of ways.  I see no central interpretive principle of the Bible."

Wow, I looked at her and knew I was talking to a very smart young lady.  I asked God how did He want me to participate with Him with her.  Her next question was, "What do you think the Big Story of the Bible is?"

She grabbed a coffee and for the next 40 minutes we talked.  I told her that although the Bible looked like random stories, I believe there was a plot and direction to the story.  I told her I believed it was the story of self-revelation of God to the world.

As I was telling her these things, I remembered something one of my advisors with the masters had said to me, "Teresa, show, don't tell - it comes alive then."  God how do I do that?  I realised once she sees that there is indeed a big story God has been telling the world it will speak to her.  This is my prayer.  Please pray with me for this young lady!

Well she had to go back to work and I we have not had time to talk more; but I decided to write this down and share with you.  My hope is that I can return here and show her the story ....the metanarrative of the Bible. 

I will share with you when I do!

As I continued to sit in the coffee shop, I started researching the word metanarrative.  Here is a story I found in Christianity Today - the article is called 'I Was A Witch.'  It is the story of a lady's long conversion to Christ; concerning one particular moment in her journey, she writes of the power of the Big Story in her life:

"As I drove home, my mind ached as I replayed the words I just heard.  All the Old Testament and New Testament had one oddly familiar voice - one tone, one heart.  I wondered, how could a book written by so many people over the course of hundreds of years fit together perfectly as if one amazing storyteller has written the whole thing?  The Holy Spirit began melting my vanity and arrogance with a power stronger than any hex, incantation or spell I'd ever used.  Suddenly, the blindfold I'd worn for almost 30 years was stripped away, and instantly I knew what I had been searching for; Jesus!"

Another great quote:

".....the Christian gospel ....tells how for the world's redemption God entered into history, the eternal came into time, the kingdom of heaven invaded the realm of earth, in the great events of the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ."

F.F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?