UNEXPECTED DEATH

1, 2, 3 - YOU ARE DEAD!

Hebrews 12:1

Actually, I just was afraid that I would not die. I was drenched, cold,and very seasick. And, I was standing bow lookout on the flag-ship of our amphibious, fleet in convoy. We were on our way to make an “invasion“ of a lonely beach somewhere near Halifax, Canada. It was all a practice maneuver of course, but the storm we were struggling to make headway against was very real. The bow of the ship was bucking the waves like a run away elevator. The bottom dropped away and we plummeted down and took water over the bow, then shot up and the bow was far above the water, only to drop again and again repeatedly. Being a larger ship, we struggled, but one of the small ships, built with a flat bottom so that it could land directly onto a beach, left the convoy and fled for Boston as fast as it could get there. It had split a seam and was in danger of sinking.

Eventually, we reached our destination, and I was able to do the task I had been trained to do. I was, at that time, one of the crew members of a landing craft. Only the coxswain at the wheel and I were its crew members. It was our job to be launched with the boat. I to release our hook-up to the boom, so the coxswain could take us directly to a rendezvous point where we then circled until all the boats were launched, reminiscent of the ducks in a carnival shooting gallery. Once we were all present in the circle and accounted for, we returned to the ship to receive a jeep from the boom, and as many marines as we had space for taken aboard from the rope nets that draped the side of the ship. When the boat was filled, we returned to circle until all our boats were filled, then on signal we made a running start for the beach. Exciting! we had disconnected the governors on our powerful grey marine engines and could really go this time! We ignored the fact that half the marines were still sea sick. There were explosions all around us as we neared shore, but, NO! We had hit a sand bar that the storm had formed and it was not on the charts. We were perhaps thirty feet from the beach itself. All the craft had dropped their ramps and the jeeps and marines were storming ashore. That is everyone but us, our ramp refused to drop! I had released the catches, but nothing would force that ramp down! Several seconds passed, then it opened with a splash, and our passengers stormed out, the jeep making full use of the snorkel that had been attached to it’s exhaust because it was entirely under water as soon as it left the sand bar.

The next morning we read in the fleet newspaper of the one craft where all were “killed!” That was us, One, Two, Three, you are dead!

But, this is more than a little story. It is really the story of life. All may seem secure. We, as Christians, are going about our tasks as usual. Then, we hit opposition, like the storm, and we struggle, some to lose their faith and flee for the nearest refuge like the sinking ship heading for the nearest dry dock.

Others reach their destination, but fail when some unexpected thing happens at the very last minute, like the sand bar. Let us keep in mind Paul’s advice to the Hebrews. “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” Hebrews 12:1.

I leave you with these three thoughts from Paul to think about. 1. Lay aside those “weights” that might hinder our running. 2. Let us run with “patience” to the very end. 3. Let us keep our eyes on our Lord Jesus, the source of our faith, who will stay with us to the very end. We never know when that end may come, and “One, Two, Three, you are dead!”

I could not help thinking recently of that last fact when the transmission of my car failed me while I was in the fast lane during the morning rush hour. I had to push and steer my car into a turning lane. How many people have died suddenly and unexpectedly doing just that? I thank the Lord for the two people, sent by Him, who stopped and helped this old gentleman out of the way to safety. And also all those who helped in the days that followed. I could not have managed alone.