We all start at the same point, but very quickly many begin to sink. The non-swimmers, of course, are the first to go down, but many of them quickly turn to the rescue boats that are available. Some refuse the help of the rescuers, and suffer the fate of drowning.
As the field widens, we see some taking off, they are doing well. The longer we swim, the more we see people either heading for the rescue boats, or finding their resting place on the bottom of the ocean floor. As disturbing as it is, people are choosing to die rather than accept help from someone else.
The event continues with people swimming a mile, two miles, three miles. Many of the swimmers who have been rescued have started calling out to the people in trouble. "We are right here", "Turn and swim over here, we can help you", "You don't have to drown, just reach out and take my hand". On and on they call out, while some heed their call, others ignore them.
For over 2,360 miles (the farthest distance any person has ever swam - Martin Strel 2002 - over 68 days [with breaks]) the people have tried to swim the distance from California to Hawaii with the largest margin of people drowning. By now, those on the rescue boats can see the land approaching, Hawaii is just 30 miles away. The celebration is beginning, although there is much mourning for the people who have died. However, there is still one man in the water. He is beginning to falter, he is tired. Many on the ships are amazed at how well he has done, but as he begins to struggle, he refuses help. He takes in a mouthful of water, and looses the ability to continue.
The boats surround him. The people call out to him. Many are reaching out, casting life preservers and ropes, to no avail. He refuses help and ultimately ends up dead at the bottom of the ocean, just a few miles from the Hawaiian coast.
You see, from the start of this endeavor, we all knew this distance was too much. There is no human alive that can swim from California to Hawaii without stopping. We were destined to fail. The woman that refused help just a few feet from the California coastline ended up as dead as the man that made it just a few miles from Hawaii. Yeah, one is more impressive than the other, but both failed, both missed the mark, both died.
However, it did not have to be that way. Either of them could have taken the free ride on the rescue boats across the Pacific and ended up on the Hawaiian beaches, but because of pride, ignorance, fear, pressure from others, etc. they ended up lifeless at the bottom of the ocean.
Just like the people in this story, we get impressed with our abilities, our strengths, our looks, our efforts, and we strive to meet God's approval on our own. We will fall short, either drastically short, or (if we are unusually, incredibly wonderful people) just mostly short! None of us gets close to the perfection and holiness of the God of this universe, but boy are we impressed with how much better than others we can be.
The people on the boat had no other option than to say that the only reason they made it was because of the rescue boats that were available - whether they swam 1 foot or 2389 miles - they could not have made it on their own.
In the same way, without the righteousness of Christ which He gave me through His death on Calvary, I could not claim to be righteous at all.
I need to look less at others to see how well I match up, and look more fully on Christ to see how far he reached for me. If we all would do this, we would recognize the people around us are no more failures and sinners than we are, they just sin differently, and they need Christ just as much as I do.
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