The Rescue!
It has been said that the hardest mission in the world is to rescue a
man’s heart.
WHY?
Well, let’s consider
a rescue. We’ve all seen it many times. The SOS; has gone out and the Coast Guard rescue chopper swings in
low and moves alongside the crippled vessel. Stranded people are clinging to
the hull, the storm rages all around and then in goes the rescue swimmer,
slowly the basket comes down. One by one the people are loaded in and up they
go until the last one, the swimmer is on board. Next scene everyone is wrapped
in shiny space blankets and on their way to dry land and safety.
The 911 call has
been received, the sirens blare and the night is full of flashing lights and
the red glow of a burning building. Smoke is everywhere, along with the sounds of
the rescuers hurried voices crackling over their radios, there are people still
inside the inferno. The TV crew is standing with the worried bystanders filming
through the smoke as a ladder rises from the ground and swings to the open
window filled with terrified faces. Then into view the firefighters as they
reach in and grab those stranded in the nick of time. Next scene, the sidewalk,
an ambulance, rescuers and the rescued with oxygen masks and shiny space
blankets on and safety.
The hostages have been
located, the team moves slowly and quietly, one by one they take out the enemy
guards. Then a flurry of gunfire and explosions, total chaos, then muffled
voices and the freed hostages as they exit the compound at a full run heading
for the chopper door. Next scene, dirty, tired faces wrapped in shiny space
blankets headed for friendly soil.
Notice anything?
When we think of being rescued we have these pictures in our mind. Once you
have been rescued you are out of danger. You’ve been plucked out, removed, you
are now safe. But, is that the case when a man’s heart has been rescued? Are
you now safe from the danger? Has the enemy been neutralized and now no longer
a threat? Is your ordeal just a fading memory or dramatic story to be told from
the safety of your living room? No, and here in lies the problem.
Let me tell you a
story of what the rescue of a man’s heart really looks like. This story comes
from the movie “We Were Soldiers”. It is the story of the 1st Air
Cav under the command of Col Hale More and its first engagement with the
Vietcong. There are many things to learn about going into battle from the early
parts of the movie, but I want to focus on the rescue. Now, there are guys
reading this right now who have seen the movie and are scratching their heads
because they don’t remember seeing a rescue. That’s what I’m getting at,
because when you think of a rescue it looks like what I described earlier. But
Col More and his men fought until the very end and defeated the enemy. So,
where was the rescue?
The scene is at the
termite mound where the battle rages all around them. The camera pans to the
radio operators huddled by the mound and they are getting reports from all
units that they are being overrun. Hastings yells to Col More that they have
enemy and friendlies mixed and they have no lines. Col More stands for a few
moments and then says “Hastings, Broken Arrow- I say again Broken Arrow” Now,
for you younger guys that is the military call for a missing nuke. However in
the Vietnam era that was the radio call meaning that an American unit was being
overrun and it called in all possible air support to aid the unit. In other
words it called in air support to beat back the enemy enough so as to enable
them to reestablish their lines and continue to fight. Not much of a rescue
compared to what we expect when we hear the word rescue is it? Think about this,
they are exactly where they were before they sent out the SOS; they are still
surrounded in enemy territory by an overwhelming force. Rescued? They haven’t
moved an inch and the enemy is still attacking. Someone is still trying to kill
them, they haven’t gotten reinforcements, been resupplied or even been given a
moments rest. Rescued??? You have to be kidding me!
Guys this is the
rub. Yes this was a heroic rescue. The Broken Arrow call was just what was
needed at the perfect time to allow these men in the end to counter attack and
defeat the enemy. There is no doubt that men today are in a horrific battle for
their hearts and those all around them. And yes we need desperately to be
rescued by God. But, we are looking for the wrong thing. We are all looking for
a sanctuary, a place to hide. Safety and security is what we want from God.
Please God get me out of this, send the chopper, the Seals, the firefighters to
rescue me.
If God answered
those pleas for help in the way that you are asking who would be left to fight?
What would be the outcome if we let the enemy win? What would become of our
families, friends, for that matter the world? We are to be the salt and light
not until we get tired, worn out, discouraged, but until the end. We are not
supposed to be safe. God did not put us here to be safe. His purpose for our
lives was for us to continue in the battle until the enemy is defeated.
The thing that is so
hard about rescuing a man’s heart is that men are not looking, praying,
pleading for God’s rescue. Men are looking for a way out of this mess. Men are
in a life and death struggle yet the Life of God choice is the tough choice, death
is the easy one. After all what man in his right mind wants to grab for the
safety line that pulls you not to safety but deeper into the battle?
Scott
Van Dyke
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