I will tell you a short story about a sacrifice even of the life of a man for saving his neighbor:
In the times of yore there were carriages driven by horses going from a place to another. Because they passed through places where were robbers, beasts etc they had weapons with them. On a Russian steppe two men, master and servant were traveling in a carriage driven by horses from a place, having with them some victuals for the journey.
In a desert place a pack of wolves pounced upon them all of a sudden. At first they started to shoot keeping them at distance for a while. But afterwards because the wolves were approaching they started to throw from the food they had to them. The wolves ate but they still ran after them. Then they thought to leave the horses to be eaten by the hungry wolves because they saw they had no escape. The master who was a good Christian told his servant:
`Listen, you have children, you must save yourself. Let`s cut the reins from a horse, mount on it and run, because if we continue like this they will eat us both and the horses which are harnessed and can`t run. At least you who have children can be saved. I don`t have any children, only a wife. It doesn`t matter if they eat me.`
`But I am your servant and you are such a kind master…`
`No, now you must escape! I order you to cut the reins and run away!`
In the end he convinced his servant to accept his sacrifice with the hope that he was going to bring him help to his rescue from the nearest village. So the servant cut the reins, mounted on the horse and began to run. The wolves could not reach him because in the meantime they started to attack the master and the other horse. The servant escaped and arriving in the village he started to cry:
`The wolves are coming! Run to my master`s rescue!`
When the villagers ran to save the master and the horse they saw that the wolves had already eaten them. In the place where they were eaten the villagers raised a monument on which it is written: In the name of the one who sacrificed his soul for his friend. This sacrifice is beyond any earthly thing. Since any good someone would give, he can`t make a man or a soul.`
Excerpt from the book The Art of Salvationpublished by Evanghelismos.
