| After a few of the usual Sunday evening
hymns, the church's pastor slowly stood up, walked
over to the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon for
the evening, briefly introduced a guest minister who
was in the service that evening. In the introduction,
the pastor told the congregation that the guest minister
was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he
wanted him to have a few moments to greet the church
and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for
the service. With that, an elderly man stepper up to
the pulpit and began to speak.
"A father, his son, and a friend of his son were
sailing off the pacific coast," he began, "when
a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get
back to the shore. The waves were so high, that even
though the father was an experienced sailor, he could
not keep the boat upright and the three were swept
into the ocean as the boat capsized."
The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact
with two teenagers who were, for the first time since
the service began, looking somewhat interested in his
story. The aged minister continued with his story.
"Grabbing a rescue line, the father has to make
the most excruciating decision of his life: to which
boy he would throw the other end of the life line.
He only has seconds to make the decision. The father
knew that his son was a Christian and he also knew
that his son’s friend was not. The agony of his
decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves. "As
the father yelled out, 'I love you, son!' He threw
out the life line to his son's friend. By the time
the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized
boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells
into the black of night. His body was never recovered."
By this time, the two teenagers were sitting up straight
in the pew anxiously waiting for the next words to
come out of the old minister’s mouth.
"The father," he continued, "knew his
son would step into eternity with Jesus and he could
not bear the thought of his son's friend stepping into
an eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed
his son to save the son's friend. How great is the
love of God that he should do the same for us.
Our heavenly father sacrificed His only begotten son
that we could be saved. I urge you to accept His offer
to rescue you and take a hold of the life line He is
throwing out to you in this service."
With that, the old man turned and sat back down in
his chair as silence filled the room.
The pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered
a brief sermon with an invitation at the end. However,
no one responded to the appeal.
Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers
were at the old man's side. "That was a nice story," politely
stated one of the boys, "but I don't think it
was very realistic for a father to give up his only
son's life in hopes that the other boy would become
a Christian."
"Well, you've got a point there," the old
man replied, glancing down at his worn bible. A big
smile broadened his narrow face; he once again looked
up at the boy and said, "It sure isn’t very
realistic, is it? But I'm standing here today to tell
you that story gives me a glimpse of what it must have
been like for God to give up His son for me. You see
--- I was that father and your pastor is my son's friend."
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