Search and Rescue
Matthew 28:18-20
Dr. Roger W. Thomas, Preaching Minister
First Christian Church, Vandalia, MO
Introduction: One of the great legacies of the 9-11 disaster four years ago today is a greater appreciation for the debt we all owe to the “first responders.” I don’t remember hearing that term before 9-11. Now we all know what it means. We all depend on men and women whose job it is to step into harms way to rescue the rest of us. That’s true of great disasters like 9-11 and the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. It is just as true on a smaller scale of the kind of personal emergencies that we are more likely to face. We all owe much to those who are in the search and rescue business.
I remind you of the definition of a major and minor surgery that I have told you before. Minor surgery is when the doctor is cutting on you. Major surgery is when it’s happening to me. That’s equally true of disasters. It is hard for us to truly comprehend the magnitude of disasters that happen half way around the world. That’s human nature. The closer it gets to home the bigger it seems. That it certainly true of the most recent events on the Gulf Coast.
In an emergency, the police are the first line of response. Even our own small town patrol men and women face unknown dangers every day. Before moving here five years ago, I served for several years as a volunteer police chaplain with the big city police department in Aurora, IL. I know first hand the dangers the police faced. In another ministry, I helped lead to the Lord and baptized a couple of different members of the local police department. I have heard them tell stories of situations they faced. A police man never knows who’s driving the car he stops or who will be behind the door of the next call he answers. Every policeman is trained to assume the worst. They have to. It can be a matter of life and death. They still do it. That’s their job—their mission.
Next on the scene are the firemen. Fortunately, our local volunteer fire department seldom has to confront major situations. But even an auto accident or grass fire can turn into a life and death matter at any moment. When a home or business does catch fire, the men and women are trained to risk their own lives to save others. Four years ago, when the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were struck firemen stepped up and did their job. Company after company of New York City firemen marched into the Towers even when they knew it might mean their certain death. They did it to save others. They were in the search and rescue business.
Right alongside the police and firemen stand the medical emergency people. I can’t imagine what it takes to be prepared to step into an unknown situation and provide life saving help like our EMT people do every day. We are lucky to have such well-trained and well-prepared public servants even in a small rural community like this. Can you imagine the kind of situations medical emergency people faced in the wake of 9-11 or the recent hurricane disaster?
Recent events have reminded us that we need to add to the list of special responders, the Coast Guard, the National Guard, and regular military people. They are the ones being called upon to rescue the stranded, bring relief to the victims, and restore law and order when the regular services were overwhelmed. To that we can add the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and countless other relief professionals and volunteers. We owe them much to those who are in the search and rescue business.
There’s still another level of people helping people that happened on 9-11 and in the aftermath of the hurricane and flooding. Some ran for safety leaving behind children and sick and elderly neighbors and family members.
Others embarked on their own search and rescue mission. Neighbor helped neighbor. Friend reached out to friend—not because it was their job. They were confronted with a need. They did what they could because it needed doing. Somebody had to. They weren’t trained. Nobody told them what to do. Sometimes you do what you do because that’s what friends and neighbors do—even for strangers. People waded through contaminated water to rescue an older neighbor. Others carried somebody else’s children on their backs for blocks. Men in boats rowed up and down streets looking for people to help. One young seventeen year old boy commandeered a bus, hot-wired it, and drove a bus load of people out of danger.
The Los Angles Times carried the story of seven children discovered walking together in the flooded streets of New Orleans. They had become separated from their parents in all the confusion. A six-year old kept them together and led them to safety. Three of the children were about 2 years old, and one wearing only diapers. A 3-year-old girl, who wore colorful barrettes on the ends of her braids, had her 14-month-old brother in tow. The 6-year-old spoke for all of them. The children were eventually reunited with their parents who feared they would never see their little ones again. (Los Angeles Times, Monday September 05, 2005).
Following the events of September 11, 2001, a lot of study went into how the survivors managed to escape from the Twin Towers. Thousands lost their lives. Experts wanted to know what made the difference for those that got out alive. A New York Times article told a part of what the researchers learned.
In the case of the doomed Trade Towers, those who made it out waited for an average of six minutes before evacuating. Some lingered as long as half an hour. What did they do while they waited? Some helped co-workers. Others milled around. The article said, “Many called relatives. About 1,000 took the time to shut down their computers. At least 70 percent of survivors spoke with other people before trying to leave.”
One lesson was that in spite of a previous attack on the towers and various efforts to make evacuation effective, less than half the survivors knew how to evacuate the building in the case of an emergency. They just weren’t prepared.
The article told of one woman, Elia Zedeno, who was on the 73rd floor of Tower One. She “heard a booming explosion and felt the building actually lurch to the south, as if it might topple.” The article stated: “You might expect that her next instinct was to flee. But she had the opposite reaction.” “What I really wanted was for someone to scream back, ‘Everything is okay! Don’t worry. It’s in your head.’” Fortunately, at least one of Zedeno’s colleagues responded differently. “The answer I got was another co-worker screaming, ‘Get out of the building!’” she remembers now. Almost four years later, she still thinks about that command. “My question is, what would I have done if the person had said nothing?” (Citation: Lee Eclov, Vernon Hills, Illinois; source: Amada Ripley, "How to Get Out Alive, Time (5-2-05), pp. 58-62).
