Imagine this ...
You're driving home from work next Monday after a long day. You tune
in your radio. You hear a blurb about a little village in India where
some people have died suddenly, strangely, of a flu that has never
been seen before. It's not influenza, but three or four people are dead,
and it's kind of interesting, so they are sending some doctors over
there to investigate it. You don't think much about it, but coming home
from church on Sunday you hear another radio spot. Only they say it's
not three people who have been infected anymore, it's now 30,000 people in the back hills of this
particular area of India. CNN runs a little
blurb: people are heading there from the disease center in Atlanta
because this disease strain has never been seen before.
By Monday morning when you get up, it's the lead story. It's not just
India; it's Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and before you know it, you're
hearing this story everywhere. The media has now coined it as "the
mystery flu." The President has made some comment that he and his family
are praying and hoping that all will go well over there. But everyone
is wondering, "How are we going to contain it?"
That's when the President of France makes an announcement that shocks
Europe. He is closing their borders. No flights from India, Pakistan,
or any of the countries where this thing has been seen. And that's why
that night you are watching a little bit of CNN before going to bed.
Your jaw hits your chest when a weeping woman is translated into English
from a French news program. There's a man lying in a hospital in Paris,
dying of the mystery flu. It has come to Europe.
Panic strikes. As best they can tell, after contracting the disease,
you have it for a week before you even know it. Then you have four days
of unbelievable symptoms. And then you die. Britain closes it's borders,
but it's too late. South Hampton, Liverpool, North Hampton, and it's
Tuesday morning when the President of the United States makes the
following announcement: "Due to a national-security risk, all flights to
and from Europe and Asia have been canceled. If your loved ones are
overseas, I'm sorry. They cannot come back until we find a cure for this
thing."
Within four days our nation has been plunged into an unbelievable
fear. People are wondering, "What if it comes to this
country?" Preachers are saying it's the judgment of God.
It's Wednesday night, and you are at a church prayer meeting when
somebody runs in from the parking lot and yells, "Turn on a radio, turn
on a radio!" And while everyone in church listens to a little transistor
radio with a microphone stuck up to it, the announcement is made: Two
women are lying in a Long Island hospital, dying from the mystery flu.
Within hours it seems, this disease envelops the country.
People are working around the clock, trying to find an antidote.
Nothing is working. California, Oregon, Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts.
It's as though it's just sweeping in from the borders.
And then all of a sudden the news comes out. The code has been
broken. A cure can be found! A vaccine can be made. It's going to take
the blood of somebody who hasn't been infected, and so, sure enough, all
through the Midwest, through all those channels of emergency
broadcasting, everyone is asked to do one simple thing: Go to your
downtown hospital and have your blood analyzed. That's all we ask of
you. When you hear the sirens go off in your neighborhood, please make
your way quickly, quietly, and safely to the hospitals.
Sure enough, when you and your family get down there late on that
Friday night, there is a long line, and they've got nurses and doctors
coming out and pricking fingers and taking blood and putting labels on
it. Your spouse and your kids are out there, and they take your blood
and say, "Wait here in the parking lot, and if we call your name, you
can be dismissed and go home." You stand around, scared, with your
neighbors, wondering what on earth is going on, and if this is the end
of the world.
Suddenly, a young man comes running out of the hospital screaming.
He's yelling a name and waving a clipboard. What? He yells it again! And
your son tugs on your jacket and says, "Daddy, that's me." Before you
know it, they have grabbed your boy. "Wait a minute, hold on!" And they
say, "It's okay, his blood is clean. His blood is pure. We want to make
sure he doesn't have the disease. We think he has the right blood type."
Five tense minutes later, out come the doctors and nurses are crying
and hugging one another - some are even laughing. It's the first time
you have seen anybody laugh in a week, and an old doctor walks up to you
and says, "Thank you, sir. Your son's blood is perfect. It's clean, it
is pure, and we can make the vaccine."
As the word begins to spread all across that parking lot full of
folks, people are screaming and praying and laughing and crying. But
then the gray-haired doctor pulls you and your wife aside and says, "May
we see you for a moment? We didn't realize that the donor would be a
minor and we need... we need you to sign a consent form."
You begin to sign and then you see that the box for the number of
pints of blood to be taken is empty. "H-h-h-how many pints?" And that is
when the old doctor's smile fades, and he says, "We had no idea it
would be a little child. We weren't prepared. We need it all!" "But...
but... I don't understand. He's my only son!" "We are talking about the
world here. Please sign. We need to hurry!" You ask through a quivering voice, "But can't you give him a transfusion?" They reply, "If we had clean blood we would. Please, will you please sign?" Their response was final. In numb silence you sign the paper with shaking hands and tears falling down your face. Then they say, "Would you like to have a moment with him before we begin?"
Could you walk back? Could you walk back to that room where he sits
on a table saying, "Daddy? Mommy? What's going on?" Could you take his
hands and say, "Son, your mommy and I love you, and we would never ever
let anything happen to you that didn't just have to be! Do you
understand that?" And when the doctor comes back in and says, "I'm
sorry, we've got to get started. People all over the world are dying,"
could you leave? Could you walk out while he is saying, "Dad? Mom? Dad?
Why... why are you leaving me?"
And then next week, when they have the ceremony to honor your son, some folks sleep through it and some folks don't even bother to
come because they have better things to do with their time. Some people come with a
pretentious smile and just pretend to care. It breaks your heart as you look around and see people watching the clock, texting, whispering and some are even nodding off. Would you want to jump up
and say, "Excuse me! My son DIED for you! Don't you even care? Does it mean nothing to you?"
I wonder, is that what God wants to say to us at times?
This story was so powerful to me and it really put God's incredible sacrifice into a picture that made complete sense to me. Would I even give my son in the first place? I cannot imagine giving my son's life to save others, especially if those he gave his life for didn't even acknowledge or appreciate the incredible sacrifice. Unfortunately, isn't that the heartbreaking reality of what God lives out every day? But in spite of our unfaithfulness, He is faithful. In spite of our lack of mercy, He is merciful. In spite of our unwillingness to forgive, He forgives freely. He knew we would be complacent, unwilling to yield and unfaithful - and yet He freely gave us Jesus anyway. That blows my mind.
2 comments:
I just read this today but I heard it more than 15 years ago when Fellowship Bible Church was still meeting in a elem school. It was read by a young women from a mothers point of view for Easter. I have never forgotten this and was just looking for it last week and without the title I was unable to locate it. God really works in wonderful ways that I happen to work for Bakerton Bible Church that Fellowship Bible Church is working with and saw that you were speaking at the women's retreat this year and checked out your blog...Thanks for the post.
Wow! That's amazing. Welcome to the blog!! I'm so in awe of how our God works!!
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