Ss Peter & Paul, Kettering

Facing a challenge

I had the opportunity recently to hear a talk given by one of the volunteer doctors who flies as a member of the Air Ambulance crew. It was indeed a fascinating and encouragement talk. And I was reminded of it as I read the gospel passage for this morning - the reason for that will become clear shortly I hope.

One of the first slides that he showed was of the crew room at their base at Coventry airport. There they were lounging back on the sofas watching the telly – a scene of relaxation and almost laziness. A good way to spend a day one might think, but they were ready to spring into action at any moment.

The time taken between a call coming in and the helicopter taking off, with the engines started and warmed up, the pre-flight checks done, basic route sorted and clearance gained from the control tower is 90 seconds. 90 seconds from the sofa to being airborne – now that’s incredibly fast. The speed at which these things go – and they are the aircraft of choice of the SAS – they can get to any part of their area in a matter of a few minutes – I think it’s about 13 minutes for some of the further parts. They then have to find somewhere safe to land – which is often the most difficult part of the trip.

What they will find on the scene they never know before they get there. What they will have to do, how they will do it, what dangers they will face can only be speculation until they land and see the scene for themselves. And some of the scenes they face are awful.

We were shown photographs from some of the scenes they have been at. We saw the foot of a motor bike rider who had hit the central barriers of a dual carriageway…. Well, half his foot anyway. The police had been sent back to find the other half just in case it could be sewn back on – but they never found it.

Another photo showed us a knee … minus the knee cap. We also heard of incidents where this doctor had put himself in a difficult situation to give his treatment – like when he had to crawl under the creaking wreck of a lorry to deal with the driver who had his ear and even part of his skull sheared off during the accident.

He was also the doctor who took charge at that incident a few months ago when an Express coach turned over coming off the motorway and into a service station. There he had to coordinate the emergency services as well as give the practical medical support. He also spoke of the difficulty when having to make decisions about who he should treat when there were a number of causalities and in what order.

Every incident is different – each has its own challenges and, although you can do many hours of training, one has to rely on ones confidence and experience in each situation rather than just referring to the manual.

Now, I’m not here to raise awareness or even funds for the Air Ambulance, there is a parallel here with challenges that arise in our lives. Obviously, or at least hopefully, they are not always as dramatic as the life of an Air Ambulance Doctor, but sometimes they can be. Sometimes we too are faced with major challenges to our life and our faith. These challenges may come from all sorts of directions – they may come from directions that we could never dream of. Sometimes they come from the very people who should be there to support us. As the gospel passage suggests we could be betrayed by parents and brothers (and I’ve sure sisters as well), by relatives and friends.

Some of the challenges will be natural – born of the natural cycle of human life and its frailty. Others will be born of that human nature that can so often seek to be destructive to others: Envy, Jealousy, Pride and the search for power or influence – the wars, insurrections and more personal persecutions mentioned in the gospels.

And whilst draught may be a force of nature albeit enhanced by global warming, the fact that people face famine whilst so many others have food to spare is a human issue and a challenge to us all.

So how do we react when such challenges come our way? The crew of the Air Ambulance don’t sit around and discuss whether it would be good to engage with the call-out. They simply respond, having the confidence that they will deal as best they can with whatever they will find at the scene. Their trust in their training, their equipment and in each other, as well as in their own inner strength, pushes them onward.

But what about issues where the challenges are not as practical as an accident? Challenges that strike at our faith and at our very being. These sorts of challenges don’t require a physical response in 90 seconds that sees us jump from our sofas, but they do require a response that sees us rise up out of our spiritual comfort zone, and maybe even our shear laziness of attitude, to stand ready for whatever is being thrown at us.

And as we stand ready, we need to remember that it is not what we want that we are to stand up for, but for what God calls of us to stand up for. Those who have the character and personal self-confidence to stand up and argue or defend what they want have missed the point if they only stand for themselves and their own point of view.

We, as Christians, are called to stand up and defend the cause of God, the cause of Christ, in this day and age. It is simply not good enough to leave it to others - for each of us has a witness to give to the light, life and love of God that was shown so clearly in Jesus his Christ.

Saying it like that I’m sure maybe a little threatening to those who like an ordered and peaceful life – those who, like me in years past, never wanted to do anything that might draw attention to myself; never do anything that might put me at odds with someone else; always just wishing to be in the safe and seemingly secure background.

But take heart, for this is the good news of the gospel, and not just of this gospel passage today, that Christ promises us that he will be with us at such times, and, with our confidence grounded and built on him, we will be able to face what ever challenges come our way. He will give us the words to say, and like in that picture of the footprints in the sand, will be there to support and even carry us in the darkest of times.

But that is if we truly will trust him, and have confidence in him. If we just sit back and do or say nothing we will never know what it is to walk with him, to have him at our side. My personal witness to that presence of Christ walking with me, guiding me and strengthening me is seen in all that I have done in his name since daring to trust in him.

And so I’ll close by repeating a few words:

Robert Hill, November 18th, 2007

Office Address:

The Rectory

Church Walk

Kettering

NN16 0DJ