I recently heard that they are reviving the great show 24 for a limited run next year. I don’t know if you were a fan of the show or not when it ran for several seasons. But I will admit I was hooked. Each of the 24 episodes in each season represented an hour of one day in the life of Jack Bauer. Bauer and his associates worked for the fictional government agency, Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), striving to thwart a range of national terrorist disasters. In my favorite season the main culprit was the president himself. About midway through the season (or day in the show’s time) it became apparent that the president was behind the terrorist activity. And so the rest of the season built toward a climactic showdown between Jack Bauer and president Logan. Finally, Logan would get what he deserved, and the tension that had been building all season would be resolved.
It was a satisfying moment when the secret service carted Logan off in the middle of a speech. And seeing Jack Bauer finally get to relax a little—America and her citizenry safe once again—was great. Yet the moment of resolution was short lived. The season ended with Jack taking a call from his daughter at a pay phone in an empty building only to be kidnapped by terrorists from the last season and stowed on a boat bound for China. This is how the show was—24 hours or episodes of tension followed by a moment of resolution quickly followed by another crisis and agonizing tension. After suffering through a season with Jack, you just want to see the guy kick back in his recliner and take a well deserved nap. But that’s not how the show works. And, in reality, that’s not how this life works.
Maybe that’s why the show was such an addicting hit. We see a little of ourselves in Jack Bauer. We don’t have to rescue the Secretary of Defense or prevent any number of disasters or save the free world from nuclear extinction. But the terrorists that rob us of sleep and add unresolved tension to our lives are just as real. We long for the day when there will no longer be any unexpected twists and turns to our lives. No cliffhangers. No waiting for the other shoe to drop. There will come a day, proclaims Scripture, of perfect peace and rest. Until then we live in a world of unresolved suspended cords.
In his book, Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller contends that life is like jazz. Life, specifically the life of faith, is like jazz because so much of it seems disjointed and full of unresolved tension. Being a jazz lover, I was drawn to the title of the book and find it full of truth. I think this is what Paul is getting at in Romans 8 when he writes “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration . . . We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves . . . wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” The symphony of this creation is building toward a grand, climactic resolution. Paul here is referring to the Second Coming of Christ. Yet, we also think of Heaven in terms of finally being at peace and free from threat.
It use to be said (with some justification) that Christians were so heavenly minded they weren’t any earthly good. Today, I think it’s the opposite—we’re so earthly minded we’re of no heavenly good. Yet, as believers, we need to live our lives in the hope of Heaven’s promise. When life feels too much like an episode of 24, we need to stay rooted in our ultimate hope and destination. In Romans 8:24&25 Paul writes “Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Our hope lies in that which Scripture promises is yet to come.
Many years ago, when I was taking guitar lessons and studying jazz improvisation, my teacher always told me “when playing jazz the note you just played isn’t as important as the note you play next. Even if you play a wrong note, but follow it with the right note—that’s jazz.” Maybe that’s why I love jazz so much—it’s the music of the second chance. What has happened or is happening isn’t as important as how we respond and what we do next. We don’t hope for what we already have, says Paul, but for what we know is still coming.
As for poor old Jack Bauer, though, I’m sure he doesn’t have a clue what another day will hold for him. So much for retirement, Jack. Your mission should you choose to accept it is to save the world yet again. And you only have 24 hours to do . . . minus time for commercial breaks
Chris Higgins 