Sunday, December 8, 2013

Parachute Packers

Matthew 3:1-12 
Charles Plumb, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, was a jet pilot in Vietnam.  After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile.  Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands.  He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison.  He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience.
One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb!  You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk.  You were shot down!"  "How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.  "I packed your parachute," the man replied.  Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude.  The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!"  Plumb assured him, "It sure did.  If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."
Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man.  Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform:  a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers.  I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning,' 'how are you?' or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor."  Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.
Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?"  Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day.  Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory -- he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute.  He called on all these supports before reaching safety.
There are people in our world, past and present that are parachute packers.  They make the way for others.  They provide what others need to make it through the day.  They ensure that today is a better day than yesterday and that tomorrow will be even better.  The role that these people play is very important, but sometimes can be overlooked.
Some of you may have heard of the story of Charles Plumb, but you probably hadn’t heard about his parachute packer.  Many of you can think of additional parachute packers from our world.  With the death of Nelson Mandela this week, I cannot think of a better person to give the title of parachute packer.  Mandela faced much adversity throughout his life as he worked to end apartheid in South Africa, including spending 27 years in prison.  He eventually became South Africa’s first democratically elected president.  Mandela prepared the way for all of South Africa.  He ensured that tomorrow would be brighter than yesterday for a whole nation.
If we go back to our text from Matthew, I would consider John the Baptist to be a parachute packer.  Sure he may have looked a little funny in his clothing of camel’s hair and those who dined with him might have been perplexed by his diet of locust and honey.  But John the Baptist was a parachute packer.  He prepared the way for Jesus.  He proclaimed the coming kingdom and encouraged repentance.  John the Baptist made the paths straight.  He made it known that someone more powerful was coming.  That person was so important that John was not even worthy to carry his sandals.  That person would baptize with the Holy Spirit. 
If you know the musical Godspell, then you know the tune that John the Baptist sang.  It is the ultimate theme song of the parachute packer, of someone who does preparation for others.  He sang, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.  Prepare ye the way of the Lord.”  John the Baptist, in all of his preparations, packed a pretty good parachute for Jesus.  His works were a prelude to the coming of Jesus and they ensured a safe landing for the King of Kings. 
During this season of Advent we prepare for the coming of the Christ-child, a babe born in Bethlehem.  We make our hearts and our minds ready to welcome this newborn child who has changed the world.  He is the one who has packed our parachute for life.  He has promised that we will have what we need to make it through the day.  He has protected us over enemy territory.  Jesus has ensured that we will ultimately reach safety.  Jesus, the one who is, who was, and who will come again, is the ultimate parachute packer of our lives.
Mandela, John the Baptist, and Jesus are well-known parachute packers, but there are other parachute packers that are not as well-known.  In daily life it is easy to miss what is most important.  We ignore those around us, failing to say hello, please, or thank you.  We minimize occasions that deserve congratulations, compliments, and recognition.  We get to busy to do small random acts of kindness.  Those parachute packers around us deserve to be treated as humans.  They deserve to feel important. 
As you go through this week, this month, this season of Advent, this coming year, I would invite you to consider and recognize who has packed your parachute.  Also, in this season of giving, reflect on whose parachutes you have helped to pack.  How can we help prepare the way for our friends, our family, and those whom we do not even know?  How can we help to prepare the way for them to know our Savior, Emmanuel?  May you be parachute packers for those you love.  May you be preparers of the way for the coming kingdom, the kingdom of God here on earth.  And may you always recognize those around you who help to pack your parachute.  Amen.

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