If you had to compare your life to a fairytale, what fairytale would it be and what character would you play? If you’ve made some investments recently that others have scoffed at, you may feel a bit like Jack, in Jack and the Beanstalk. He traded the family cow for a handful of “magic” beans that his mother threw out the window in disgust when Jack proudly presented them to her. But amazingly those beans sprouted and connected Jack to treasures. No doubt you’re hoping that’s what your investments do too. Or if you’ve been having trouble sleeping lately, you may feel like the princess in the Princess and the Pea. Or if you’ve been stuck in the same job for years you may feel like one of the Seven Dwarfs, particularly Grumpy, before Snow White showed up to make life interesting.
If none of those fairytales describes your life, this one should: Cinderella. Like Cinderella we Christians have our struggles and tormentors but we also have someone watching over us – our heavenly God-Father. Our text this morning begs believers to wake up to their Cinderella story for it assures us that our tormentors will not overwhelm us because our heavenly God-Father has adorned us.
Most fairytales begin with the words “Long, long ago, in a kingdom far, far away…” Our text could also start that way since it was written by the prophet Isaiah who lived over 10,000 km away in Israel some 2,700 years ago. Although Isaiah lived a long time ago he wrote about the future. He wrote about how, a little over a hundred years after his time, the Israelites living in and around Jerusalem would be taken as captives to Babylon (present-day Iraq) and there languish for seventy years. Just as Cinderella was not happy about being stuck at home with all the chores, the Israelites would not be happy about being stuck in Babylon. One captive would write about the experience: “1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. 2 There on the poplars we hung our harps, 3 for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” 4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?” (Psalm 137:1-4)
Have you come to church this morning with a heavy heart? Did you barely manage to croak out the opening hymn because of the troubles and disappointments in your life? Have you done everything that’s been asked of you at work but just found out that it’s the office clown that got promoted? Did your friend get a better grade than you on a recent test even though you studied hard for it while she was out goofing around the night before? Did your parents discipline you for something you didn’t do? Have you watched your diet, been exercising but just had the doctor tell you that there’s something wrong and they’re not sure what it is? Are you wondering the benefit of regular churchgoing when your unbelieving neighbor seems to have such an easier life? The Old Testament hymn-writer Asaph had these kind of thoughts. He put it like this: “I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. 5 They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills… 12 This is what the wicked are like— always carefree, they increase in wealth. 13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. 14 All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning” (Psalm 73:3-5, 12-14).
A Christian’s story is not unlike Cinderella’s. In spite of the kind person she was and although she worked hard at her household chores she just couldn’t seem to get ahead. Instead her tormentors, her wicked stepsisters, took advantage of Cinderella and mocked her for her low position while they partied through life. If you have been feeling like the despised Cinderella, God has something to say to you this morning. He wants you to know that your tormentors will not overwhelm you. They will not have the last laugh; you will, for you have a heavenly God-Father who loves you very much and is looking after you. In fact this God-Father says to you: “Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again. 2 Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem” (Isaiah 52:1, 2a).
Admittedly these words were first meant for the Israelites that sat dejected in Babylon. Dust clung to their coats from their forced march to Babylon. Soot from their burnt homes mixed with their tears to smear their faces. But these captives were to languish in self-pity no more! They were to exchange their sackcloth for satin. They were to get up out of the dust and ascend a dais to sit on a throne. Why? Because their God was reigning and so were they. Isaiah reported: “For this is what the LORD says: “You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed.” 4 For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “At first my people went down to Egypt to live; lately, Assyria has oppressed them. 5 “And now what do I have here?” declares the LORD. “For my people have been taken away for nothing, and those who rule them mock,” declares the LORD. “And all day long my name is constantly blasphemed. 6 Therefore my people will know my name; therefore in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it. Yes, it is I” (Isaiah 52:3-6).
Dusty Babylon would not be the captives’ permanent home. They would remain there for seventy years but when the time was right God would redeem his people. He would do this without money. What Isaiah was prophesying was how God would move the Persian king, Cyrus, to release the Israelites and send them back to Jerusalem. Cyrus was not paid to let God’s people go. The one who governs all world events moved him to do this, AND God moved Cyrus to give the Israelites money to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple! This was cause for celebration. It was proof that the Israelites were in fact favored people. They were children of the Great King and therefore should act like it.
That’s great for the Israelites of 500 B.C. but what about believers today? Does the Israelite’s heavenly God-Father look after us too? Of course he does. We know this because he has already adorned us in the finest clothes – the clothes of righteousness needed to stand before him without fear on Judgment Day. In fact that’s the event that we’re celebrating this morning. Saints Triumphant Sunday directs our thoughts to the day when we will stand before God dressed in white celebrating our victory over sin, death, the devil and all his allies. We know this victory is ours because God has redeemed us without money. He bought us back from sin when he paid out the blood of his Son on the cross. There is no need for us now to languish in the dust of self-pity. We no longer need to be depressed about poor decisions we made when we were younger. We no longer need to feel guilty about the sins we committed last week. The Lord has forgiven those sins. He covered over them when he dressed us in the splendor of Christ’s righteousness the way you might dress an old couch with a sheik cover to give it new life. Wake up to your real-life Cinderella story!
But how do you deal with the tormentors in the meanwhile? It must not have been easy for Cinderella to take abuse from her mean stepsisters but don’t you think that got easier to deal with after Cinderella’s first night at the ball? Little did the stepsisters know that Cinderella was the one the prince favored. And even though Cinderella had to rush back home to her paltry life after those first couple of balls she must not have minded the menial work as much for she knew there would be a break from it when she was face to face with the prince once again.
In the same way the Prince of Peace favors you, dear Christian. No, the hardships of living in a sin-filled world are not easy to deal with but that burden will be lighter when we remember how it will all end. The Prince will return to take us to be with him forever far away from our tormentors. He’ll dress us in a splendid gown of righteousness that will never again reveal our once sinful raggedness. So don’t just wake up to your real-life Cinderella story, live up to it with a spring in your step and much rejoicing, or as Isaiah put it: “Awake, awake, O Zion,… Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned” (Isaiah 52:1a, 2b). Amen.