I have spent considerable time recalling these events not just to remind us of 9-11, our debt to our first responders, or the need help the victims of the most recent disaster. That’s all true. I hope we never forget 9-11. I hope our concern and generosity toward the Gulf Coast victims keeps growing and growing. The need is certainly there. I hope we appreciate those who serve and protect us at a local level. But this morning I am reminding you of these matters because I think the events provide a parable that we need to hear and hear and hear!
We are in the middle of a several part study of what Bible students call Jesus’ Great Commission. The final verses of the Gospel of Matthew contain Jesus’ parting instructions to his followers. These verses provide the mission statement, the purpose of any individual or church that claims to be followers of Jesus. According to Jesus, his followers are on a search and rescue mission. He knew and he wanted us to know that the world is going to end. A lot of people don’t know how to get out alive. Our job is to sound the warning and convince all we can to follow us out. It is a matter of life and death, eternal life and death.
That’s why missionaries cross mountains and rivers to preach the gospel. That’s why parents work hard to teach their young the faith. That’s why churches start churches in other communities. That’s why First Christian came into existence in 1879. That’s why Cornerstone of Bowling Green is being started right now. These words of Jesus explain why ordinary people like those of us in this room pray and work and reach out to friends, invite them to church or try to interest them in Jesus. Did you hear the words of the lady reflecting on the co-worker who had convinced her to flee the Twin Towers in that New York Times article? “My question is, what would I have done if the person had said nothing?” My question is—what happens to people if those who know where this world is heading and how to escape saying nothing? Jesus said he came to seek and save the lost. He said, “As the Father sent me so send I you.” Ready or not, followers of Jesus are on a “search and rescue” mission.
Note that statement of Jesus more closely. He begins with the basis. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Jesus is in the one in charge. The mission is not up for debate. No vote will be taken. Because he is the heaven-sent savior, who died on the cross for our sins, and arose from the dead for our life, Jesus and Jesus alone has the right to issue the orders for those who follow him.
“Therefore”—that’s the hinge word of this passage. This is where everything turns. “Go and make disciples of all nations…” The main phrase of the passage is “make disciples.” The word means follower, learner, or student. The statement was issued to the remaining followers of Jesus. Their task was to enlist others to become followers as well.
There’s a basic law of reproduction involved in this. Like begets like. Only followers can recruit other followers. Only disciples can make disciples. The first order of business for anyone confronted by this last will and testament of Jesus is: which group am I a part of. Am I a disciple? Or am I part of the “all” that Jesus’ followers are to rescue.
This is a search and rescue mission. Jesus said, "Go, make disciples.” Some argue over the grammar of the sentence. They note rightly that the central command of the sentence is “make disciples.” But they make the mistake of trying to argue that going is optional. Clearly not! Making disciples of all nations, as Jesus commissioned his disciples, requires an intentional, pro-active effort to reach out of our normal comfort zone. Serious rescuing requires searching. Searching means going where lost people are found.
Jesus sent those who believe in him on a search and rescue business. Why? Because he knows what the future holds for those headed for eternity without him. This is what Jesus said, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (Jn 3:36). “Do not be afraid of those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Mt 10:28). He insisted, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me” (Jn 14:6).
When we truly believe that, we know how serious our search and rescue business is.
Writer Leonard Ravenhill shares a story we all need to hear. Charlie Peace was one of England’s most wanted criminals. Finally he was caught, tried and sentenced to death. On the fatal morning, he was marched to execution in Armley Jail, Leeds, England, a Church of England chaplain walked with him. The clergyman read scripture and talked with him of the judgment of God.
Finally, Peace told him to stop. “How can you read that to me so matter of factly? And where were you before?” he asked. The condemned man continued, “Sir, if I believed what you and the Church of England say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees and think it worth while living, just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that!" (Ravenhill, Leonard, Why Revival Tarries, Fires of Revival Publishers, Zachary, LA, 1973, p. 19)
Conclusion: Here’s the bottom line. We cannot save others until we are saved ourselves. You cannot help make disciples unless you are first a disciple yourself. This is my appeal to each of you today. Have you made the decision to follow Jesus? Not do you believe in God? Are you a follower of Jesus and his teachings? Not are you religious? Are you a follower of Jesus? Not have you been baptized? Becoming a follower of Jesus comes first. Not are you trying your best to do good? Are you a follower of Jesus?
If you are a follower of Jesus, you are in the search and rescue business.
***Dr. Roger W. Thomas is the preaching minister at First Christian Church, 205 W. Park St., Vandalia, MO 63382 and an adjunct professor of Bible and Preaching at Central Christian College of the Bible, 911 E. Urbandale, Moberly, MO. He is a graduate of Lincoln Christian College (BA) and Lincoln Christian Seminary (MA, MDiv), and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary (DMin).
