The Filthy Old Man
It was a beautiful Sunday morning. People were filling
the church to its fullest capacity! As they entered, each
were given a bulletin filled with announcements, topic of
today's sermon, what songs they would sing and who to pray
for. At the end of the line stood an older man. His clothes
were filthy and you could tell that he had not bathed in
days. His face was covered in whiskers where he had not
shaved for a very long time.
When he reached the usher, he removed his tattered old brown
hat in respect. His hair was a long, dirty, tangled mess.
He had no shoes on his feet, and wore only soiled, black
socks. The usher put his fingers to his nose and glared at
the old man and said, "Uh, I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid we
can't let you in. You will distract the congregation and we
don't allow anyone to disrupt our service. I'm afraid you'll
have to leave."
The old man looked down at himself and with a puzzled look
on his face, he placed his old brown hat back upon his head
and turned to leave. He was sad as he loved to hear the
choir sing praises to the Lord. He loved to watch the little
children get up in front of the church to sing their little
songs. He carried in his pocket a small worn out Bible and
loved to see if the minister preached a passage from the
Bible that the old man had underlined. He was respectful
enough and didn't want to cause any commotion, so he hung
down his head and walked back down the steps of the big
brick church.
He sat down on the brick wall near the edge of the church
yard and strained to listen through closed doors and windows
to the singing going on in the church. Oh how he wished he
could be inside with all the others.
A few minutes had passed by when all of a sudden a younger
man came up behind him and sat down near him. He asked the
old man what he was doing.
He answered, "I was going to go to church today, but they
thought I was filthy and my clothes are old and worn, and
they were afraid I would disrupt their service. Sorry, I
didn't introduce myself. My name is George."
The two gentlemen shook hands and George couldn't help but
notice that this man had long hair like his. He wore a piece
of cloth draped over his body tied with a royal purple sash.
He had sandals upon his feet, now covered with dust and
dirt.
The stranger reached out to touch George's shoulder and
said, "Hello, George, don't feel bad because they won't let
you in. My name is Jesus, and I've been trying to get into
this same church for years, and they won't let me in
either."
Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances dictate.
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