Why Have You Done This Series

"WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS"

TEXT: JUDGES 2:1-5, 16-19, 6:8-10

INTRODUCTION

It was the day before Thanksgiving, 1971, and Northwest Airlines flight 305 was flying through a cold and rainy northwestern sky, towards it’s destination in Seattle Washington. Just about the time the 727 passed over Portland, Oregon, something happened that had never happened before in This country.

A passenger, going by the name of Dan Cooper, showed a stewardess a bomb that he was carrying in a briefcase and threatened to blow up the plane unless he was given $200,000 in cash and 4 parachutes. It was America’s very first hi-jacking.

In an effort to avoid what could have been an incredible disaster, the airline company decided to meet the high jacker’s demands. When he received the money, he tucked it into a pouch, tied it around his waist, strapped a parachute to his back, and jumped out of the airplane wearing only a business suit and street shoes.

That was the last anybody ever heard or saw of DB Cooper. However, there are several theories as to what could of happened to him.

Airline officials later admitted to giving him an unreliable parachute, which means there’s a possibility that he was killed when he hit the ground, a real good possibility. Scientists have suggested that, if that’s what happened, his body would never be identified because the force of the impact would have obliterated his body and his bones.

Another theory is that he might have landed in a huge lake 30 miles North of Portland and that all the weight that he had strapped to his body carried him to the bottom where he, naturally, would have drowned.

But the most fascinating possibility is that he was successful, that his wild, hair-brained scheme actually worked and that he’ been living ever since on the money he received in luxury and comfort under a new identity.

Since that time books and songs have been written about DB Cooper, a Rock Group bares his name as does a bar in Salt Lake City. Only in America could a criminal become a folk hero.

Perhaps the reason that DB Cooper captured the imagination of so many, is that we Americans are an inquisitive bunch and we love a good mystery. We are fascinated by things that tease and tantalize our brains. It just drives us crazy when all the pieces of the puzzle just don’t fit together.

I imagine that is why certain events in our history are still talked about and theorized years after their occurrence. Events like: the disappearance of Amelia Earheart, The assassination of JFK, the Lindberg kidnapping and the death of Elvis Presley (I heard on the radio just this week that according to a poll 1 out of 6 Americans thinks he is still alive). Many of the most popular books, movies and television shows revolve around the concept of mystery. Mystery is a part of life and we encounter it in many places.

And let me say that if you are a parent, you are shrouded in mystery nearly every day. Many times parents find themselves scratching their heads trying to figure out, and make sense of the things their children do, often they are a complete mystery.

They tell their child, "now Suzy I don’t want you to touch this, and what does little Suzy do, she touches it." Or they tell little Johnny to stop jumping up and down on the bed, and they walk out of the room and go down stairs, and just as they pick up the paper and prop their feet up, they hear squeaking sound coming from up stairs, so they put down the paper go up stairs and open the door and there they find little Johnny jumping up and down. He stops when they come in, and they ask him, "didn’t I tell you not to jump up and down," "Yes" Johnny replies, And didn’t I tell you that If you jumped up and down on your bed again that you would get a spanking" "A huh" says Johnny. "Then why in the world are you jumping on your bed?" "I don’t know."

That’s their answer, that’s the most popular answer that Kids give for all the crazy things that they do, that they know that they are not supposed to do, it can drive a parent crazy because it doesn’t make sense, are they just trying to make us mad, do they like pain or are they just plain stupid, Bill Cosby’s theory is that they have brain damage - he may be right. Some things our children do will forever remain a mystery.

As I said the world is full of many Mysteries, countless things that just don’t make sense, some mysteries we read about, some we watch and others we live with on a daily basis. But all the great mysteries of the world, shrivel in comparison to the two Mysteries that we will discuss today.