Who needs a parachute when you’re jumping from a plane at 25,000 feet above the ground? Apparently, not Luke Aikens. He did it two years ago on August 1, 2016. Take a look! (Show Video: Skydiver Plunges 25,000 Feet with No Parachute; www.youtube.com/watch?v=-67NC9F-_NU)
Luke Aikins plummeted from an airplane at 25,000 feet without any kind of parachute, landing neatly in a square 100-foot by 100-foot net set up to catch him. He landed at a terminal velocity of 120 mph.
Utterly crazy and even stupid, right? The guy has a wife and a four-year-old son. But his jump did not come without a ridiculous amount of training. For starters, Aikens had over 18,000 jumps to his name. Then according to CNN, “He prepared for the stunt by doing dozens of jumps – each, naturally, wearing a parachute – aiming at a 100 square foot target, opening his chute at the last possible moment. In his practice jumps he would pull the cord at 1,000 feet… He said in the runup to the jump that he had consistently been hitting a much smaller target, giving him greater leeway with the full-sized net.”
Aikins said, “Whenever people attempt to push the limits of what's considered humanly possible, they're invariably described as crazy. I'm here to show you that if we approach it the right way and we test it and we prove that it's good to go, we can do things that we don't think are possible.” (Euan McCurdy, “World first: Skydiver plummets 25,000 feet – with no parachute,” CNN, 8-1-16; www.youtube.com/watch?v=-67NC9F-_NU)
People of faith are often described as “crazy,” but if they approach it the right way, they can do amazing things!
The question is: What is the right way? What is the right way to approach life? What is the right way to take risks for God? What is the right way to attempt amazing things? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Hebrews 11, Hebrews 11, where we see how two men of faith pursued some amazing things in their lives.
Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. (ESV)
By faith, Noah pursued salvation and righteousness, not only for himself, but for his family, as well. Now, to the unbeliever, Noah was absolutely crazy! But his “leap of faith” (so to speak) was based on God’s explicit instructions, so it wasn’t so crazy after all.
God told Noah it was going to rain for 40 days and 40 nights, but Noah had never seen rain before. Genesis 2 tells us that before the great flood, “God had not caused it to rain on the land… [but] a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground” (Genesis 2:5-6).
I can imagine God’s conversation with Noah. “Noah, guess what. It’s gonna rain.”
“Rain? What’s that?”
“Well Noah, it’s drops of water that come from the sky. I’m going to drop so much water that it will flood the entire earth.”
“You gotta be kidding!”
“No, I’m very serious. This world is so corrupt, I’m going to destroy everything in it.”
God warned Noah about something he had never seen before. And then God gave Noah explicit instructions as to how to save himself and his family. God told Noah to build a huge ship in his back yard – 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.
Imagine what the neighbors thought. “Noah, you’re crazy. Why are you building such a big boat? You’re going to have to move that thing. It’s blocking my view.” People, today, still ridicule the idea of an ark. They can’t imagine the idea of one boat being able to save every kind of animal on the earth. Yet that is entirely possible.
Scientist, Dr. Henry Morris, once calculated the volumetric capacity of the ark at 1,400,000 cubic feet, able to hold over 125,000 sheep size animals. By the way, that is greater than the average sized land animal.
Morris says that “there are less than 18,000 species of [animals] living today.” Double that to allow for extinct species – 36,000. Then double that again, because Noah took two (2) of each. That makes 72,000 animals on the ark. Make it 75,000 to allow for the five (5) extra animals in each “clean” species that God told Noah to put on the ark (Genesis 7:2-3).
75,000 animals on the ark. That’s much less than the 125,000 animals the ark could have held. In fact, no more than 60% of the ark’s capacity was used for animals. That left plenty of room for food, living quarters for Noah’s family, and other necessary provisions. The ark was perfectly suited to do its job, and it was a very safe vessel.
Not until thousands of years later, at the time of the first English settlement in Jamestown, did anyone have a clue as to the reason for the ark’s dimensions. Peter Jansen, a shipbuilder in Holland, reasoned that if God had designed the ark, it should be the ideal plan. So he built a ship on the plan of Noah’s ark – not as large, but with the same proportions – six times as long as it was wide, and the height one-tenth of the length.
People laughed at him then like they did Noah. But when the ship was launched, they found that it would carry one-third more freight, sail faster, and not tip over like the old ships. So today, with very little variation, modern ships are built on the same general plan as Noah’s ark.
God knew exactly what He was doing when He gave Noah the plans for the ark. And though Noah couldn’t possibly understand it all, he did exactly what God told him to do. He believed God when God told him of a place of righteousness and safety beyond this corrupt and dangerous world.
He believed God even when it didn’t make sense, and that faith saved not only himself, but his entire family. The whole world drowned, but Noah’s family was safe, because Noah, in faith, obeyed God. Noah’s faith brought his entire family to a place of security on the other side of a world-wide cataclysmic event.
