Pastor Joel D. Kline writes:

"Some years ago I read a novel by Jan de Hartog entitled Star of Peace. It's the story of a ship's captain transporting 250 Jews from Nazi Germany to Montevideo, Uruguay, the last port in the world willing to receive Jewish refugees. When the ship arrives there, however, it is soon discovered that all of the passengers' visas are forgeries, and authorities tell the captain that his only option is to return the Jews to Germany, regardless of the fate facing them there. The captain, recently converted to Christianity, cannot in good conscience do so. And so he hatches a plan to unboard the passengers by night along the coast of the United States, hoping then to arouse public support to keep the refugees in the US. But the Coast Guard catches wind of what the captain wants to do, and at every step thwarts his plan.

Weeks pass, and finally the American authorities determine that their only resolution is to have the captain declared mentally unstable. That would require the signature of the ship's doctor, a man named Hendrik who generally went to great measures to avoid involvement in controversial issues. Indeed, Hendrik seldom thought much of anyone beyond himself. But the experience on board the ship had begun to affect him deeply, and when pressure began to be placed upon him by government officials, Hendrik refuses to become a part of the scheme. Finally in frustration Hendrik cries out, "I'll see you all in hell first before I collaborate in your neat little scheme. Insane? He's not insane; he's putting his faith into practice. And the fact that you consider that to be insane tells me more about you and my government than I care to know!"

It's remarkable, isn't it, what can happen when we begin to stake our lives on the conviction that ours is a God who is in the business of making all things new. Even more, it's remarkable what can happen when we respond to God's invitation to join in the task of living and proclaiming life in God's kingdom.