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.
Send by Jean wolflady@lightspeed.net
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