Save A friend
True story....
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 stepped 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 had to make the most excruciating
decision of his life: to which boy he would throw the other
end of the lifeline. He only had 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 lifeline 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 boys 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."