A Matter of Life or Death!

Greetings Redeemer family and friends,

We recently had the opportunity of bringing our oldest son to college.  What a bittersweet time.  We are excited for him and all the opportunities he has before him and we’re proud of his accomplishments, but we are also sad to let him grow up… many of you know this experience well.  Our trip to Arizona was full of orientation sessions as well as trips to Wal-Mart for last minute dorm necessities!  But what our trip also included was attending a seminar by evangelist Mark Cahill.  A local church was hosting the event, so my two boys and I decided to go.  Let me tell you, Mark Cahill is someone who is not “lukewarm” about sharing his faith!  One of the hosting pastors told us that when he and Mark went to lunch, Mark evangelized all of the serving staff at the restaurant and a number of the patrons near their table!  What I’d like to do in this article is not just stand in awe of his actions, but challenge us to consider what makes someone do the things that Mark Cahill did that afternoon and, in fact, does on a regular basis.

In considering that question, I’d like to use a single word for our focus.  That word is “URGENCY!”  How easy it would have been for Mark to say to himself, “Here I am with a guest, in a strange town.  I’ll just eat lunch and chat, and get back to evangelizing when I get home.”  But as he shared in his seminar, he operates with such a sense of urgency, that he just couldn’t eat his meal in comfort while wondering if the other people around him knew Jesus Christ and were saved.  That, my friends, is URGENCY!  There’s no waiting when you have a sense of urgency.

Let’s put this in terms we can understand.  Consider an airplane[i].  What does the FAA require that the flight attendant instruct you about before every flight – no matter how many times you have flown?  What to do in the case of an emergency!  If you fly, you can recite the speech from memory: “If the cabin should experience pressure loss, oxygen masks will drop from the compartment above you.  First place the mask over your own face, tighten the straps; then assist those around you.”  When you are at 35,000 feet above the surface of the earth, and the oxygen is dissipating rapidly from the metal tube that supports you, you find that your priorities change!  Suddenly, you aren’t as concerned with what you were reading, what you are wearing, or if the flight you are on gives free peanuts! At that moment all your energy, motivation and focus is directed toward, well, salvation really – saving lives. First you are concerned for your own life, then after that, for the lives of others.  You are in a life and death situation; and it’s urgent!

I submit that when it comes to the spiritual salvation of others, it is just as much a matter of life and death – and it’s just as urgent!  Actually it’s more urgent.  According to what we believe, spiritual death for eternity is far worse than earthly death which Jesus describes as just “sleep.” (Matthew 9:24).  So if decreasing cabin pressure triggers this series of events:

1.       Oxygen masks drop

2.       Secure your own mask

3.       Help others secure their masks

How is it possible that pending death and eternal judgment trigger these events?:

1.       God’s grace drops in response to life threatening sin

2.       Secure your own salvation

3.       Go about what you were doing and consider helping others if you don’t have anything better to do.

It shouldn’t, right?  But it often does, doesn’t it? What would be the more appropriate response to this matter of life and death? Step number 3 should be: “help others secure their salvation!”  On the airplane, after you had your mask secure, you would help as many as you could, right?   And so on earth when it comes to sharing the life-saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, you and I should help as many as we can while there’s still time!  That’s how the apostle Andrew responded when his “oxygen mask dropped” (when he met Jesus, his Savior).  The FIRST thing he did was share the life-saving message of Jesus with someone else: 

“The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).  And he brought him to Jesus.” (John 1:41-42a)

How about you?  Who has God placed in your life – someone sitting in your row on the airplane – who needs your help to secure their salvation?  Who do you need to share the life-saving message of Jesus with?  Don’t wait until later... until you’re more comfortable … until you finish what you’re doing first … it might be too late.  Do it now – it’s urgent!  For them, it is a matter of life and death! 

Soli Deo Gloria (to God Alone be the Glory),

Pastor Augie Iadicicco