“Helen” had a worried look on her face. “I need you to go to the hospital and talk to someone on behalf of my husband.”1 Her husband had just broadsided a car and severely injured two young boys in the back seat. Their father, who was driving, became irate and threatened to kill him.
“I want you to tell him how sorry he is for what happened.”
I responded that I would do whatever I could. As I left and drove to the hospital, I wondered what I could possibly say to that father.
“The boys are on the third floor,” said the volunteer at the reception desk. As the elevator doors opened, I could see a man standing in the hallway a few feet away. He was staring down at the floor.
“Excuse me,” I interrupted. “I’m looking for the father of the two boys who were in a car accident today.
“That’s me,” he said firmly.
As I explained to him who I was and that I had come to tell him how sorry my friend was for what had happened, pure rage spread over his face. His entire body stiffened up as he began to shout at me.
“Sorry! He’s sorry?” Well, let me show you what he did to my boys!”
He turned around and marched down the hallway. We entered one hospital room and there, laying on the bed, was a young boy with casts on an arm and both legs. The father stabbed the air with his finger.
“Your friend did that!”
Then he marched out of the room and into the next. There in the hospital bed was his second son. He had only one cast. Only this cast was a full body cast. He was covered from his neck down.
Again, the father pierced the air in front of him with his finger. “And your friend did that!”
I was speechless. We left the room and I mumbled something I knew would be utterly useless. Nothing I could say could undo what had been done, mend those boys, or appease their father’s rage.
I’ve thought about that incident many times over the years. As a mediator, I had been a total failure. I’ve thought about my own sin and how, as much as I wish, none of it was benign. It all affected someone. There are people today walking around bearing its scars. I’ve thought about how just and righteous God is to rage against it. The people I have sinned against are people he loves.
And then I remember that I have a mediator too. Only this mediator is effective. He has removed God’s just wrath from over my head. He has brought peace to me and God.
And he can bring peace to you and God as well, my friend.
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
Learn how to meet every pressing need in your church here.
_______________________________________________________________
Learn how to form teams of men for every widow, single mom
and fatherless child in your church at NewCommandment.org.
_______________________________________________________________
