Would that Chuck Colson's Echoes of Good Friday: Sacrificial Love would reverberate every day of the year.
After speaking with a hardened convict whose execution loomed in the next few days, Colson felt despair. He’d failed to reach Richard.
In an unprecedented opportunity, fellow inmate Mickey spoke with Richard. It didn’t go well until Mickey said:
"Richard, I wish I could take your place on Friday."
Richard’s facial expression changed from stoicism to shock.
Once Mickey was back in his own cell, he cried. He felt like he had let God down. But soon Mickey heard God's gentle reassurance that he had done exactly what he had been asked to do.
Greater love hath no man (or woman) than this: that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
Sometimes this truly entails loss of life. Sometimes it entails an offer, which might be refused. But neither outcome means failure. Oh, if I could only learn this, once and for all, and be willing to live by it.
addendum: Though I published this post this morning, I wrote it about a week ago. Since then there's been a tragic but very poignant example of ultimate sacrificial love: as Cho Seung-Hui went on his rampage at Virginia Tech, Professor Liviu Librescu blocked the doorway of his classroom so students could escape. He died of gunshot wounds.
