In our worship series, Lifeboat, we learn about a group of people desperately clinging to life after the yacht they were on sank. Three days after the accident, after drifting a considerable distance from where the boat went down, they pull a stranger into the lifeboat. The stranger claimed to be the Lord.
In his best-selling novel, The Stranger in the Lifeboat, Mitch Album lays out the beginning of the mystery. “When we pulled him from the water, he didn’t have a scratch on him … he was unmarked, with smooth almond skin and thick dark hair matted by seawater … He wore no life jacket, nor was he holding on to anything when we spotted him bobbing in the waves.”
The survivors were baffled by finding someone alive in the chilly waters. One survivor, Nina, said to the stranger, “Well, thank the Lord we found you.” The suspense went into hyperdrive when the stranger responded, “I am the Lord.”
They were in disbelief, although each showed it differently. “If you’re really the Lord, save us,” sums up their collective response. Things didn’t add up.
Fortunately, we’re not in a lifeboat clinging to life, but most of us wonder what will happen now. A lot is going on in the world. Many of us can feel a connection with the survivors in the lifeboat. We may feel like we’re clinging onto life in terms of the future.
But is Jesus really in the lifeboat with us? When we see the mess created by the current administration, we struggle to see the love that Jesus taught. Instead, we see hatefulness, cruelty, revenge, abuse of power, and lawlessness.
When we look at what is happening in our nation, we clearly don’t see Jesus. We worry that Jesus is dead, or at least that which Jesus teaches us is dead. Even if Jesus is among us, we either don’t recognize Him or don’t believe He’s around. Because, if he is here, why won’t He save us?
Save us, Lord! We’re about to die!
Matthew 8:25
There is a lot going on that we can’t control, and most of us didn’t vote for it. The world is a mess.
Unfortunately, God has a track record of allowing us to suffer the consequences of our collective decisions. And we’re all suffering from the mistakes made during the last election, regardless of our role. This is the way lifeboats work. We have to work together to survive.
Fortunately, God is more powerful than our problems. Fortunately, love always outlasts hate. And God promises us that if we do work together, we’ll not only survive, we’ll thrive.
Our series follows Mitch Album’s book but adds our own concerns and relevant stories from scripture. His book is inspirational and should cause us to reflect on our circumstances and faith.
The Book Club article in our weekly newsletter, the Circuit Rider, includes a reading schedule. All relevant articles and past issues of our newsletter are on our website.
Here is the outline of our series:
| Sundays | Episode |
|---|---|
| April 27 | Strangers |
| May 4 | Faith |
| May 11 | Identity |
| May 18 | Children |
| May 25 | Fabrication |
| June 1 | Now What? |
Please join us each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. We share our weekly episodes on Facebook and our YouTube channel, and go live at 10:30 a.m. You can find these links and more information about us, or join our live broadcast on our website, FlintAsburyChurch.org.
Pastor Tommy
Mitch Albom. The Stranger in the Lifeboat. New York: HarperCollins, 2021.