LOST, metaphors and the Big Story

For the past 2 seasons, Heather and I have been faithful LOST watchers.  We ran through the first two seasons on DVD and then have been watching ever since.  One of the things that has captivated me, besides the "mysteries" of the island, are the flashbacks of the various characters.  Each one is examined and helps to explain why they are the way they are.  Though not everything is known, it certainly affords some insight into their personalities, decisions, behavior, etc.  However, if you are a faithful watcher, then you know that this season has taken a turn.  Rather than focus on the past, we are now afforded "fast-forwards" as we glimpse the main characters in the future.  In some ways this raises more questions, but it is all done (at least I hope, otherwise this is all just a colossal waste of time) to explain where they are currently.  Hmmm...so you have to know their past and their future in order to understand the present.  So in my mind I'm thinking I've heard that somewhere before...

This is the Big Story (the Gospel) that God has written.  Like any good story we have to know our past.  We have to understand, particularly, the first 3 chapters of Genesis.  Here we learn about how God originally intended for the world (including us) to be.  Then it all get wrecked.  It splinters.  It starts spinning out of control as sin enters in Genesis 3.  As Christians, we have a framework for rightly understanding our past, which helps explain why things are the way they are in the world.  However, like LOST (or LOST, like God's story), we have to know the future.  The past is not enough to make sense of our present.  We have to understand the promised end we see, particularly in Revelation 21.  Sure, we'll have more questions after reading this, but the point is not to answer all of our questions.  The point is more about giving us hope and assurance that God will one day finish his restoration project that he begun through the work of his son, Jesus.  So as we understand the trajectory of where things are heading, while being tuned into our past, this will fuse our day to day existence with ultimate meaning and significance. 

But unlike a group of people who want nothing more than to get off the island, we will get to stay as Jesus comes back to make his home with us and restores everything.

So maybe Locke's on to something :)  Sorry, shouldn't try and carry the metaphor too far. 

Peace.