A.J. Gordon sets several birds free
When A. J. Gordon was pastor of a church in Boston, he met a young boy in the front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage with several birds. Gordon inquired, “What are you going to do with them?” “I guess I’ll just feed them to an old cat we have at home.” Gordon offered to buy them, and the lad exclaimed, “Mister, you don’t want them, they can’t sing very well.” Gordon replied, “I’ll give you $2 for the cage and the birds.” The exchange was made and the boy went away whistling, happy with his shiny coins. Gordon walked to the back of the church property, and let the birds soar into the blue. The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate his sermon about Christ’s coming to seek and to save the lost, paying for them with His own precious blood. “That boy told me the birds were not songsters,” said Gordon, “but as they winged their way heavenward, it seemed like they were singing, “Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!” (Source Unknown).