I heard a great story today,
which touched my heart among others in a congregation.
The Madrigals of my high school, of which I sing
sexy Base II in, were singing at a
church session. Sometimes it is asked of us to provide a
speaker, or even up to three. Being a Utah community
where the The Church Latter-Day Saint is domininant
the group has sung mostly at those settings. Today in
one such meeting, a good friend of mine in my choir
section, gave the following quoted story for his speech.
Who Will Take the Son?
A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of
art.
They had everything in their
collection, from
Picasso to
Raphael.
They would often sit together and admire the great works
of art.
When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to
war.
He was very courageous and died in battle
while rescuing another soldier.
The father was notified and he grieved deeply for his
only son.
About a month later, just before Christmas, there was
a knock at the door.
A young man stood at the door with a large package in
his hands.
He said, "Sir, you don't know me, but I am the
soldier
for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives
that day,
and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck
him in the heart
and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and
your love of art."
The young man held out his package.
"I know this isn't much. I'm not really a
great artist,
but I think your son would have wanted you to have
this."
The father opened the package. It was a portrait of
his son,
painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way
the soldier
had captured the personality of his son in the
painting.
The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes
welled up with tears.
He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the
picture.
"Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for
me.
It's a gift."
The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time
visitors
came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his
son before
he showed them the many of the great works he had
collected.
The man died a few months later.
There was to be a great auction of his paintings.
Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing
the great
paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for
their collection.
On the platform sat the painting of the son.
The auctioneer pounded his gavel.
"We will start the bidding with this picture of the son.
Who will bid for this picture?"
There was silence. Then a voice in the back of the
room shouted
"We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one."
But the auctioneer persisted.
"Will someone bid for this painting?
Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?"
Another voice shouted angrily, "We didn't come to see
this painting.
We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts.
Get on with the real bids!"
But still the auctioneer continued.
"The son! The son! The son! Who will take the
son?"
Finally, a voice came from the
very back of the room.
It was the longtime gardener of the man and son.
"I'll give $10 for the
painting."
Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.
"We have $10, who will bid $20?"
"Give it to him for $10. Let's see the real paintings!"
"$10 is the bid. Won't someone bid $20?"
The crowd was becoming angry.
They didn't want the picture of the son.
They wanted the more worthy investments for their
collections.
The auctioneer pounded the gavel.
"Going once..., twice..., SOLD for $10!"
A man sitting on the second row shouted,
"Now let's get on with the collection!"
The auctioneer laid down his gavel.
"I'm sorry, the auction is over."
"What about the paintings?"
"I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this
auction, I was told of
a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed
to reveal that stipulation
until this time. Only the painting of the son would be
auctioned.
Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire
estate,
including the paintings. The man who took the
son gets everything!"
God gave His son 2,000 years ago to take upon himself
the sins of all mankind. Much like the auctioneer, His
message today is,
"The Son, The Son, who'll take The Son?"
Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything
Another of the group, in the Tenor I section of the
choir, has lived with his mom alone since the age of
five. They have a very special relationship. He asked us
to stay after to sing to her because she was having a
bad day. For the first time that I can ever recall, the
Madrigals gave a personal performance for his mother. We
sang better then than ever before - it was as if
Christmas was trying to finally get its meaning to me.