If I Could Have Seen the Shore…
Florence Chadwick was an American
swimmer who was the first woman ever to cross the 21-mile-wide English Channel both
ways. But on July 4, 1952, Chadwick attempted something never done before. She
had set her goal to swim the 26 miles between Catalina Island and the
California coastline. As she began this historical journey and had spent about
fifteen hours swimming, a thick, heavy fog set in. All she could see was a wall
of fog. Chadwick was afraid she was swimming in circles, and began to lose
hope. Finally, in desperation, she did something she’d never done before. She
asked her safety crew to pull her into the boat. She was done. But then, Chadwick soon discovered that she had
stopped swimming less than half a mile away. At a news conference the next day
she said, “All I could see was the fog.…I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it.”
Fog of Life
Can you relate to Chadwick’s words?
Have you ever got so tired and weary because you don’t see the shore? Have you
ever felt like you just wanted to give up because you don’t have the strength to
stay afloat any longer? The truth is that sooner
or later everyone of us in this room gets tested by the fog of life. At some
point of our life some of us have to go through a fog of worry and depression. Some
a fog of unemployment. Some a fog of financial uncertainty. Some a fog of
difficult relationships. And all of us eventually have to go through a fog of disruptive
moment of aging, health problems, and loss of loved ones. As we are lost in the
fog of life, where can we find a source of strength to stay afloat and keep
moving forward?
Martyrs and White Robes
This question is actually raised by
our spiritual ancestors. In today’s passage (v. 9) we meet the saints who had been slain for their
faith in Christ Jesus. In the immediate context they refer to literal martyrs,
but in the broader context they also represent “all saints” who suffer for the sake of their faith. And they ask
God, “How long, O God? How long do we have to wait until you
judge and avenge our blood?” Still today, all
faithful Christians who want to live a godly life meet all kinds of
opposition and a lot of trouble. There’s no exception. There’s no getting
around it (cf. 2 Tim 3:12 MSG). But as we meet life challenges – storms and fog
of life, we get weary and reach the point that we just want to give up, because
we don’t see the shore. We don’t find hope and strength. And we ask, “How long?” There is our desire behind
the question. Our longing is that somehow God would come quickly to fix problems
and end suffering and evil in our lives.
But God’s ways, God’s thoughts are different.
Instead of providing a quick fix, God
gives himself. He gives his presence as a source of strength and hope. In verse
11 each of the saints is given a “white
robe.” And they are told to rest
a little longer until God’s time fully comes. Here a white robe symbolizes a new status in Christ. In ancient Israel (and even today) clothing often shows
our status – who we are. For example, if someone wears a military uniform, we
know he or she is a serviceperson. In the same way, in the Bible if someone
wears a white robe, that person is considered holy and pure. In Revelation 7:13
one of the elders asks John, “Who are these people wearing white robes?” John
says, “Sir, you know.” Then, he says to John, “These are the people who are
coming out of the great suffering. They have washed their robes in the blood of
the Lamb and made them white.” In other words, white robes are God’s gift for those who endure and suffer
for their faith in Christ. White robes represent our new identity, new being, new status, new affections and wills in Christ.
White robes represent our union (oneness)
with Christ. So, when we struggle and suffer, when we are lost in the fog
of life, instead of pulling us out into the boat, Jesus gives us himself, so that
we may find rest and strength in him to finish the race.
Before Jesus ascended to heaven,
his disciples asked, “Lord, is this the time for you to free Israel and restore
our kingdom?” Here the disciples were saying, “Lord, I am tired and weary. I
just want to skip this part of life
and get to the end and see God’s
glory now.” But basically, what Jesus
said to them is this: “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s
business. But what you’ll get, what you’ll need is the Holy Spirit. When the
Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to keep going and finish your race
strongly.”
In the Garden
When storms come and a thick fog sets
in, what we need most is Jesus – His Word, His Spirit, His Presence. At one
Christian Conference a Chinese pastor who had spent 18 years in prison for his
faith gave his testimony. The authorities in the camp put him to the hardest
and dirtiest work – emptying the human waste cesspool, because they knew he was
a pastor and a Christian. But they didn’t know in those years how he actually
enjoyed working there. In the labor camp all the prisoners were under strict surveillance
24/7 and no one could be alone. But when the pastor worked in the cesspool, he
could enjoy the solitude. He could be alone and could pray and sing to the Lord
as loudly as he needed. The guards kept a long way off because of the strong
stench. One of his most favorite was “In the Garden.” He always liked this
hymn, but he didn’t realize the real meaning of this hymn until he worked in
the cesspool. There, he knew and discovered a wonderful fellowship with Jesus. Again
and again he sang this hymn and felt Christ’s real presence with him:
I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses;
And the voice I hear falling on my ear;
The Son of God discloses.
And he walks with me, and he talks with me,
And he tells me I am his own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known.
The pastor said, “Again and again
as I sang this hymn in the cesspool, I
experienced the Lord’s presence. He never left me or forsook me. And so I
survived and the cesspool became my private garden.”[1]
Seeing the Light of God through the Fog of Life
As I close, I want to go back to
the story of Florence Chadwick. Two months later, Chadwick stepped off the
Catalina shore once again. The same thick fog set in, but this time was
different. She swam from Catalina Island to the shore of California in a
straight path for 26 miles. She made it because she said that while she swam, she kept a mental image of the shoreline in
her mind. Although she couldn’t visually see the shore, she never lost
sight of the shore in her mind. For Christians, that shore is a person called Jesus. That shore is a private garden
where we have a sweet fellowship with
Jesus. Are you weary and tired? Are you lost in the fog of life? Come to the garden alone every morning. And
you will hear the voice of the Son of God saying, “Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away with me!” (Sg 2:10) There
he will walk with you, and talk with you. There
you will see the light of God through the fog of life. Amen.
[1] Gordon
MacDonald, The Life God Blesses: Weathering
the Storms of Life That Threaten the Soul (Thomas Nelson, 1997), 226.
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