Escape Room

Escape room

How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard.

Hebrews 2:3

     If Alfred Hitchcock were alive today, he would revel in the recent phenomenon of a form of entertainment we have come to know as an Escape Room. Hitchcock would be first in line. It is normal to fear incarceration, but now, apparently, we embrace it. We give money to have our freedom taken away. For those who seem to be thrilled by being confined against their will, Escape rooms are the ultimate experience. Personally, it is not my cup of tea for the following reasons.

I consider myself to be a fairly intelligent person, and yet, something happens in my mind when I am locked in a room and told to figure out some clues so that I can enter another confined space in which I must again “think” my way out. Being a lifelong member of claustrophobics are us just adds to the misery of the experience. Add to my phobia the terror of being discovered as the dumbest bloke in the room and I politely say, “No thank you.” Besides, folks have been long escaping for free, and they didn’t have to pay for the excitement.

In fact, fleeing jail cells has become the stuff of lore and legend. In 1934, John Dillinger, escaped from the “escape-proof” Crown Point prison with the assistance of a fake gun carved out of wood and blackened with shoe polish. Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers drilled through the cell walls of Alcatraz and then left behind papier-mache heads before exiting in a raincoat covered raft. Their fate is still unknown to this day. The Great Escape of 1944 was conducted by Allied prisoners of war who dug a complex tunnel network to flee the infamous Stalag Luft III POW camp. In 1716, a day before his execution, the Earl of Nithsdale fled the Tower of London dressed in women’s clothing given to him by his wife. Even Winston Churchill escaped a POW camp during the Boer War after climbing a wall and hoofing it 300 miles to safety.

John Dillinger

Likewise, the Scripture has some great escape stories. The apostle Peter was sitting in a jail cell when an angel arrived to “spring him,” much to the surprise of the group that had been praying for his release. As fascinating is all these stories are the greatest escape known to mankind isn’t from a penitentiary; it is an escape from a confinement of which we are all woefully ignorant. We were all born in the cell of spiritual darkness and we need an escape plan.

In Plato’s, “Allegory of the Cave,” the sage relays a famous dialogue with Socrates wherein he describes men who have been chained all their lives in a dark cave. A fire burns behind them. Using the light of those flames unseen men offer puppet-like projection on the wall to give an illusion of reality. The Cave is all these men have ever known and so the concept that they are enslaved is foreign to their thinking. The world above with its light and true reality is hidden. One who has escaped returns to warn them of their imprisonment, but they dismiss his tales as foolishness. This is an illustration of the human condition. Mankind is not progressing to greater heights, he is living a dark cave while believing he possesses reality and truth. He must be awakened to the life above. This alone is the work of God.

Spiritual freedom is only sought after when mankind has tasted the darkness of cave-dwelling. Without the clang of the chains on their ankles, and the shutting of an iron door, mankind seeks no ultimate remedy. Escape is only a driving force when the walls are closing in on us. We seek a getaway car when we are caught red-handed in a robbery. This is exactly where the gospel has its impact in both revealing the chains and offering the key to true liberty.

When Peter preached on Pentecost, he faced a multitude of men and women who had come to Jerusalem from all over the Roman Empire. There to worship and seek after God, these pilgrims came needing deliverance from the prison of sin. After quoting a long passage from the prophet Joel, Peter rehearsed the mighty works, signs, and wonders of Jesus. He then turned the sermon on its ear by declaring that although Jesus was fulfilling the will of God in his death those men were directly guilty of his crucifixion. The blood of God Incarnate was dripping from their fingertips. Peter boldly asserted, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36) These men, prisoned by a religion and enslaved to their hatred of Jesus, were “cut to the heart.” Sensing their deep guilt and the darkness they cried out, “what must we do to be saved.” Peter's answer brought instant freedom and forgiveness, “repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ…” (Acts 2:38) Freedom could be offered because Jesus paid the price for our deliverance.

You see, the greatest escape of all time was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is now able to offer to every man eternal freedom from the shackles of sin. The prison door stands open today. Come to him before it slams shut forever.