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 An air traffic controller in Renton, WA heard his
cry and said, “This is your lucky day. I’m not only an air traffic
controller; I’m also a licensed pilot and a flight instructor. Would
you be interested in a flying lesson?” Lee said, “I’d love a flying
lesson!”
So, the air traffic controller started to give him
some basic flying maneuvers and a few instructions on how to fly the
plane. Then he said, “Lee, you’re going to have to take a shot at a
landing (the most difficult beginner’s task) . . . it’s your only
hope. You have to give this thing a try.”
So he talked him through the descent and talked him into pointing
the plane toward the runway. It was not a graceful approach. He came
in like a drunken duck—all over the place and he hit the runway
pretty hard. But miraculously, Lee Caps walked away with only minor
injuries. Lee Caps walked away from the plane because he was wise
enough to accept the offer of help from someone he couldn’t see or
had really known before that day began.
Afterward, the press asked the air traffic controller, “Just between
us, did you really think you could talk that guy down and that he
would walk away?” The man said, “I knew all the odds were against
him and that this was a long shot . . . but I like long shots.”
I don’t know if you’ve thought about it much but there are people
who, by profession, are ‘odds makers;’ sometimes called
statisticians. These are people who figure out life insurance
tables, sporting events, casino games and stocks, and sort out the
long shots from the sure things.
There are people who can mathematically assure you that your car is
30% more likely to be stolen if it’s a Corvette than if it’s a
minivan. If you’re still driving a Pontiac Aztec these days, the
odds say it’s impossible to be stolen!
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These odds makers can tell you that you’re 10 times
more likely to get hurt riding a bicycle than riding in a car. And
the odds are twice as good for you to be struck by lightning—three
times in the same location—as it is for you to win the Mega Millions
lottery.
These people make their living by figuring out odds like these.
Usually, they’re pretty accurate. But the odds makers were wrong
about Jesus. They were just wrong about whether he could stay dead.
Oh, it was a long shot. Call it a billion to one
shot. Never been done like that before type of shot. But he did come
back to life. There is an empty tomb in Israel that still bears
witness to that historical reality. There were 500 eye witnesses
that said it was a fact. It happened against all the odds.
We celebrate this odd-busting event as Easter. The resurrection of
Jesus is very powerful and still has the ability to change lives in
dramatic ways. To this day, millions of people, from all over the
world, experience an awakening and a transformation when they decide
to believe and trust the biblical story. And this just baffles the
skeptics who think this thing should have gone away centuries ago.
But it’s not going away. In fact, it’s gaining strength all over the
world.
If I’m going to impersonate that brave air traffic controller then I
have to tell you what was said to Lee Caps, ‘You’re going to have to
give this landing a try.’ This Easter could be the “wow” you’ve been
needing in your life. But you’re going to have to give this Jesus
thing a try. Even good Christian people need to be reminded that
Easter still has power and we can be wowed by the experience of
Jesus.
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