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Sunday, October 17, 2010

There is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents

 
I'm quite sure that most of the world having television sets, along with you and I, witnessed a most extraordinary event this past week. Of course I'm speaking of the rescue of the 33 miners in Chile who were marooned in a small area of the mine, about 2300 feet underground for 69 days. It was one of, if not the most, inspiring, moving, heart-warming and joyous events ever watched on TV.

I did not see all of the 33 come out to the surface, but I did get to see many of them and I have to admit, right here in front of everyone, that it was a very emotional and moving experience for me as I'm sure it was for you also. As the last miner was coming up in the capsule, I began thinking about what I was witnessing and what I had been seeing all through this event and began to formulate the outline of a spiritual lesson in my mind. For the rest of our time and space here, I'd like to share with you my thoughts and I appreciate your consideration of them.

Let's first look back at what we saw occur and sort of set the scene. These are the things about this rescue that stuck in my mind and which brought about this editorial. From the very first miner to the very last one, there was great joy and celebration as each one emerged from the capsule. And what I particularly noted about this joy and celebration was, that it did not wane, did not become "routine" at any time. The rejoicing was the same every time the capsule arrived at the surface with its rescued miner.

And, as we all witnessed, each miner was wearing a pair of dark sunglasses because they were emerging from a world of darkness into the light of day. This transformation also had a bearing on my spiritual thoughts regarding this event. I don't know whether you noticed it or not, but each miner was wearing the same kind of tee shirt. That too, will enter in to our lesson today.

And now, with the scene set, allow me to relate my spiritual lesson to you, based upon the thoughts transpiring with the rescue of these trapped miners. First, let's discuss my thoughts on the joyous celebrations that took place every time the capsule arrived at the surface and a miner stepped out.

In my mind I saw the physical saving of the miner as an illustration representing the saving of a soul. It caused me to recall what Christ said in the 15th chapter of Luke, right after He told His disciples a couple of short parables. These two little stories provided them with a picture of joy and elation. First, He told them about the "lost sheep" and the efforts made to find it - to rescue it from peril. Then He told them about the "lost coin" and the great joy felt when it was found.

He drew His disciples these two pictures for the purpose of pointing out a lesson to them. Notice what He then directed their mind towards in verse 10: that the joy seen in the two illustrations is like that sort of joy seen in heaven when another person is saved. Read His words here with me: "There is joy in the presence of God's angels when even one sinner repents."

When we take the passage in Luke and combine it with some more words of Jesus found in Rev. 3:5, let's look at the picture we get, and with writer's license, allow me to paraphrase this heavenly scene. "When one overcomes the sins of the world, they're clothed in white (purity) raiment, their name stays in the 'book of life' and then Christ announces their name before God and His angels." It's then that I picture the rejoicing and celebration taking place. What a neat picture!

I think that the pure joy we witnessed occurring at the site of the mine rescue as each and every miner emerged is probably as close as we'll come on the earth to understanding the pure joy of the angels around the throne of God. At the emergence of each and every soul that comes forth out of the depths of the darkness of sin and into "the Light." (John 3:19-21 and 1Pet. 2:9)

And now, for our closing thoughts, let's return to the T-shirts worn by each rescued miner. If you noticed, they were worn over their coveralls and were tan in color. After they were discovered to be still alive and trapped, a hole was bored to them that allowed communication and small items to be passed down.

One of the items sent down was an MP3 (small video type player) version of a film about Jesus being in His tomb after His crucifixion and His subsequent resurrection after three days. One of the miners sent a note up thanking them for the film and on this note wrote these words: "I am fine because Christ lives in me. We have prayer services at 12 noon and 6 PM." At the end of this note, the miner wrote "Psalm 95:4."

With that information, let me tell you more about the shirts. After receiving the note, the organization (Campus Crusade for Christ) that sent the video down, had these shirts made up at the request of the miners and they were subsequently taken down to the miners to wear when they came out. If you noticed the shirts you would have seen on the front the Chilean flag and the words (in Spanish) "THANK YOU LORD."

On the back of the shirts, also in Spanish, were the words of Psalm 95:4 which read: "IN HIS HAND ARE THE DEPTHS OF THE EARTH; THE HEIGHTS OF THE M0UNTAINS ARE HIS ALSO."

Don't you think that we can use this T-shirt and the statements by the miners to show us a great lesson? I certainly do. And the lesson that I see is this: that, yes, all of the rescuers, the drillers and everyone involved in this most successful saving of 33 lives, are deserving of much honor and glory for their achievement BUT, as said by the words on the T-shirt, God get's the glory first. And that's the proper order for this occasion and all others.

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Covey

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