Larry was an unusual sort. In fact, to even say such would be like saying that Babe Ruth was a baseball player. Everybody who knew Larry already knew that. He was a good man; but honestly, he could be quite difficult.
Larry was not a member of our church, but he attended more than many who were. In fact, I had been at the church for some time before I realized that Larry was not a member. He was there almost every Sunday, as well as Wednesday evenings. He often said that the fact that we served a pretty good meal on Wednesdays evenings didn’t hurt any. He loved to ask difficult questions, especially during the Wednesday Bible study.
I asked Larry why he had never become a member. His reply was, “Why should I? I get all the benefits of being a member without being a member. Besides that, if I become a member, I would have to give up my parking space.” Although Larry had been attending for years, he still parked in one of the designated guest spaces. He went on to say, “The best parking spaces, closest to the main doors, are for the handicapped and visitors. If I became a member, I would no longer be a visitor and since I am not handicapped, I would have to give up my good parking space.” Eventually though, Larry did become a member, but he still continued to park in a guest parking space. I asked him about it once and he said, “Oh, now I only park in one of those if there is no one else parked in it.”
Sometime later, Larry was able to legally move over to one of the handicapped spaces. That was because he developed breathing problems and couldn’t walk very far without gasping for breath. His doctor discovered that not only were his lungs bad, but that his heart was, too. Eventually, Larry came to the point where his only hope of survival was to have a transplant…three transplants, actually.
At that time, heart/lung transplants had only been performed for around 20 years. Even still today, only around 100 are performed annually. One of the largest obstacles is finding a compatible donor. Eventually, a matching donor for Larry was found, and he went to Houston for the surgery. Afterward, he said to me, “I am so thankful to God, but at the same time I feel guilty. I realize that someone had to die in order for me live.”
The truth is that Larry’s donor did die, but he did not choose to die in order to become an organ donor. He chose to donate his organs whenever or however the time of his death might come. You and I may have possibly made that same decision and registered ourselves to be an organ donor. It has been said that organ donation is the gift that keeps on giving even after we are gone.
This week we celebrate the life of an individual who gave his life so that others might live. He did more than donate his organs to someone else. He gave his total being for us all. Jesus chose to give his life, so we might have life eternally. This Friday, we pause to remember His death on the cross. Through faith we become a match to receive his gift. On Sunday, we will celebrate His resurrection.
Thank you to all who have donated organs so others might live. Thank you to Jesus Christ, who gave his all that we all might live forever. Happy Easter!
Bill King can be reached at bkpreach@yahoo.com.
