Rescue me

Today’s readings tell us of miraculous rescues: in his epistle, Paul alludes to times when he was rescued from enemies of the Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter walks out of a heavily guarded prison with the angel of the Lord at his side.


We like these kinds of stories and we want them to end with “and they all lived happily ever after.” But we know that’s not the way it turned out. Even Paul feels the end coming: “I am already being poured out like a libation and the time of my departure is at hand.”

Paul knows that he has been rescued not for his own sake, but for the sake of the Gospel. Finally, in God’s own time, the proclamation of the Gospel required Paul to give witness by his death. Even then, he was fearless, for he knew that “God will rescue me from every evil threat and bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom.”

Peter and Paul knew their place: they knew that they were just instruments in the hands of God. They gave themselves over completely for the work of God and God kept them safe: rescuing them when the proclamation of the Gospel needed it; and when the proclamation of the Gospel required their death, bringing them swiftly and gloriously to himself.

Do we know our place? Or do we just worry about ourselves?

The Lord Jesus is calling.