Sermon Illustrations
Child Picks Up Grenade at Easter Egg Hunt
Stuart Moffatt awoke on the Saturday before Easter, loaded up his wife and three kids in the family car, and headed to the annual Easter Egg Hunt in the British town of Holford, Somerset. About 25 children participated in the egg hunt in the field beside the busy road. As the hunt was drawing to an end, the parents began counting the gathered eggs to see if all had been found.
Stuart looked out and noticed a three-year-old little boy had wandered out toward the road, and had apparently found another egg. Not recalling placing an egg that close to the road, Stuart walked out to the child, who was now standing on top of the egg. Impressed that the egg did not crack, Stuart walked up and noticed the egg was oddly shaped and textured. It wasn't until he knelt beside the little boy, still standing on top of the egg, that Stuart realized it was not an egg at all. It was a hand grenade.
In fact, it was a live, fully-functional World War 2 grenade. Stuart picked the boy up off the grenade and backed away. A bomb disposal unit was called in, and destroyed the grenade in a controlled explosion.
It's hard to fault the child. After all, it looked like an Easter egg, and Easter eggs were what he was looking for. But, sometimes, you get more than you bargained for. What you see looks like what you want, feels like what you want. But when you get it, the results can be explosive.