Illustration: Mercy in the Middle of War
There’s a remarkable true story from World War II that my late pastor loved to use when preaching about God’s mercy. It involves two men: Franz Stigler and Charlie Brown.
Charlie Brown was flying a B-17 bomber over Germany when his plane was badly damaged—engines failing, crew members wounded, barely able to stay in the air. He was vulnerable… exposed… an easy target.
Franz Stigler, a German fighter pilot, was sent up to intercept him.
Now understand—this is war.
Brown is the enemy.
Stigler has every right—every reason—to shoot him down.
But when Stigler pulls up beside the bomber, something unexpected happens.
He looks inside the plane…
and sees wounded men.
He sees a crew barely hanging on.
He sees a plane that is already falling apart.
And in that moment, he later said,
“It would have been like shooting at a parachute.”
So instead of firing…
he lowers his weapon.
He doesn’t just spare him—
he escorts him.
Flies alongside the enemy plane, guiding it out of danger…
protecting it from anti-aircraft fire…
until it reaches safety.
Two enemies… in the middle of war…
and one chooses mercy.
Years later, after the war, these two men found each other—and became friends.
Now think about that.
Justice said, “Take the shot.”
Duty said, “Finish the mission.”
But something deeper said, “Show mercy.”
And that’s a picture—just a glimpse—of what God has done for us.
Because the truth is:
We weren’t just weak…
we were enemies.
And God had every right to judge.
But instead of destroying us—
He moved toward us in mercy.
He held back judgment.
He gave us time.
He made a way for us to live.
That’s what Peter is talking about.
“The Lord is not slow… He is patient.”
God’s patience is not weakness.
It’s mercy in the middle of a war we should have lost.