Men survive by clinging to esky overnight after boat capsizes
Five years ago, almost to the day, two men went fishing off the coast of Ballina, northern NSW. They were celebrating the end of their work year with a fishing expedition when they ran into trouble. Their boat began taking on water through a hole that had previously been repaired. The boat was sinking. Wearing life jackets, they grabbed a white esky, and abandoned ship. It was soon evening, and darkness enveloped them.
Can you imagine how they might have felt waiting in those dark, chaotic waters? Would they survive the night? Would they see their loved ones again? What had been the meaning of their lives? How long would this dark night drag on?
Now, can you imagine their emotions as the day begins to dawn? The shades of dark slowly brighten. The swirling sea gradually becomes visible against the moving light on the horizon. As the sun rises, so do their spirits. The hope of rescue dawns.
The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter spotted the submerged nose of their boat around 6am. In the morning light it didn’t take long to find the desperate men clinging to the esky. The two men were airlifted to Lismore hospital for treatment and both survived.[1]
Zechariah’s Song
In our gospel reading, we encounter Zechariah who has been waiting — not in darkness, but in silence. Ever since the announcement of the impending birth of his son, Zechariah has been dumb (unable to talk). But now his son is born. He is named “John” as the angel instructed, and Zechariah’s tongue is loosened. The first thing out of his mouth is a song of praise to God. “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.” He sings of how God will show mercy and rescue them through a “horn of salvation” — a strong king — from the house of David.
He then sings to his newborn son. “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him.” John will make ready the people for this coming king.
And then we arrive at the climax of his song. Why is God rescuing his people, and how will he do it? “Because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven, to shine on those living in darkness, and in the shadow of death.”
Living in darkness, in the shadow of death
Zechariah sings that the “rising sun will … shine on those living in darkness.” Do you think that’s a good description of your life? Do you at times feel like you’re living in darkness? Like the drowning men who were clinging to their esky during the long night?
If you’re anything like me, then I wouldn’t describe my everyday life as living in darkness. I’ve certainly had dark moments, tragic events that feel black. But on the whole I wouldn’t classify my life as “dark.” The song continues to explain. “The rising sun will … shine on those living in darkness, and in the shadow of death.” Death is where our darkness ultimately lies. All of us live in the shadow of death. Yet most times we don’t think about life this way. We very rarely contemplate or talk about our death. And I wonder if that’s another kind of darkness — we’re blind to the reality that we are finite and mortal. We’ve been treading water for so long, hanging onto our esky, that we think this is normal.
But sometimes God reminds us of the darkness. The death of a family member, sickness or a near death experience, tragic news, or even those times lying awake at 2am pondering the meaning of life, the universe, and everything — do you ever have those experiences?!
On Friday just gone we had a funeral at Walla. Funerals are one of those moments were we realize that we bloom and wither as quickly as flowers; we are all living in the shadow of death.
King David was having one of those moments of realization when he wrote his song/psalm in our Old Testament reading:
The waves of death swirled about me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. (2 Samuel 22:5–6)
Jesus too was confronted with the ‘waves of death.’ The Gospel of Luke says that as Jesus was hanging on the cross, ‘darkness came over the whole land’ (Luke 22:44). After his death, Jesus’ body is locked in a dark tomb. Jesus experienced the waves of death just as we do. This is not an experience we have often, yet at times our world can feel very dark, like we’re living in the shadow of death.
Rescued by the rising son
In the face of these waves of death, Zechariah sings the Christmas story. He doesn’t sing of Mary, baby Jesus, shepherds and wise men, as many of our Christmas carols. Much like the opening to the Gospel of John, he poetically rephrases the story, “The rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness.” What a wonderful Christmas carol! I can’t think of a better way to describe the Christmas story. This rising sun is Jesus, born to you as a baby in Bethlehem. The Light of the World come down from heaven.
We can tell the same story using the events of Easter. After the waves of death swirled around Jesus, his body was laid in the dark tomb. He lay in the shadow of death. Then a crack of light appears as the stone is rolled away. The warmth of the morning sun streams into the cold tomb, turning despair into hope, death into life. Then the son — s, o, n — is raised from the dead. Jesus walks free from the shadow of death into the light of life.
This story is your story too. You live in the shadow of death. You are in dark, chaotic waters, even if you don’t always realize it. All you can cling to are the words of promise God has spoken to you in Scripture — these words are your white esky. Words such as Isaiah 9:2: ‘the people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.’ These words give you hope to wait for the darkness to lift. As you paddle in the waters of your baptism, Jesus is born to you and the sun rises in your life. God throws you a lifesaving ring. Jesus’ coming into the world at Christmas is like the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter winching you from the ocean in the morning light.
How then will I live?
I don’t know what the two men in the newspaper story with the rest of their lives after being winched to safety by the helicopter. I hope their near death experience opened their eyes to the preciousness of life.
How will you live now that Jesus has come and rescued you? I reckon if I had an experience like those two men, I’d tell my story as often as I could, to help others realize that we are living in darkness but have a hope. The reality is that this rescue story is your story. So is there someone (a friend or family member) who needs you to tell them the Christmas story — that the rising sun has come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness? Zechariah sung his song to tell others what the Lord had done for him — what will you sing this week?
This Christmas may you be confronted by the waves of death that swirl around you. May you realize that life is a precious gift from God. As you wait in the shadow of death, may the rising sun bring hope. May God give you opportunity and courage to share the story of your rescue. May you open your mouth to sing praise to God, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and rescued us.” Amen.
[1] https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/men-survive-by-clinging-to-esky-overnight-after-boat-capsizes-20131221-2zpur.html
