Apollo 13 - Telling the Whole Story
Apollo 13 – Telling the whole story
We tell someone tells us about something that happened and they say, ‘Ah, but wait. You haven’t heard the whole story.’ We hear bits about what happened. Story of Apollo 13, story of one of the early trips to the moon that went badly wrong but the crew got back safely in the end. It all started very well. People had almost got bored with these trips to the moon – it was no longer main item on the news. Then disaster struck – one of the oxygen tanks exploded – Major damage to the space craft - power reduced – oxygen supplies reduced – looked for a while that the crew were not going to be able to make it back – prayer vigil in St Patrick’s Cathedral and in city’s around the world. They made it back and landed safely. Crew recovered.
We could look at that last picture and say ‘They landed safely’ but it is only if we know the rest of that story that we can realise how amazing that safe landing was.
We are about to celebrate Easter. Next Sunday, Palm Sunday, we will read about the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. On Easter morning we will read about the disciples finding the tomb empty. But we very rarely hear in Church (unless you go to one of the Holy Week Services) the rest of the story, the bit that happens in between. We need to know the reality of the Cross to appreciate the wonder of resurrection. In the light of the resurrection we see the cross as God’s victory over death.
As we approach Easter, this is what the Sunday School have done for us today – they have helped us to hear the whole story, the story of God’s love for us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.