A Father's Sacrifice

[Maryanne Winder Lester]

This afternoon, I would like to share with you an old writing I found within my own father’s papers as we were cleaning out the house. I had never seen this or heard of it before and my mother did not recall it either. It was typed with an obvious manual typewriter and the paper had yellowed. I have no idea how old it is or where it came from originally. Although my father passed on in 2005, this was just the kind of story he would have left for me to find later.

A Father’s Sacrifice

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, 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 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 one evening 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 three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized.” The old Minister 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 would he throw the other end of the 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 by the torrent of the 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 their 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 his 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 lifeline He is throwing to you in this service.” With that, the elderly Minister turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the church. The Pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon with an invitation for Salvation at the end. However, no one responded to the appeal.

Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old Minister’s 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 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 have to give up His Son for me.”

“You see… I was that father and your Pastor is my son’s friend.”

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. Now, wipe away your tears and give thanks to our Father for the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. Who of us knows where each of us would be today if that sacrifice had not been made.

Maryanne Winder Lester 5/14/2010