“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,”-2 Timothy 1:9
On December 22, 1884, the U.S. Life-Saving Service of Cape Hatteras attempted one of the most daring feats in the history of the Life-Saving Service (later to become the Coast Guard). Seven surfmen, as they were called, launched out in their twenty-five-foot surfboat rowing through the gigantic pounding surf. Rowing toward the shipwrecked crew of the Ephraim Williams. Their mentality aptly summarized by Keeper (Captain) Patrick Etheridge “you have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.”
In the early years of United States ocean rescue before the merger of the Life-Saving Service and Revenue Cutter Service. Before the modern cutter vessels and propulsion combustion engines. The U.S. Life-Saving Service employed well trained men who were fit and ready to wage war against the relentless sea. Rigorous training and discipline brought them knowledge of the sea, their equipment, and each other. They were recruited, trained, and called out of creature comforts to “man the boats.” Crews were made up of a minimum of six men, including both Keeper and Surfman. A seven-man crew climbed into the Cape Hatteras surfboat and went out “so that others may live.” They rowed hard against the wind and mounting waves, narrowly reaching the nine-member crew of the Ephraim Williams. Upon arrival they secured a lifeline to the doomed Ephraim, and one by one the men hasten into the surfboat. Going back was as perilous as going out, but they made it safely to shore. Upon reaching shore, could it be said that the surfman who threw the lifeline saved the victims? Certainly. Would it be right to say the Keeper Etheridge or Daily’s skill in handling the tiller in the challenging surf saved the victims? Absolutely. Could it be argued that the very organization of the Life-Saving Service saved the crew? Definitely. What cannot be affirmed is that any of the surfmen saved the crew of the Etheridge alone. The surfman was a part of the boat crew, the boat crew a part of the Station, and the Station a part of the Life-Saving Service. The man was a member in service of an institution that was founded on the principle of service. That service was to save the lost. A single surfman like the single strand of rope that they cast, is simply a part of a greater purpose.
Herein is the picture of the church. The mission is to save the lost. It is a mission upon one, as it is upon all. The collective body waging war against the perils of the world. No one person can say they alone saved a soul, but all who are laboring in the boat crew can say they are a part of the mission. A boat crew, in the eternal life-saving service. Following the command of Jesus Christ. A command to give up our lives, so that “others may live.”
