In the late night hours of July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was struck by multiple torpedoes fired by a Japanese submarine. 500 miles west of the Philippine Islands, far from any port and under orders of secrecy, tt was the last US Navy ship sunk by enemy fire in WW2.
The real story of the Indianapolis is the story of the survivors.
900 of the 1100 sailors and marines survived the sinking and made it into the water. Many were badly injured and all were covered in diesel fuel and oil. Some were in lifeboats. Most had nothing more than a life jacket to keep them afloat in the 80º water of the Pacific ocean.
Their first night in the water was chaotic and fearful. Men with horrible injuries had no comfort and no hope in the dark waters. Many died from their wounds. Their only hope was that rescue would come. The ship most certainly sent out and SOS call before it sank. Ships and aircraft would soon be on the way to pluck them out of the ocean.
The morning came and when it did, the men who were cold in the ocean overnight were soon facing the scorching sun. They covered their eyes for shade. But the sun was the least of their worries. Soon, sharks started attacking and killing the desperate men.
The first day passed and with the setting sun their hopes faded for rescue.
Three days passed. With the fading of each day came the fading of hope.
David Harrell wrote a book telling the story of his father, Edgar Harrell. He writes, “Clearly there were no atheists in the water that day. Gone was that damnable attitude of pride that deceives men into thinking that there is no God, or if there is, they don’t need Him. When a man is confronted with death, it is the face of Almighty God he sees, not his own. We were all acutely aware of our Creator during those days and nights.” (David Harrell, “Out of the Depths,” Xulon Press, 2005, 112-113).
All of us need hope. The hope that we need is found in the Gospel. But understand this. Hope alone is not enough. If your hope is based in something false, then your hope is just an illusion. It is the reality of the Resurrection of Jesus that provides the foundation for our hope. Paul put it in the following way in the very same chapter where we find his 3-fold definition of the Gospel:
“If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:19–20).
For the purpose of our study, where can we find an Old Testament example of the Resurrection that vividly pictures this hope?
There are few OT passages that describe the Resurrection. One is found in a miracle performed by Elisha. In 2 Kings 4, Elisha meets a woman from Shunem, which was a Jewish village just outside of Nazareth, south of the Sea of Galilee.
This woman was wealthy but her and her husband did not have a son. Because of this, the aging of her husband meant that she would have noone to support her once he died. The story is told in 2 Kings 4: 8, 14 “One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat.” .... “What can be done for her?” Elisha asked. Gehazi said, “Well, she has no son and her husband is old.””
Elisha promises her that the Lord would miraculously give her a son, a promise she resisted because she thought that it was too good to be true. “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord,” she objected. “Don’t mislead your servant, O man of God!”” (2 Kings 4:16)
But God did give her a son. However, the story does not end here. In his early childhood, the boy becomes sick and dies. We read the sad commentary in 2 Kings 4:17-19. “But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her. The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. “My head! My head!” he said to his father. His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.”
What does this mother do in her moment of hopelessness? What can we learn from her about the hope that we have in the resurrection?
1. Her wealth could not buy a son.
2. Her love could not keep him alive. Her motherly love is seen in what happens when the boy is brought in from the fields. “After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died.” (2 Kings 4:20). I can see the mother, rocking her son in her arms, soothing his fears. Holding his head. Gently passing her fingers through his hair to give him some comfort - some relief. But in spite of her love, the son dies.
3. Finally, her sacrifice could not bring him back. The mother immediately takes a trip to see the prophet Elisha. He is at Mount Carmel, the same place where Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal just a few years earlier. Carmel was 20 miles away, and it appears that the woman walked through the night with her servant to arrive at Carmel. I can only imagine the despair that she was facing. I don’t believe that this is an act of faith on her part believing that God would raise her son back to life. Notice her response when she meets Elisha: “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”” (2 Kings 4:28)
But God intended to use this woman and her son as a picture of the hope of the resurrection.
Wealth cannot buy God’s favor.
Love cannot assure that our loved ones will be healed or helped.
Sacrifice cannot undue the difficulties of life.
We are all lost at sea, without a life boat, with time running out.
HUGO CHAVEZ
President of Venezuela
wealth, power, arrogance
Sick with cancer
At his deathbed
’I don’t want to die. Please don’t let me die,’ http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/07/17221344-hugo-chavezs-last-words-please-dont-let-me-die-general-says?lite
A man with NO HOPE
All of us are like the men of the USS Indianapolis.
Alone in the middle of a vast ocean
Others drifting with us.
No Hope.
The Resurrection of Christ is the HOPE!
He has come to save us.
He offers his life as a light for us.
Out of the Depths
A Survivor’s Story of the Sinking of the USS Indianapolis
By David Harrell
While nestled among my wet and shivering shipmates, clinging to life in the darkness, I remember seeing the dim glow of a light outside the plane. At first I didn’t give it much thought; too weary to even care. But after a while, the light grew brighter. Then someone- Probably one of the crewman- announced that the light coming through the doorway was emanating from the destroyer USS Doyle that was slowly but surely coming to get us. Knowing this, that glow took on a new dimension. Its rays beamed a light of hope that pierced the cold darkness of death. Speaking to survivors some years later, Lt. Marks poignantly described this fascinating phenomenon that occurred over the four to five hours we quietly waited as the Doyle made its way to us:
"In an operation where so many things went wrong, where so many people didn’t get the word, and where many of those who did get it failed to appreciate the situation, the perception of Lt. Cdr. W. Graham Claytor in command of the Doyle was a shining exception. As he steamed through the gathering dusk, still more than a hundred miles away, he intercepted the radio conversation between me and the Ventura search plane. He knew that there might be enemy submarines ahead, because I had warned him of them, and he didn’t know what sort of situation he was heading into; but he had the perception to know that somewhere up ahead men were clinging to life with their last ounce of strength, and that with darkness come cold, loneliness and despair. It is in the hours of darkness that most men give up the fight, and he felt that if there was something that he could do to give these men hope, to let them know that help was on its way, maybe they would summon the courage and the strength to hang on a few more hours.
I will never forget how dark were the early hours of that night. There was no moon, and the starlight was obscured by clouds. And even though we were near the equator, the wind whipped up and it was cold. We had long since dispensed the last drop of water, and scores of badly injured men, stacked three deep in the fuselage and ranged far out on both wings, were softly crying with thirst and with pain. And then, far out on the horizon, there was a light!
No matter the warning of submarines. No matter the unknown dangers of the night, the USS Doyle turned on her big twenty-four inch searchlight and pointed it straight up to reflect off the bottom of the clouds two thousand feet up in the sky. And it stayed on! For hour after hour it shone as a beacon of hope in the sky. The results on our own plane were electrifying. To the men who cried for water we would say, "Look! See that light! It’s a destroyer on its way. There’s water and doctors and rescue coming soon!" And men would settle back in hope to gaze upon that lovely light. And out around us, where men were struggling to survive their fifth night in the water, there were scores of you who saw the light and summoned up that one last ounce of strength to last till rescue came."
I was reading this portion of David Harell’s book on an airplane, and as I got to these words my eyes filled with tears as I thought of Jesus. He is the hope. All of us are like the men of the Indianapolis. We are adrift and in danger. Time is running out. But hope is near. The light of the gospel shines for you to see. Jesus offers himself to you as your hope. He will save you if you call out to him.
