Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - Everybody's Victory - #4127

Tuesday, November 5, 2002

I can remember coming home from the office and immediately flipping on the TV to see how baby Jessica was doing. Many of us remember that dramatic incident in Midland, Texas when a little 18-month-old girl named Jessica fell down a narrow shaft in her aunt's backyard. Little Jessica was wedged in that shaft, unable to move while desperate rescuers realized that there was no way they could fit down that shaft and no way Jessica could help get herself out. For three days, the nation watched, the world watched and waited and prayed for one little girl in a hole in Texas. Special equipment was brought in to dig a parallel shaft and a connecting tunnel, big enough for a man. Crews came to feed the rescuers. Engineers insured the integrity of what was being dug, medical personnel stood by to treat that little toddler, emergency personnel planned, and dug, and ultimately one of them went down for little Jessica. Believe me, when that rescue worker emerged from that hole with Jessica wrapped around his neck, it was time to celebrate.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Everybody's Victory."

Everybody there celebrated when Jessica came out alive. And everybody should have. It wasn't one person who made that rescue possible - it was probably hundreds of people, including those who provided the equipment, those who figured out how to get to her, those who did the digging, those who supported the rescuers, those who cared for her after she was rescued.

Rescues are usually like that. Oh, one person or a few people may actually bring the person out, but that's because of a much larger group of people who are behind them in many ways. And nowhere is that more true than in the spiritual rescue of people who are trapped and dying in the pit that the Bible calls sin. But all too often, the people who are supporting the rescuers have little or no sense of how vital they are; how many would be lost without what they do, how much each rescue is their victory, too.

I love the story in Nehemiah 4 , beginning with verse 16, our word for today from the Word of God. It's a beautiful example of how every player on the team is equally valuable. The Jews are trying to rebuild the ravaged walls and gates of Jerusalem, surrounded by hostile forces who are determined to stop them. With the threat of enemy attack imminent, Nehemiah says, "From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows, and armor ... Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked."

They finished the wall in 52 days and sent their enemies running. But notice - this great victory took two groups of people - the front line workers and the people who kept them on the front lines. And the victory belonged to all of them. That's how God's work and God's victories always are. If there's one thing I want to communicate to those who support our ministry's daily rescues of spiritually dying people, it's this - you are rescuing each of those lives, too! And each life saved is, in God's words, "fruit that is credited to your account." (Philippians 4:17 )

William Carey, who was the first modern foreign missionary, said it so well to those who sent him to India. He said, "We will go down into the pit to bring people out - but you must hold the ropes." Those who go in for the rescue - and those who hold the ropes for them - they all share the victory. They are all God's heroes.