Bruce’s Day

 

(Eli said) “If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?” (1 Samuel 2:25)

 

        I love the story my friend Mark tells about his brother, Bruce. They were sons of a preacher in New Sweden, Maine. Full of life and occasionally prone to take it too far, Bruce acted up one day in his sixth-grade classroom and talked back to the teacher—who happened to be his father. New Sweden had no more than five or six hundred inhabitants at the time but too many small churches, so Bruce’s dad had to supplement his income by teaching school. “Bruce,” he said, “please report to the principal’s office after lunch.”

        Bruce’s dad, however, was also serving as principal of the school, so when the boy arrived at the appointed hour, he found his father waiting.  “Tell me what happened, Bruce, and why you did it.” At the close of their session, the principal said, “This is a serious problem, too serious for me to deal with. You’ll have to tell this to your pastor.”

        Later that afternoon Bruce trudged across the yard from the parsonage to the church office where he again found his father behind the pastor’s desk. After the boy’s confession, the pastor said, “Bruce, your father needs to hear about this. You must talk to him tonight at the dinner table.” This was hard penance, for it was a large family with many siblings around that table listening.

        At dinner Bruce dutifully recounted his sin one more time, admitting to his father and family that he had talked back to the teacher that day in school. His father said, “We don’t have time to deal with this now because it’s almost time for your baseball game.  But you’ll have to tell your coach what happened.”

        Bruce’s Little League coach was, of course, his father. The coach listened to the story, wrapped his arms around the boy and assured him everything was going to be fine. Then he benched him. “You’ll be sitting this one out tonight,” he said. And the coach sat down next to Bruce—benched himself too, shared his penalty.

        A thousand years before the time of Christ, Eli, the priest of Israel, chastised his sons for their disregard for God’s law.  What Eli did not yet understand—but what a Maine preacher had come to know—was that the God we offend is also the one who mediates in our behalf. Creator, Advocate and Redeemer are one. It is a mercy beyond measure.

 

 

Copies of Mike's book You Are Rich: Discovering Faith in Everyday Moments, a collection of sixty faith-related reflections, are available through Amazon or Barnes & Noble.