It was September of 1942. World War 2 was in full swing and the United States submarine USS Seadragon was in enemy water. Like any submarine crew, the men aboard the Seadragon stood ready for a wide variety of emergencies. But as the sub slid along far below the surface of the Japanese-held waters of the South China Sea, a problem arose for which the crew had not trained.
With the Seadragon days from home in enemy waters, it was a very inconvenient time and place for Seaman 1st Class Darrell Rector to complain of stomach pain. Wheeler Lipes – who was the senior medical man on board the sub – gave Rector a quick but unfortunate diagnosis: acute appendicitis. That meant Rector’s appendix was inflamed and if left untreated, it would burst, which would lead to infection and death. The necessary treatment for appendicitis is straightforward. An appendectomy – the removal of the appendix – is a simple procedure, but for Rector, Lipes, and the rest of crew of the Seadragon, there was a problem.
See, Wheeler Lipes was the senior medical man on board the Seadragon, but he was not a surgeon. Lipes wasn’t even a doctor at all. His official title was “Pharmacist’s Mate”. Qualified surgeons and proper surgical facilities were days away from the Seadragon’s current location. It was a real quandary. Lipes had never performed any surgery on anyone. He had seen an appendectomy, so he thought he might be able to do it…
The commanding officer spoke to Lipes, urging him to accept the challenge. Lipes told his commander, “Everything is against us. Our chances are slim.” Lipes was understandably hesitant to attempt the surgery and his words surely inspired little confidence. Darrell Rector was faced with the prospect of becoming a medical guinea pig for Lipes, but when faced with the alternative, Rector agreed to the surgery.
They lay Rector on the wardroom table for the surgery. The table was short enough that his feet nearly dangled off the edge. The medical supplies on the submarine lacked some of the surgical equipment Lipes needed, so he had to improvise. Spoons from the galley served as retractors to hold the incision open. A tea strainer filled with gauze served as a stand-in anesthesia mask. The sub’s machinist helped Lipes fashion a makeshift handle for the handleless scalpel. Everyone was willing to chip in and help Lipes, but none of them knew what they were doing.
It took Wheeler Lipes and his ragtag surgical team two and a half hours. They used up every bit of ether they had on board, but Lipes emerged victorious holding Rector’s inflamed appendix. Miraculously, Darrell Rector survived with no ill effects. Wheeler Lipes had performed his first surgical procedure at 120 feet below sea level.
With limited supplies and zero surgical experience, it took guts, but Lipes saved the life of his fellow sailor. Everything about the situation was difficult, inconvenient, far from ideal, but Wheeler Lipes did what needed to be done.
Centuries earlier, a man named Saul was traveling along a dusty road in Syria when his life changed forever. Saul was raised an orthodox Jew. He was intimately acquainted with the Torah and he held the respect of his devout Jewish peers. But that day on that road, Saul met Jesus Christ, and the trajectory of his life changed. Saul’s loyalty and priorities shifted. Instead of opposing the work of Jesus and His followers, Saul turned and pledged his allegiance to his former enemy, ready to be a disciple of his new Leader.
Three days later, the Bible records a meeting between Jesus Christ and a believer in Damascus named Ananias. Jesus tells Ananias to go and greet his new Christian brother Saul. Ananias, knowing Saul’s history, was understandably reluctant to follow this Divine directive. After all, Saul was well-known in the Christian community for the havoc he had wreaked among the followers of Jesus in the name of Judaism. But Christ responds that Saul is “a chosen vessel unto me”. Things had changed. Saul had changed and instead of resisting Christ, He was ready to serve Christ.
Think about it. With a change of heart, Saul was perfectly prepared for Jewish ministry. He was ready, if anyone ever has been, to reach Jews with the gospel. Saul knew the Jewish law; he knew Jewish culture; he was the ultimate insider.
Jesus tells Ananias that He has chosen Saul for a very specific ministry: “to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:” (Acts 9:15). Wait a second. The Gentiles? Why are they first in this list? Saul is the perfect guy to reach the Jews! Why would God send him to reach Gentiles? Still, as we watch Saul’s ministry unfold in the book of Acts, we find these words played out. Saul does reach out to the Jews, but the majority of his ministry is directed at Gentiles. In fact, Saul’s Gentile ministry is the reason we are used to calling Saul by his other name. On his first Gentile outreach trip, Saul left behind the intensely Jewish name he was given at birth and adopted a more Greek alternative: Paul.
Paul, who grew up thinking that Gentiles were little better than dogs, adopted a Gentile name. As a proud devout Jew, he had learned to despise Gentiles. But with the commission of God, he learned to love them and reach out to them with the gospel. Paul serving in Gentile ministry did not seem like an ideal fit, but God does not make mistakes.
Paul shared this personal testimony about his ministry in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23:
“For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.”
It was highly inconvenient for a guy who grew up so thoroughly Jewish to reach out to Gentiles, but Paul did not let inconvenience stop him. Paul learned to give up what was natural to him in order to reach others for Christ. Sometimes, Paul got to play to his strengths. More often, he found himself in situations where he was forced to face his weakness. But no matter the scenario, Paul always found the grace of God to minister. When something did not come naturally to Paul, God could still display His glorious power.
Paul told the Corinthian church:
“And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:3-5)
Often, as Christians, we become convinced that our place of service will be somewhere that perfectly caters to our skills and training. But I am convinced that often, God delights to pick the one who, from a human perspective, is the wrong man for the job. You could be a Jew, but God wants to use you to reach Gentiles. You might be painfully shy, but God leads you to share the gospel at a friend’s funeral. You might be bad with kids, but God leads you to serve in children’s ministry. You might despise a certain activist group, but God leads you to reach out to them with His love and truth.
You might feel like a Pharmacist’s Mate who is being called on to perform surgery on a submarine. But Wheeler Lipes did not let inconvenience get in the way of doing what was necessary. Paul did not let inconvenience stop him from doing the work of God. How about you?
Read the Navy’s account of Wheeler Lipes and the underwater appendectomy at: https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/world-war-ii-profiles/submerged-appendectomy.html
You can read NPR’s take at https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4503760
To learn more about appendicitis (if that’s your thing), check out https://ada.com/conditions/acute-appendicitis/
Exempla 