Life is Found the Right Way Up
A friend of mine was in a boating accident while fishing on the Norfork River in Arkansas. He was with a friend, and as they often did on this river, they had cut the engine to float the stream for a bit. The fishing is usually better on this river when you can float in a natural fashion plus the pleasant surroundings of nature are more enjoyable without the grating hum of a motor.
They hadn’t noticed that the water level was rapidly rising (as often happens on this dam-fed river). As a result, they were drifting, much swifter than normal, toward a series of floating docks. They both were monitoring the situation and, well before they were in danger of hitting the docks, took action to start the motor. However this time the motor would not start. They tugged, pulled, yanked, and grabbed at that rope with increasing urgency but only a sputter came forth. Then the docks were upon them. My friend, we’ll call him Dan, was able to jump from the boat just in time, landing safely on the dock. But his friend, we’ll call him Trevor, wasn’t able to get free, and the boat and Trevor were both pushed under the dock into the frigid trout-friendly water. Dan ran across the dock and stared hard at the water to see what would happen. It seemed an eternity, but soon the boat and Trevor both popped up from under the dock, Trevor gasping for air, but alive. Dan didn’t have time to breathe a sigh of relief, though, as another dock lay just ahead. Trevor barely had time to catch a deep breath before they hit the new dock and down they went again.
Now Dan found himself holding his breath while he waited for the boat and Trevor to pop up again. There were no more docks after this one so everything should have been fine. He should pop up and swim to the edge; except this time neither the boat nor Trevor popped up. They had been pushed down and trapped in the cables under the dock. Trevor was being held against the boat with the force of the water pushing against him. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what was right-side up. He didn’t know if he could get away from the boat and, if he did, he wasn’t sure which direction to swim. He was panicking and quickly running out of air. He could feel his vision starting to dim. He was already saying his goodbyes to his family in his mind, thinking this was likely the end. In a moment of desperation he decided to give one final attempt to get free. He placed both feet against the bottom of the boat, then kicked off of it with all his might. He thought maybe this would set him free enough to float to the top, though if he was pushing himself further down, he might not make it to the top in time.
Above the surface, Dan waited and waited, scanning the river for some sign of his friend or the boat. As the seconds ticked past, his hope began to fade. He was already dreading the phone call he would make to Trevor’s wife. That’s when he heard a splash and a huge gasp for air and saw Trevor pop up from the water!
I’ve often thought of this story while preparing for our series in the Sermon on the Mount, which we started Sunday. Trevor’s big problem was that he didn’t know which way was up, and it’s hard to find freedom when you’re not sure which way is up. Trevor found it by chance, but when we come to the Sermon on the Mount, the Bible presents us with the right way of living in an upside down world. We no longer have to guess about where to find abundant life (John 10:10). In Matthew chapters 5-7, Jesus lays out a path that leads to the “blessed” life.
Now the hard part is that much of what Jesus teaches goes counter to what we see in our world. The world preaches a message of happiness and fulfillment that falls short on its promises, and is often counter to what Jesus taught. But we can embrace Jesus’s message because we are citizens of His Kingdom, rather than citizens of this world. This week we will start looking at the beatitudes (5:3-6) and how they start to help us understand what life in the Kingdom of Heaven should look like. Be reading ahead and preparing to hear from Jesus!