The story is from the playlet titled “The Long Silence”. I cannot
wait to share it. Here we go:
At the end of time, billions of people were scattered on a
great plain before God’s throne.
Most shrank back from the brilliant light before them. But
some groups near the front talked heatedly-not with cringing shame, but with
belligerence.
“Can God judge us? How can he know about suffering?” snapped
a pert young brunette. She ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number
from a Nazi concentration camp. “We endured terror…beatings…torture…death!”
In another group a Negro boy lowered his collar. “What about
this?’ he demanded, showing an ugly rope burn. “lynched… for no crime but being
black!”
In another crowd, a pregnant schoolgirl with sullen eyes.
“Why should I suffer” she murmured, “It wasn’t my fault.”
Far out across the plain there were hundreds of such groups.
Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering He permitted in His
world. How lucky God was to live in Heaven where all was sweetness and light,
where there was no weeping or fear, no hunger or hatred. What did God know of
all that man had been forced to endure in this world? For God leads a pretty
sheltered life, they said.
So each of these groups sent forth their leader, chosen
because he had suffered the most. A Jew, a Negro, a person from Hiroshima, a
horribly deformed arthritic, a thalidomide child. In the center of the plain
they consulted with each other. At last they were ready to present their case.
It was rather clever.
Before God could be qualified to be their judge, He must
endure what they had endured. Their decision was that God should be sentenced
to live on earth- as a man!
“Let him be born a Jew. Let the legitimacy of his birth be
doubted. Give him a work so difficult that even his family will think him out
of his mind when he tries to do it. Let him be betrayed by his closest friends.
Let him face false charges, be tried by a prejudiced jury and convicted by a
cowardly judge. Let him be tortured.
“At the last, let him see what it means to be terribly
alone. Then let him die. Let him die so that there can be no doubt that he
died. Let there be a great host of witnesses to verify it.”
As each leader announced his portion of the sentence, loud
murmurs of approval went up from the throng of people assembled.
And when the last had finished pronouncing sentence, there
was a long silence. No one moved. For suddenly all knew that God had already
served His sentence.
This was indeed a most touching illustration to me! I am encouraged
to carry on with my pilgrimage together with my crucified Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ as we move forward into the New Year 2016 and beyond.
Brothers and sisters, like the apostle Paul said: "I do not
consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting
what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal
to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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