People love rescue stories, we might even say it is built into our DNA. Every culture carries a rescue narrative of some sort. Rescue stories sell millions in movies and books because they tap into our deepest fears and deepest hopes. The tension, the drama, will they make it on time? Is it too late? The greater the danger, the sweeter the deliverance. We fear being abandoned, and we hope to be found. So, for instance, when a story, any story; fairytale or the story of a daring deliverance of someone held in bondage, it speaks to us at a gut level.
The Bible, of course, is the ultimate rescue story. The first example is Israel out of slavery, but then ultimately, Jesus who rescues us from sin and death. But all throughout scripture, God’s people seem to continually step into it, usually by their own sin, but sometimes, like Jesus, just by being righteous. How do we process that? How do we find hope in it?
This week, we see God rescue his people in different ways, once dramatically, and the other time through suffering. Of course, all these stories are telling a better story of how God, at great cost to himself, ultimately rescues us and the whole world. That or something like that is what we will talk about. This Sunday, as rescued people, we come to celebrate King Jesus together. Speaking of celebration, we have several new members joining, and that is always a time of great thanksgiving and joy.
