Straight to the Heart

$600,000. That’s how much per person the Chilean government is thought to have spent on rescuing each of the thirty-three miners. Sixty-nine days of rescue operation since the San Jose copper mine collapsed on 5th August. Three separate bore-holes drilling half a mile underground to reach the miners. A steel reinforcement of one of the holes. A custom-built rescue pod. Saving dying souls can’t be done on a budget.

This morning the first miners began to emerge from their deep dungeon via the rescue pod. President Pinera of Chile beamed as he embraced each one of them, their eyes hidden by the sunglasses which they were forced to wear after more than two months underground. “Welcome to the light!” he greeted them to the cheers of the crowd. $600,000 per miner, but he wasn’t counting the cost.

If you are a Christian, of course your mission is the same. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2:9 that “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Most people around us have no idea that they live in darkness or they need saving. They don’t realise that the Gospel means light and life and salvation and rejoicing. The question is will we pay the price it takes to rescue them?

The apostle Paul paid more to rescue the lost people of the Roman Empire than President Pinera spent on any of his miners. He told the Corinthians that “Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food. I have been cold and naked” “so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel.” Paul did not consider the price-tag too high. He was simply following the lead of Jesus, who gave his life to save the world.

I find the example of Jesus, Paul and President Pinera very challenging. I’m not sure that I’m always willing to pay the price to rescue the dying. Shyness, busyness, distraction and social conventions all conspire to make me sell the lives of the unsaved too cheaply. I spent this afternoon with the friend of a pastor who was murdered in an Islamic nation this summer for daring to preach the Good News about the death and resurrection of Jesus, no matter what the cost. My friend cried as he talked about the loss of his friend, but then smiled as he talked about the witness of his widow. She is still staying in the town where he was murdered, still preaching Jesus, and still trying to lead the dying out of darkness and into light.

All of this begs the question, how are we going to spend the rest of today, the rest of this week, the rest of this year? Will we be heroes like President Pinera towards his Chilean miners, or will we baulk at the price-tag and look the other way? A morning watching Chilean miners and an afternoon hearing about a widow have helped make my mind up, once and for all. No matter what it costs, no matter how long it takes, let’s be those who can say to many people in days to come: “Welcome into the light!”