SOS

Adrift.
Imagine yourself on a life raft out on the vast ocean. The water is fairly calm, just gentle rolling waves of about eight inches. The sun is shielded by a thin cloud cover for which you are thankful. For even though your bright orange inflatable raft is enclosed, the unshielded sun beating down makes it very hot. You have a supply of fresh water and even some food so no real crisis there yet. The immediate problems are fear, isolation, depression and the need to be rescued, to send out an SOS.

Now, you are not really in a life raft on the ocean. You’re at home and you’ve got water, food, maybe even some of that precious toilet paper. There’s internet access, a fully charged cell phone and a car parked outside. You’re life raft right now is your home. The threats you face are fear, isolation, depression and the need for other people. Unfortunately your SOS right now may be greater temptation, isolated in that Same Old Situation.

See, God made us in His image, and part of that means having relationships. For us it’s family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. Phone calls are nice, video chat is a little better, but these are not the same as time face-to-face. We weren’t designed to do life alone; we were designed to do life together.

Some of you know that I served on the US Navy submarine, USS Stonewall Jackson. The crew’s compliment was around 150 men. They were good shipmates and our lives depended upon one another. I developed some good friendships during that time, but being isolated from family and friends back home was a challenge. There was no communication, no seeing them or even hearing their voices. It was harder on the guys who were married and harder yet for their wives and children I suppose. We were designed to be together.

In Luke 15:8-32 Jesus told the parable of the prodigal son. Take a moment right now to stop and read that passage.

So, a man had two sons. The older one stays home and takes care of his responsibilities while the younger one asks for his inheritance, only to go spend it on parties and pleasures until it was gone. Once the money ran out, he found himself in great want and ended up feeding pigs, realizing that the swine were eating better than he was. He decides to return home and beg for mercy, and a job as a hired hand. Now, Jesus doesn’t give the younger son’s motivation for leaving in the first place. Maybe the young man felt like he was being controlled, that he had no freedom to choose. Maybe he wanted to go and live the fast life. Maybe he was tired of the responsibilities and wanted to cut loose. Obviously, Jesus purposely didn’t specify the reason; there could be any number of reasons why the younger son wanted to leave. You can fill in your own reason.

We all know there is more than one way to isolate. We can be totally alone in our isolation or we can be isolated into a great crowd. The younger son isolated himself from his family, and particularly his father, by running off to another place. That other place was filled with people who cared nothing about him; they just benefited from his money. So he isolated from caring people and connected himself to people who did not care about him.

Once he lost everything and all his new friends isolated themselves from him, he found himself adrift in a pigs’ pen, his raft surrounded by swine. Like the survivor on the ocean, this man had no way to rescue himself. Every effort he made to do so landed him in the muck and mire of the pen. Every step he took in any direction was mud and filth.

Now, he could have stayed there, could have died there. Realizing his current condition and his fate drove him to reality. The façade of the outward appearance where everything was great in his world crashed down around him. The fact of his depravity of heart, self-willed pleasure seeking, and brokenness was all that remained.

The famous novel starts out, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” The novel, of course, is The Tale of Two Cities. I remember reading that novel when I was in high school. Well, let’s be honest; I read the first five pages or so and then bought the Cliff Notes. The result of my façade was a D in English that semester. That phrase from the first paragraph of the book contributed to my discouragement to continue reading; it made no sense. What kind of foolishness is this simultaneous best of times and worst of times thing?

As the years of my life progressed, that phrase hung with me and I began to understand how such dichotomy was possible. For instance, I understand how we present an outer façade of life being good, when inside we are a mess. It’s like trying to live two separate lives, the real one that we keep hidden and the fake one that we try to show everyone else. We sell that it is the best of times to our friends, family, and co-workers, but know it is actually the worst of times and we’re hanging on by a tread, headed for disaster.

I picture the young son of Luke 15 doing that very thing as the money started running low. He was in denial, having the pleasures of sin for a season and just wanting it to continue. So, he made everyone think that all was well. Meanwhile, he knew it was about to come crashing down and he’d be alone without any of his new-found vices. Well, standing in the muck of the pig pen, there was no pretending; not for anyone else and not for himself either. He was broken and alone.

Perhaps your living room is more of a pig pen than anyone knows. You’ve been living the good life, doing things your way and then out of nowhere comes the coronavirus outbreak. Suddenly you are forced to isolate in many ways. Again, if you were brutally honest, this mandated isolation is a relief because it is much easier to continue the false front, making anyone who isn’t within your four walls believe that all is well, or at least okay. No one sees you standing in the mud pit. One the other hand, it is far worse because the isolation is an excuse to binge, or reason to give in, and that can only bring disaster. If the young son in Jesus’ parable had stayed in the pit, he would have died there and we wouldn’t be talking about this story nearly two thousand years later. He didn’t stay there, he trudged his way out of the deep muck and started the long walk home, but he had to come to grips with the reality of his situation first. Then, he had to realize that his only hope was to go to his father.

Jesus’ parable illustrates essential truth. We must come to face the reality that on our own we are lost and without hope. Whether we are adrift on the ocean in a life raft, or adrift in a pig pen covered in filth, or sitting in our living room waiting for corona to pass. The only answer is going to our Father through the redemption available by the Blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. But that is just the start, and maybe you’ve already been washed by the Blood; yet you’re still sitting in your living room, isolated with a supply of alcohol, or porn on the screen, or talking gossip over the phone, or whatever.

Coming to the Father through Jesus is the start of your relationship with Him. What needs to happen is that you must cling to the Father and to Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Luke 15:20-24 tell of the reunion between father and the son that came home, but notice the end of Jesus’ parable in Luke 15:31-32. The father is explaining to the angered older son why there is rejoicing and a feast in the house, “Son (older) you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.” The father explained that he already enjoyed a relationship with his older son, and now the younger son, who was lost, is home again and the relationship restored.

It is all about relationships.

In that life raft that is your living room right now, remember some basic truth…

First, you can’t do this alone. I don’t know exactly what your “this” might be. Maybe it’s avoiding a relapse with alcohol or other substance. Maybe it’s staying away from those porn sites while you’re working in the privacy of your home. Maybe it’s not falling into the trap of gossip on social media or texting. Maybe it’s not running around trying to fix everyone else’s problem as your co-dependency ramps up. Whatever it is, you can’t do the right thing on your own. The temptations right now are at a high level. Isolation does that. It’s a fact.

Second, you need to stay in contact with other people. You need to maintain relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ by any means you can. If you have been attending our Celebrate Recovery we will be calling you during the regular meeting time. If you have not been attending, call or text me at 724.846.3830 and I’ll get you on a call list. Pray for one another, it unites your heart to theirs through the Spirit even as it unites your heart to God.

Third, and most importantly you have to stay connected to the Lord through prayer and time in the Word. He is the only One who is with you always, in every moment and every time of trial or temptation. Lean upon Him.

Don’t let your SOS be the Same Old Situation. Let it be your relationship with God and your brothers and sisters in Christ that you cling to through prayer and contact. By the way, I want to assure my tenth grade English teacher that I did eventually read The Tale of Two Cities. It only took another thirty or so years. Any chance I can get a few bonus points to bump that old grade up to a C?

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Mark