The Preventable Death of Robert Hall

I've been thinking a lot about the word "rescue" lately. Sparked by the outrageous murder of the Canadian Robert Hall.  Sadly his death has been overshadowed by the Orlando killings and the death of the imitable Gordie Howe.  The former dominating the headlines because LBGT news and ISIS news makes big news; and the latter because he was beloved by every sports fan, Canadian and American, alike.  You be hard pressed to find much on Robert Hall in today's news.

Is Hall's death any worse than the others?  Somewhat!  The Orlando killings were unexpected.  They were awful in their own right, to say the least. Howe's death was natural and expected.  All who die are valuable, no matter who they are. We grieve all deaths.  What makes my heart burn with outrage is that Hall's death was threatened for months and no government took meaningful action to try to resolve it.  Hall lived for months every day wondering if it was his last.  He was on death row with a random date of execution. His friend Canadian, John Ridsdel died similarly.  Hall knew that.

It seems that the best our government can do is voice their dismay.  That's not the biblical role of government.   Our Canadian government has only said what they would not do:  We will not pay ransom; we will not renegotiate.  In the end they implied: we will not take any decisive, determinative action to rescue one of our citizens. Like a disabled, disarmed, impotent force they sit and say, "Let's hope for the best!"  "Let's hope that somewhere in the heart of Abu Sayaf there will be a spark of righteousness emerge!"

Thousands of years ago a man by the name of Lot, the nephew of the infamous Abraham – father of the people of Israel, was taken captive by a consortium of military forces.  “When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan. There he divided his men and attacked during the night. Kedorlaomer’s army fled, but Abram chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. Abram recovered all the goods that had been taken, and he brought back his nephew Lot with his possessions and all the women and other captives.” (Genesis 14:14–16, NLT).

The notion of "rescue" is integral to Judeo-Christian thought.  The well-known king of Israel, David, considered the same course of action appropriate.  The Amalakites had raided and had taken captives included David's wives.  “David and his men rushed in among them and slaughtered them throughout that night and the entire next day until evening. None of the Amalekites escaped except 400 young men who fled on camels. David got back everything the Amalekites had taken, and he rescued his two wives. Nothing was missing: small or great, son or daughter, nor anything else that had been taken. David brought everything back. He also recovered all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock. “This plunder belongs to David!” they said.” (1 Samuel 30:17–20, NLT).

At the heart of the Gospel is the notion of rescue.   The Christian word is "redemption".   The God of the Bible is a God who redeems. God is called Israel's Redeemer  especially in Isaiah where "redemption" is a key metaphor ( 41:14 ; 43:1 ; 44:6 ; 47:4 ).  The heart of God is to redeem nations, to redeem people and even redeem individuals from distress, sickness and pain.  One would be blind to miss the reality that the central them of the Bible, from the Garden of Eden through to the coming of Christ is to take the initiative to act mercifully on behalf of those who cannot help themselves.  Romans 5:6–8 (NLT), reminds us that:

"⁶ When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. ⁷ Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. ⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners."

Our God is a God of Rescue.  He has ordained governments, heads of families, churches – His people to be a people of rescue.  “… He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.” (Isaiah 61:1, NLT).  The Gospel is the Good News that God rescues lost and captive people.