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.
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