- A FATHER & A SON -

after a few of the usual sunday evening hymns, the church's pastor slowly stood up, walked over to the pulpit & before he gave his sermon for the evening, he briefly introduced a guest 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 & that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the church & share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service - with that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit & began to speak - a father, his son & 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 & the 3 were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized - the old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with 2 teens 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 would he throw the other end of the life line - he only had seconds to make the decision - the father knew that his son was a christian & 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 boy was never recovered - by this time, the 2 teens were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old ministers mouth - the father, he continued, knew his son would step into eternity with jesus & he could not bear the thought of his son's friend stepping into 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 & take a hold of the lifeline he is throwing out to you in this service - with that, the old man turned & sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room - the pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit & delivered a brief sermon with an invitation at the end - however, no one responded to the appeal - within minutes after the service ended, the 2 teens were at the old mans side - "that was a nice story", politely stated one of them, "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 the worn bible - a big smile broadened his narrow face - he once again looked up at the boys & 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 & your pastor is my son's friend."