In his
book “Ordering Your Private World” Gordon MacDonald
writes of his volunteer experience searching for
survivors of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade
Center:
During that first week when
all seemed so chaotic, we were part of the
thousands of workers and their relief
supports who attacked the rubble in hopes
that we would find trapped people still
alive.
By the hour I worked as part
of a team that brought everything from cold
water to fresh boots to the men and women
who formed the bucket brigades intent on
getting to anyone who had survived.
Occasionally, we would hear the signal that
meant “Silence” as the suspicion arose that
a voice or tapping was heard underneath the
concrete and steel.
Late one night I stood in a
circle of firefighters who had been working
24/7, refusing to rest.
“Don’t you think you’d
profit from a few hours away from this
place?” I asked.
“Not a chance,” their leader
said. “We’ve got brothers in that pile, and
they may be waiting for us.”
Today
many Christians may be too comfortable with the
coming and going of the members of the church.
If someone is no longer fellowshipping the
saints it may be weeks or months before their
absence stirs someone to go get them, if ever.
Some have so made a virtue of minding their own
business that they find themselves in sympathy
with Cain who sniffed to God, “Am I my brother’s
keeper?” (Genesis 4:9). And in the meantime
we’ve got brothers and sisters in Christ buried
under the rubble of worry, worldliness, and
materialism. It may be their own fault and maybe
even their own choosing that they’re in the mess
they’re in. But that doesn’t relieve their
family in Christ of the responsibility to go in
after them. The Bible says, “Keep yourselves in
the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our
Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
And have mercy on those who doubt; save others
by snatching them out of the fire; to others
show mercy with fear, hating even the garment
stained by the flesh.” (Jude 21-23).
Before
you leave here today you should have your copy
of our new church directory. This can be a great
tool, not only for matching names with faces but
also as a regular reminder of those in your Care
Group. Keep a lookout for those in your group
and kindly give them a call when you don’t see
them for a week or two.
Those
rescuers at the ruins of the World Trade Center
worked from the belief that it’s not too late,
that there may be some waiting to be reached.
They kept working to reach them because those
under the pile were their brothers. Is the cord
that binds us together as brothers and sisters
less strong? Does the threat of spiritual death
seem less real? Isn’t there really much more at
stake? If it was you under the rubble, wouldn’t
you pray that someone was looking for you?
God bless you,
Brad Fry
