Get in the Boat!

Of all of the enduring images from post-Hurricane Harvey coverage, the ones that are most memorable for me will be those of the Texas men and women in boats driving through neighborhoods, down what were streets and had become rivers, looking for people to rescue.  As they approached cold, shivering, frightened neighbors, the boat operators would simply pull into the boat as many bodies as possible.  I didn’t see anyone asking questions about political preference, religious practices, beliefs about social issues.

The images said to me that these folks who had a boat were out there to rescue anyone who needed and wanted rescuing with a simple invitation: “Get in the boat!”

This, to me, is the image the Church should always have before it: “You who are in danger of drowning, you who need care and comfort, you who are tired and worn, get in the boat!”

From the very beginning God spoke to humans using images of creating land to separate it from water.  God uses the image of a huge boat to rescue God’s creation.  It is notable, is it not, that one of the characteristics John envisions of the New Heaven and New Earth is that “there was no longer any sea”? What he means, I think, is that the dangers of water, of being devastated by the “sea” will be over.  Hurricanes and storm surges will be no more. But until then the work of the Church is to rescue and heal the victims.

The first task of the Church is to offer the invitation to all who will listen to “get in the boat!”  Our task is not to decide who should get the invitation. Not all will respond to it, but that is between them and God. The Church’s role is not to limit the invitation to people it prefers. God loves the “world”, and the boat is sent to whosoever would believe in the Giver and the Gift.

Two things are necessary for a rescue to happen: one, someone needs to bring a boat and an invitation to get in; two, people need to believe that they need to be rescued, and then to accept the invitation to get in.  If you are someone with a boat, go out and search for those who need rescue. Don’t ask questions, just offer God’s invitation. If you are someone who is not yet in the boat, please, please, accept the invitation and get in the boat.