An inmate I had been visiting in prison sent me a letter. I picked it up from my mailbox at the church. I opened the letter in the car while I was driving – not something I would recommend you understand – and I thought I saw something fall out. I searched underneath the car seat. Amidst gum wrappers, lost pens, and a collection of other items, all I could find that seemed a little out of the ordinary was a stamp. That’s odd, I thought to myself. Maybe I just imagined something falling out.
About a week later, I was visiting this inmate plus a couple of others. I asked him, “Did you happen to put a stamp in the letter that you mailed to me?” He said, “Yeah.” Another inmate that was with him joined him and said, “I do the same thing!” I asked, “Why?” One answered, “I do this to encourage the people who receive my letter to write me back.”
I thought, “What a great idea!” But then I realized how much the inmate has sacrificed to put a stamp in the envelope. Inmates that are lucky enough to have a job in prison get paid around eighty cents per hour, a tiny fraction of what most people get paid. An inmate would have to work an hour to pay for the cost of mailing this letter. You would have to work for about a minute.
To the inmate, this stamp is an invitation. It says, “Please write me back. I want to continue our conversation and deepen our relationship.” This stamp was also an outlandish gesture. He is giving away something quite valuable with no guarantee the recipient would respond.
As I think about Good Friday, I see some similarities. The letter is Jesus and his message to the world is summed up in three words: God loves you. The stamp is his death on the cross, an immeasurable sacrifice. Yet through this outlandish gesture, God has given us a way to ‘write back’. Through the cross, I am no longer isolated by my sins and failings, with no hope of being reconciled, but instead invited back into the fold.
The cross opens the way for me to respond, to use this sacrifice to once again be reconciled with God. Just like the stamp, God is saying through this cross, “Please write back. I want you to get to know me.”
After receiving the stamp from this inmate, I had a choice. Do I respond, or ignore the priceless gift I have received? I can look at the cross the same way. Do I take the next step toward a deeper relationship, loving and forgiving as God has loved and forgiven? Or do I lose this priceless gift in the clutter underneath my car seat?
God has sent you a letter with a stamp inside. How will you respond?