Our Deliverer
In the old Westerns, they said the hero was the guy in the white hat. In the life-or-death moments of September 11, 2001, it was the man with the red bandanna. A red bandanna had been Welles Crowther's trademark since he was a boy. He still carried one even when he was a 24-year-old equities trader in the South Tower of the World Trade Centre. And he had it on that fateful September day when the tower was in flames.
Ling Young will never forget the man she called "the man with the red bandanna " She was sitting, bloody and dazed, waiting with others for help in the Elevator Sky Lobby. It was on the 78th floor that the second hijacked plane had sliced through the tower, and that's where she was. She said, "All of a sudden I heard a gentleman come out of the corner saying, 'I found the stairs. Follow me.'" The man was carrying a woman on his back, and he had a red bandanna in his hand. After leading the group to a stairwell and giving them a fire extinguisher, he disappeared back up the stairs to help some other people.
That was the last time she saw him, and she said, "He's been on my mind every day." Judy Wein was in that same Sky Lobby, badly injured, and that's when she saw a man with a red bandanna over his nose and mouth come running across the room, and he led them to the unseen staircase that would take them to safety. And in her words, "He was the cowboy coming in to save the town...he basically gave his life." Ling Young is sure that "Without him, I would not be here. He definitely saved my life." Six months after the towers fell, they found his body in the rubble.
I can't read this story without remembering the Man who gave His life to save mine, and to save so many others. On the fateful day when He died to rescue me, it was not a red bandanna He wore. It was a crown of thorns, jammed into His head. He bled red for me. And the way I'll know Him when I see Him, is by those awful nail prints in His hands. The scars that will forever declare how much my sin cost and how deeply Jesus loves me. I was like Ling and Judy - lost in the chaos of death, darkness and fear. I had no security - what would happen to me after death, what was life all about? All seemed hopeless. And then my rescuer came - Jesus Christ. John 3:16 says it all: "For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." Through His death, Jesus rescued me from death. Through His resurrected life, He has given me eternal life.
But I'm not alone in my desperate need for a spiritual rescuer. How many right now are sitting in darkness, separated from God, with the possibility of being separated from Him forever - in Hell. How many are on the edge of being swept into that awful eternity after their last heartbeat, because they have run their own lives. They have hijacked their lives from God and said, "God, I'll do it my way instead of Your way. Your way threatens my lifestyle, my beliefs, my way of doing things. I’m not prepared to change."
And the result of such a life? Chaos, insecurity, selfishness, a nation living on depression pills, broken lives, shattered families, all sorts of abuses, insecurity - and so I could go on. The Bible rightly identifies that as sin. The penalty for such a life is an eternity in hell. But here comes Jesus with His hand extended saying, "I have made a way out. Repent of your sins. I have paid for your sins on the Cross. Come and follow Me!"
Our eternal destiny depends on whether or not we repent of our sins and do follow Him to His way out. Jesus said, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life" (John 3:36). That's the crossroads we all come to; it is the crossroads to which God may have brought you today, "What will you do with Jesus, My Son, who gave His life for you?" The crown of thorns, the nails in His hands and feet, the spear in His side, the separation from God the Father Himself - all for you because of your sin and because of His love for you.
This was and continues to be the message of Easter. All who trust in Jesus are rescued. "Welles Crowther's father said, "His last hour was his legacy." Well, Jesus' last hour, when He was on that cross and chose to be cut off from God so we would never have to be, that was His legacy. And with a very full heart, I can tell you, I'm part of that legacy, and you can be too. For that legacy means Heaven instead of Hell, life instead of death, and eternal security, hope, joy and peace instead of hopelessness. If you have that legacy - praise the Lord! If not, take hold of your Rescuer now. Grace and peace....