Knowledge is Power

Advent is a time to remember Christ’s arrival that first Christmas, but also to deepen our faith in his promise to come again bearing salvation. In his sermon, David described the knowledge of this promise as a kind of power. To illustrate this, he used this illustration from the movie Force 10 from Navarone:

In this movie, a group of elite soldiers planned to destroy a gigantic dam in order to stop the advance of the German Army. The group had Miller who was an explosive specialist, and he prepared three bags of explosives for the plan. Then two other soldiers sneaked into the deep base of the dam, planted the explosives, and detonated them. They knew that if the dam was blasted they wouldn’t have enough time to escape, but they did it, giving up their lives. When the explosives exploded, however, the dam was not damaged at all. Another soldier, who was looking down the dam from the top of the mountain and waiting for its collapse, was greatly disappointed and complained to Miller. “It didn’t do a thing! Nothing!” But Miller was calm. Lighting a cigarette, he said with composure, “You can’t expect an enormous volcano with three tiny bags of explosives. You have to let nature take her course. Give it time. It’ll work.” Exactly as Miller said, after the lapse of a few minutes, the concrete walls of the dam began to crack and water gushed down through the cracks. And the water trapped in the dam pushed the dam down and collapsed it completely. Miller knew everything. He knew the exact amount of explosive required to destroy the huge dam while giving enough time for his fellow soldiers to escape after planting the explosives. What he used for destroying the dam was not “explosive.” He used his “knowledge.” He knew the “power of nature.” He relied on the power of water blocked by the dam. As he knew how powerful it is, he was calm and peaceful. And with a few tiny bags of explosives, he did a great job and saved many lives.

What a great example of waiting for what God has already done in Jesus Christ!