The Sirens Are Coming For Me

I could hear them start up even before I hung up the phone. In the distance, a siren wailed. I stood shivering in five inches of snow, listening as they got louder and louder, waiting for them to finally stop.

It's a funky sound when a siren stops, it gets really low and long sounding first. Then there it was, the little red ambulance with a pair of well-trained medics, a hammer and a pry bar.

Because I had come across a person in need of medical attention, stuck inside a locked house. So I watched two complete strangers come to the rescue, hammer at the deadbolt and get into the house to offer necessary aid.

I felt relieved and so helpless at the same time. I couldn't do anything except dial 911. But those three little numbers can make all of the difference, and the sound of sirens immediately answering the call was a great and wonderful relief.

How many people do not have that luxury? We take it for granted that help is at our fingertips, especially now with cell phones in our pockets we are never disconnected. There are perfect strangers out there just waiting for us to call, ready to come and help whenever we need it.

I can't imagine living in a place where I couldn't call 911, couldn't get help, didn't have a friend or family or government-employed stranger to rely on. I trust the world around me, but so many people live in a world they cannot trust.

I wish more people could think of the church as being as reliable as 911. When someone calls you for help, do you immediately jump to, sirens blazing, to get there and do all that you can to save the day? We are on call to be Jesus' helpers twenty-four seven, and we need to take that responsibility seriously.

Because there are many people out there who need help who would never go to a church because they know they won't get much help there. That is exactly the opposite of how it should be.

We need to let people know, friends and strangers, that they can call on us for help. That we will be there when they need us. That we are here for them. This life isn't for me, for what I want and what I need. I gave that up when I decided to follow Jesus. This life is for helping others. The moment I was baptized I became a spiritual 911-on-call. It is scary sometimes, being open to helping others, reaching out to them and letting them into your life. But it is well worth it.

Because if we can't call 911, what do we do? Jesus gave us a job to do. So make yourself open to it. There is no reason anyone should be without a helper to call.