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.
I loved this - a fabulous story to retell - fun, but so layered and true . . .mercy beyond measure. Thank you for this, dear brother.
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