Rescuing the Lost

 

A couple stared at the waves close to the beach.  Intrigued, I stopped to watch, wondering what had attracted their attention.  It was a small fish only about six inches long.  It had swum too close to shore and was too weak to overcome the waves that were pushing him closer and closer to the beach. 

            The man scooped down and attempted to rescue the fish, only to have the frightened fish escape the rescuer’s hands.  Two more attempts and the man finally had a firm grip on the slippery creature.  With a strong fling, he tossed the fish beyond the waves to what appeared to be safety. 

            Unfortunately, for the fish, the entire episode was not lost on two eager Sea Gulls.  Within less than thirty seconds, they dove into the water where the fish had landed, and the rescued fish met with the ultimate disaster.

The man’s rescue attempt had been for naught, but two Sea Gulls flew off, happier for his efforts.  Still, if the man had not made the effort, the fish would have ultimately died a slow, painful death from exhaustion and lack of oxygen.  There was always the chance that the man’s efforts could have resulted in a successful rescue, so you can’t blame the man for trying.

It’s the same with the lives of people.  We see people every day who have been beaten down by the waves of life.  Perhaps they swam too close to life’s dark side, dabbling with drugs or alcohol or gambling.  Perhaps, through no fault of their own, they lost their job or were overcome with medical bills.  Whatever the reason, when we find them, they are struggling to find the bare necessities of life – food, clothing, and shelter. 

As Christians, our first instinct is to help them.  So, we open food pantries and clothing exchanges.  We give money to the man begging on the street corner.  We serve in homeless shelters. 

All these things are commendable, and in Matthew 25 Christ makes it clear that they are part of the expectations of a Disciple.  However, if we are honest with ourselves, we know that every person that we feed or clothe or provide other resources for will not be rescued.  Some of them, for whatever reason, don’t want to be rescued. 

That shouldn’t stop our efforts.  We don’t know which one might just need that one act of kindness to make all the difference.  We don’t know which ones may take our offering and use it to begin to move away from the waves of despair.  We don’t know which ones will be lost and which will be rescued.  Only God knows that! 

It’s because we don’t know that we must keep trying.  Just like the man who made several attempts to rescue the fish only to see him ultimately doomed, we must keep rescuing, in God’s name.  We take the initiative and then let God take it from there.  There won’t always be hungry seagulls waiting to doom our efforts.

I’m on my porch, thanking God for my eternal rescue!

Matthew 25:40