And your faith will do the same for you. When you trust God enough to follow His explicit instructions, you can save yourself and your family. So…
BY FAITH, PURSUE GOD’S SALVATION.
By faith, go after God’s refuge and righteousness. By faith, build an ark of safety, not only for yourself, but for your family, as well.
Look beyond the problems of today. Look beyond the corruption and alarm all around, and look to the future God has for you and your family. Believe Him and do what He tells you to do. Like Noah, trust and obey God, even when everybody else thinks you’re crazy.
Henry Cloud, in his book, How People Grow, tells about the time when he came down with a leg disease that left him bedridden. He was four years old at the time. He got around in a wheelchair, and then in braces and on crutches for two years. Henry Cloud says, “I went overnight from a very active child to one with a serious disability.” His doctor urged his parents to make him do things for himself and not spoil his character by not doing everything for him, so that’s exactly what they did.
On one occasion, at church, his parents made him climb a long flight of stairs on his crutches. He was struggling and taking a long time, but they were prodding him on. He stumbled, got redirected, and continued on one slow step after another. It was painful to watch.
Then suddenly, from behind, they heard a woman say to her husband, “Can you believe those parents are making that child do that?”
Henry Cloud says his mother was “one of the most caring people” he knows. She had difficulty even making the dog go outside in the rain, so it must have been very difficult for her to watch her child struggle through tasks with which she could have helped.
But she knew what she had to do, and she did it despite the criticism, despite the struggle. As a result, God brought her and her whole family through some very tough times, and they became better and stronger people for it. (Henry Cloud, How People Grow, Zondervan, 2001)
In the same way, do what you know you have to do. By faith, do what God tells you to do, despite the struggles, despite the criticism, despite the ridicule. People won’t understand it when you put God first in our lives. People won’t understand it when you do it God’s way. People won’t understand it when you obey God rather than your own selfish desires. But that doesn’t matter, because you’re not going where they’re going. You have a different destiny than the rest of the world.
So by faith, pursue your destiny. By faith, pursue God’s salvation. By faith, pursue God’s refuge and righteousness, not only for yourself, but for your family as well. Then…
BY FAITH, PURSUE THE CITY OF GOD.
By faith, don’t pursue material prosperity or fame. Instead, by faith, pursue the marvelous promises of God, which point to heaven itself. That’s what Abraham did, the second man of faith we’re going to look at this morning.
Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. (ESV)
God said to Abraham, “GO.” And Abraham went, not knowing where he was going. He obeyed God without having all the information.
It’s like traveling under sealed orders in the military. When you open those orders, they tell you where to go next without giving you the overall destination. They say, “go to this point” and “fly to this place” or “take a boat to that place.” Then when you get there, you get further orders as to your next stop. (Frank Pollard, “Do You Like Where You Live?,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 104)
That's the way Abraham lived, and that’s the way God calls His people to live. Trust Him enough to obey Him even when you don’t have all the information.
The movie Pearl Harbor tells of the events leading up to and immediately following the Japanese attack on the U.S. on December 7, 1941. The film follows the fictional lives of two fighter pilots, Rafe and Danny, who have been inseparable friends since childhood and are stationed at the same base in Hawaii.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Rafe (Ben Affleck) and Danny (Josh Hartnett) are called into Colonel Jimmy Doolittle's office. They have succeeded in downing seven Japanese planes.
Doolittle (Alec Baldwin) stands behind his desk and addresses the cocky pilots somberly. Take a look (show video: Pearl Harbor Clip)
“You've both been awarded the silver star. You're just about the only pilots with combat experience. I need you for a mission I've been ordered to put together.”
Rafe and Danny look nervously pleased. Doolittle looks them over carefully.
“Do you know what 'top secret' is?” he asks.
Rafe responds with a wry smile. “Yes, sir! It's the kind of mission when you get medals, but they send them to your relatives.”
Ignoring the remark, Doolittle continues, “Top secret means you train for something never done before in aviation history—and you go without knowing where you're going. You do it on that basis or not at all.”
Honored to be asked, yet unsure of what they are committing to, both men agree to go.
The mission, called Doolittle's Raid, was to attack Japan by air. It was successful and affected the course of the war. (Pearl Harbor, Touchstone, 2001, starting at 2:19:35, written by Randall Wallace, directed by Michael Bay; www.PreachingToday.com)
In the same way, God calls you and me to do the same thing, to go without knowing where we are going. Often, He just shows you the next step without giving you the overall plan. That’s what faith is all about.
It may be scary, but it’s not “crazy” if you follow God’s explicit instructions. So trust Him enough to obey Him even if He doesn’t give you all of the information.
Then trust Him enough to omit the pursuit of material prosperity. Have enough faith in the Lord to forgo this world’s wealth for true heavenly wealth. That’s what Abraham and his family did.
Hebrews 11:9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. (ESV)
When Abraham got to the place God showed Him, he lived in a tent the rest of his life. He found his permanent dwelling in temporary housing.
