A PASTORAL PERSPECTIVE: What’s the worst that could happen?

by Tyler Harper

What is the worst that could happen? I remember saying this as a teenager to some friends as we headed out on a weekend cliff jumping adventure.

That sunny Saturday afternoon, I couldn’t have imagined anything going seriously wrong, because it almost never does. However, as our group crossed a band of rushing rapids I slipped. Had it not been for the quick action of a friend, I would have been swept down the rapids, with the likely outcome of being crushed by water and rock.

Thankfully, I emerged from the water without a mark, the only physical reminder of my experience was the scrapes incurred on my friend’s arm and legs from the rough rock surface as he held me against the rushing water. While it was close, the worst certainly didn’t happen that day.

Unfortunately, not all of our experiences result in minor scrapes and bruises.

Our contemporary culture has brought a level of physical safety and security that generations before could have never dreamed of: cars have seatbelts and airbags, bike helmets are common, railings and fall protection prevent falls that were common, better signage marks our roads and rail crossings.

But, life has a 100% mortality rate.

Many of us have experienced the overwhelming power of being submerged by roaring waves, whether waves of water or the inner waves of grief.

And this is hard. These experiences can crush our soul. We may wonder how we can go on, how we can move against the rush of this current.

But the roaring water doesn’t have to be the end of the story. There is hope.

That day —fighting against the current of Tulabie falls — I had hope, because I knew my friend wouldn’t let go, I knew this wasn’t the end of the story. And we can have hope in midst of the relentless waves of life; because we can know this isn’t the end of our story, or the stories of our loved ones.

This hope is what followers of Jesus celebrate this week, that death is not the end.

One day when Jesus himself was full of grief, when he wept for his friend Lazarus who had died, he said these words: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25 NIV).

Things aren’t always easy. Sometimes the worst does happen. But this isn’t the end, this isn’t all that there is.

I would invite you to come and investigate this hope this Sunday at 10 AM — Chase Evangelical Free Church, 295 Shuswap Ave. More info @ ChaseChurch.com

Tyler Harper (tyler@chasechurch.com) is the Pastor at Chase Evangelical Free Church

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