CAMP HOPE

Neal Pollard

As of this writing, 8 of the 33 miners of Chile have resurfaced and the work will continue until the last man, Luis Urzua, emerges.  Those miners really wanted to be rescued and some key personnel “up top” wanted them saved.  That combination of desire and perseverance have led to these dramatic moments.  Perhaps most significantly, the Chilean president was willing to risk his political capital to make it happen.  Sebastian Pinera did not listen to naysayers, did not obsess over the cost of rescue, and if he was concerned about how it would effect his popularity in office he did not show it openly.  The “makeshift tent city,” the place of vigil and waiting near the point of rescue, has been named “Camp Hope.”  Pinera was willing to give the families of these trapped men hope by expending the necessary effort and expense to help realize that hope.  He was quoted as saying, “We hope that with the help of God this epic will end in a happy way” (NYTimes.com).

I am not surprised that, given his dire, desperate situation, Job speaks frequently of hope even when he felt he had little (cf. 13:15; 17:15; 19:10; etc.). David, even when pursued by enemies or dogged by his own sins, wrote eloquently of hope.  Yet, hope is most poignantly a New Testament concept, enacted by the dogged determination of the Divine.  Because the One most able to cause hope wanted to rescue us, all of us who, through sin, find ourselves trapped and seemingly without hope can find salvation.  However, we must want to be rescued for hope to be realized.  It would be utter folly for one or more of those trapped miners to reject the rescue effort, to dash the hopes of family and friends and to act contrary to what should be the natural response.  Much more, spiritually, it is incomprehensible to reject the rescue efforts of those expending the time and effort to reach us.  May we not forget that, when we are in the spiritual depths in need of saving, there are others, especially God, who hope for us to want to be saved.