I have to say I'm thankful for the creative way the Easter Story was portrayed at church today. It wasn't a huge production with a massive set and lots of actors. The analogy was simple, but made me see the story of the cross in a new light.
In a way you had to be there to get the full effect, but I'll do my best to explain it. Basically there was a video playing in the background while the Pastor narrated the story.
The story was about a boy and his father. This father son duo were very close. The son was different than other boys his age, he was very caring and when others around him hurt or were in need he could see and feel their pain.
One day the father took his son to work with him. The father was a draw bridge operator for the railroad. On this particular day the father and son were having so much fun together and life was great. Little did they know everything was about to change.
There was a situation at the draw bridge; the bridge was raised and the conductor on the approaching train missed a red warning light to stop. The son could see the approaching train and knew the people on the train were in trouble.
The boy's father was distracted for a moment fixing something. The father realized the plight of the approaching train just as he saw that his son was attempting to pull the emergency lever on the bridge itself.
The boy couldn't get his fathers attention and knew if he didn't do something all those people would die. When he tried to pull the switch he fell inside the bridge controls as his father watched from the tower above.
In that split moment the father knew if he lowered the the bridge his son would die, if he tried to save his son all the people on the approaching train would die. He had to choose between his son and the train full of people.
As he lowered the bridge you see all the people on the train oblivious to what is going on. Then you see the father running along side the train as at passes screaming and yelling at the train. One girl on the train sees the father and sees the pain he is in just as she is about to shoot up heroin. She drops everything and in that moment realizes the sacrifice the father made.
A few years down the road the father and the girl run into each other and the girl looks happy and peaceful as she carries a baby on her hip, she smiles at the father. He is reminded of the sacrifice his son made and is overjoyed to see that his sacrifice and all the pain meant something.
I know it's different reading this story then it would be to experience it, but you get the idea. The father sacrificing His son to save the many even though the majority of them were oblivious to the danger they were in.
This analogy made me realize maybe on a more human level what a great sacrifice was made for me. It wasn't just a spiritual "story", it was real. There was real pain involved, not just on the part of the son, but you saw the pain of the father.
Even though I've been a Christian for many years I thought about how much I take this sacrifice for granted. How often I just think or see what happened on the cross as more of a "story". I mean I know it all happened but today I felt loss, the heart ache of a father, I also felt the joy of the Father. The joy that hope brings, that all is not lost. Of course in reality the resurrection of Jesus just adds to the hope we have.
I'm thankful that just as there were people from all walks of life on the train in the story, the son sacrificed himself for all them. Jesus does the same for us today.
Not meaning to sound "preachy", just feeling a renewed hope today. Easter is all about hope & love. No matter where we are in life there is always hope & love in Jesus. It doesn't mean life is always perfect, but there is hope, joy, peace and love to be found along this journey.
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