A Cinderella Story

A Cinderella Story

Ephesians 2:1-10

            There are many versions of the Cinderella story—and more keep appearing.  Every so often someone comes out with a new movie about the girl with the glass slipper.  Rogers and Hammerstein wrote one of their early musicals about her. It’s a story worth retelling.

 Everyone who retells the tale tries to find a different angle, an approach no one has tried before.  One of my favorites is The Truth about Cinderella, a musical by June Walker Rogers, Charles Strouse, and David Rogers.  In this version Cinderella is an obsessive compulsive cleaner.  She is constantly tidying up the house:  dusting, mopping, washing, waxing, and driving everyone—father, stepmother, stepsisters—crazy.  She feels this is the only way she can get her father’s attention.  She has two fairy godmothers:  one who wants her to reform, and one who encourages her OC behavior.  Cinderella is not the victim but the villain.  Perhaps this is not the most accurate portrayal of the character, but it certainly is a unique and interesting interpretation of the story.

In today’s Scripture passage we might be able to see ourselves as Cinderella.  Like the obsessive compulsive Cinderella of the musical our troubles are of our own making.  We have chosen the wrong path because of our selfishness—our desire to have things our way.  We have been encouraged in our ego-driven journey by the prince of the power of the air—Satan—who loves to see us pursuing our desires.  Every time we come to a crossroads he is waiting to lure us down the road that leads us farther away from God—and we are willing victims.  Like the negative fairy godmother he convinces us that this is the only way to happiness.  So we go blissfully along, driven by the winds of envy, covetousness, and anger until we find ourselves dead—dead in the water and dead in sin, with no hope of finding our way back.

We may talk about the sins of the flesh, and imagine that they are the worst we can commit, but make no mistake:  they are not the cause of our sinfulness; they are the result.  The center of our evil nature is not our body but our mind.  If, as some theologians tell us, we are totally depraved, the condition begins between our ears.  Satan knows this, and fills our minds with wicked thoughts that lead to evil actions. 

Right in the middle of this passage, when Paul has made it clear that the sinful life is not one of freedom but of following the wrong leader, he turns on a dime and says the two words that change everything:  “But God…”

But God, in infinite love, provided a way out of the sinfulness that so easily and successfully leads us astray.

But God, who is rich in mercy, brings us from death in sin to life together with Jesus Christ.

Bur God, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, has extended grace to us—grace that saves us from a fate worse than death and opens a channel whereby we can live in heavenly places.  Nor do we have to wait for those heavenly places.  We can enjoy them right now, since God’s kingdom has come to earth.

How shall we live?  We live our lives in gratitude for God’s good gift.  How do we show our gratitude?  We demonstrate our thankfulness by what we do.  No amount of talking about our salvation will help us.  Our lives are not ours to live as we please, nor as Satan encourages us to live.  Rather, we show our love of God by our actions.  We are saved by the work God has done, but we demonstrate our salvation by the works that we do, as we spend our lives producing fruits of the Spirit.