We love heroes. We admire them for their courage and because we know they did the right thing. I once heard a comedian say that you know somebody is a real hero if they say they’re not.
We often see this when someone who has saved a life is surrounded by the media, who say, “You are a real hero,” and the person responds by denying it. They say something like, “Anyone would’ve done this. It was the right thing to do.” That denial marks them as a true hero.
Conversely, if someone performs a heroic deed, the media call him a hero, and he says, “Yes, you’re right. I am a hero,” he instantly becomes a jerk. Pride tends to repel. Humility attracts.
When 9/11 survivors meet the firefighter who carried them to safety and say, with tears in their eyes, “You saved my life,” it brings tears to our eyes. That’s because we realize how precious human life is.
There are many true stories of heroes who have been lowered from a helicopter in stormy weather to rescue someone. They put their lives on the line to save another. And again, they do it because even one human life is precious.
Yet every precious life saved from death is only a temporary fix. They will still die.
But in the gospel, we have a different story. Jesus didn’t lower Himself from a helicopter. He lowered Himself from Heaven. He lowered Himself from God to become a lowly human being, one who walked the shores of Galilee and felt fear, pain, and hunger. And He did so not only because human lives are valuable, but because His rescue wasn’t a temporary fix.
I often wonder if we’ve even realized what God has commissioned us to do by taking the gospel to rescue those who are dying. I was once used in a small way to help save a baby from abortion. I rejoiced when the person who was going to have an abortion changed her mind. But I rejoiced even more when I saw her baby crawling on the grass at a church picnic. And even more when I met her as an adult.
A life had been saved.
But as wonderful as that was, there is an infinitely greater rescue.
Perhaps we don’t fully appreciate what God has called us to do. However, James begins a verse with three simple words: “Let him know.”
Then he follows them with a powerful truth that captures what you and I have been saved to do: “Let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:20).
