White Dove Down

In 1993 a Black Hawk helicopter  was shot down by the War Lords of Somalia.  The attempts to extricate our army Airmen and Troopers  from Mogadishu was the basis of a book and movie about the incident. Two Thousand  years ago, it was not a Black Hawk Down that made headlines in Heaven, but a white dove down.  The Son of God was dropped off in the middle of enemy territory in a kingdom of spiritual darkness.  The Holy Spirit appeared like a dove descending from Heaven and resting on Jesus Christ.  Angels must have held their breath as news of God’s rescue plan unfolded to save sinners from a world of sin.  White dove down. 

This rescue involved no carnal weapons, no Navy Seals or Army Rangers.  Christ was armed with truth and the light saber of God’s eternal word.  Seemingly unarmed, He employed the armed forces of virtue to repulse the ways of darkness and taught unheard-of tactics like turning the other cheek and giving an enemy a cup of cold water if he was thirsty. 

There was no Black Water, only Living Water.  There was baptism, but no water boards.  In Vietnam I was shaken by the un-John Wayne-like  tactics used to make the enemy talk or to take revenge for last week’s losses in a firefight.  I could not accept the “wink and a nod” that separated idealism from reality.  It was this that made me ready for a full blown conversion experience that brought faith and new life to me. 

Our government argued in Paris for months about the shape of the negotiating table around which peace talks were to be held.  Each side needed to “save face.”   I needed no diplomacy, no deliberations, no offers and counter offers.  I simply surrendered to God.  I found peace when I found the Prince of Peace.  I place my life in the hands of God’s Son.  Each Lord’s Day there is something of a Peace Table around which we gather.  We remember, “God come down.”   We remember how, with the genius and gentleness of a dove,  Jesus plucked us from the talons of satanic terrorism  an brought us to the safe downy place beneath his wings.  “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”  Worship is that “downy” place. It is a place of peace. It is softer than angel’s wings and as strong as God Himself.  It is being saved.   It is White Dove down.         -id