Two boys

The church’s pastor stood up and walked over to the pulpit, but before he gave his sermon for the evening he 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 introduce the sermon. With that, an elderly man slowly moved 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 in to 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. Then he 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 and he also knew that his son’s friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched even by the torrent of waves, and 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 awaiting the rest of the story. “You see”, he continued, “The father knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus and he could not bear the thought of his son’s friend steeping into eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son to save the son’s friend”. With that the old man turned slowly, moved back to his chair, and sat down as silence filled the room. The pastor again walked to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon, “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 hold of the life line He is throwing out to you”.

Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man’s side. “That was a nice story”, one of them stated politely, “but I don’t think it was very realistic for the father to give up his only son’s life in hopes that other boy would become a Christian.” “Well, you’ve got a point there”, the old man replied as he glanced down at his worn bible. A smile broadened his narrow face as he looked up at the boys and said, “Maybe it isn’t very realistic, 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 only Son for me. You see, I was the father in that story and your pastor is my son’s friend.”