Hebrews 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. (ESV)
Abraham was looking for the City of God, the New Jerusalem, the Heavenly City. Abraham’s mind was on eternal riches, so he was content to live in a tent. He didn’t need to pursue the riches of this world. He was looking forward to the riches of heaven!
Hebrews 11:11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age [i.e., 90 years old], since she considered him faithful who had promised. (ESV)
Like Abraham, Sarah, his wife, believed God.
Hebrews 11:12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. (ESV)
God kept His promise to Abraham and Sarah even though they didn’t live to see its fulfillment.
Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. (ESV)
Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Jacob, all died without ever owning any of the land God had promised them. All they owned was one small burial plot at the end of a farmer’s field (Genesis 23). It was a plot Abraham bought for his wife’s burial. That’s because they viewed themselves as exiles on earth on the way to their true home in heaven. They were not looking for a mansion on a hill. They were looking for that heavenly city in glory.
Hebrews 11:14-16 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (ESV)
That’s where our attention needs to be – not on the things of this world, but on the things of heaven. After all, why settle for money when God wants you to have real wealth (Max Anders, The Good Life, p.16).
Journalist Hampton Sides, in his book the Kingdom of Ice, tells the compelling story of the failed polar expedition of the USS Jeannette in the 19th Century. Lieutenant George De Long was the captain, who used faulty maps drawn by Dr. August Heinrich Peterman. Peterman’s maps suggested a “thermometric gateway” through the ice that opened onto a vast “polar sea” on the top of the world. His maps showed a fair-weather passage beyond all the ice, and De Long's entire expedition was staked on those maps.
As it turned out De Long was heading to a world that didn't exist. As perilous ice quickly surrounded his ship, Hampton Sides said his team had to “shed its organizing ideas, in all their unfounded romance, and… replace them with a reckoning of the way the Arctic truly is.” (Hampton Sides, In the Kingdom of Ice, Doubleday, 2014, page 163; www.PreachingToday.com)
In the same way, our world sells us faulty, fantastical maps of “the good life,” which many people pursue with every sail unfurled. It’s not until they’re shipwrecked that they realize they have trusted faulty maps.
Please, don’t do it! Instead, trust God enough to obey Him. Then trust God enough to omit the pursuit of material prosperity in the pursuit of true spiritual riches.
Trust God enough to seek His Kingdom and His righteousness above anything else. It may not seem as exciting as what the world offers, but in the end will be worth it all.
I think of how astronaut Gene Cernan talked about his experience in space. He said, “Funny thing happened on the way to the moon: not much.”
A book by two researchers, Extreme: Why Some People Thrive at the Limits, shows that many thrill-seeking activities involve a lot of ordinary and even tedious moments. For example, one study of explorers scaling a Himalayan peak found that they spent a mere four percent of their time actually climbing. The book concluded that although a yearning for novelty and excitement may draw people into extreme activities, these pursuits inevitably require long periods of patience, discipline, and perseverance. (Christie Aschwanden, “Extreme tests that challenge, and bore,” International New York Times, 5-13-15; www.PreachingToday.com)
So it is when you pursue the City “whose designer and builder is God.” That pursuit involves long periods of patience, discipline, and waiting on God, but the wait is worth it!
I like the way George Palmer put it before he died. He was a Baptist pastor, who started Sandy Cove Bible Conference on the Chesapeake Bay where Sandy and I met. He said, "I'm homesick for heaven. It's the hope of dying that has kept me alive this long.” (Vance Havner, from The Vance Havner Quote Book/On This Rock I Stand. Christianity Today, Vol. 30, no. 16; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s what a life of faith is all about. It may be “scary” at times, but it’s not “crazy” when you follow God’s explicit instructions. So by faith, pursue salvation and the city of God like Noah and Abraham did.
One day, Merhan Karimi Nasseri, found himself stranded at the International Airport in Paris, France. He had been expelled from his native country of Iran, and his Belgian-issued refugee document was stolen. He had no passport. He had no citizenship. He had no papers that enabled him to leave the airport or fly to another country.
The French officials sent him away because he lacked documentation. He flew to England but was denied entry and sent back to Paris. When he was returned to the Paris airport in 1988, airport authorities allowed him to live in Terminal 1, and there he stayed for eleven years, writing in a diary, living off handouts from airport employees, cleaning up in the airport bathroom.
Then in September 1999, the situation reversed. French authorities presented Nasseri with an international travel card and a French residency permit. Suddenly he was free to go anywhere he wanted. But when airport officials handed him his walking papers, to everyone's surprise, he simply smiled, tucked the documents in his folder, and resumed writing in his diary. (Chicago Tribune, 9-21-99, and New York Times, 9-27-99).
He had lost sight of his destiny and gotten comfortable in an airport terminal.
Please, don’t let that happen to you. If you know Christ, you are free to go to Heaven. Don’t get stuck in this old world – It’s only an airport terminal compared to your heavenly home. Don’t lose sight of your destiny. Instead, by faith, pursue your destiny with all you’ve got. It will certainly make your trip through this world a whole lot more enjoyable.
