It started with a knock on the door. Someone from the sheriff’s dept had a summons for me to serve jury duty. I had seen to much television, where they always sequestered the jury, so I asked if I’d need to back a bag before showing up. I was assured this case would not end up like that and that all I needed to do was come.
On the appointed day I showed up at the court. The lawyers asked questions, chose some rejected others. I was the third juror selected. The rest of the jury was chosen in time. The case was brought before us.
A local used car dealer was brought in as the victim. He was drunk and made a pretty poor impression.
The accused had broken into his place of business, and stolen a key from behind the desk, then used that to steal a car. He was found 30 miles away with the car. He ran from the police who caught him fairly quickly.
Now the policemen had dropped the ball too. They had not even taken finger prints with the excuse finger prints would not show up because of the dust from sanding the cars prior to repainting.
It was fairly clear, the culprit was guilty. But that was not the first consensus reached in the jury room. The first thing we all agreed on was the robbery victim deserved what he got. He was a drunk in the early morning and he probably even forgot to look the door when he left work.
In time we reached our verdict. I believe we recommended the medium of the sentences we were given to choose from. The used car salesman won the case the thief went to jail.
A couple of years later the church I had been attending went through a major upheaval and I ended up in a church across town. Not long after getting to the new church, I was wanting some minor work done on my car. That was when I found out there was someone in church who worked on cars, Jerry had his own car dealership, on East Confederate Boulevard, the very place the car had been stolen from.
Yes, that drunk we had so little sympathy for even though we were unanimous that he was the victim. Jerry was sober, well spoken and, well dressed. Since I had last seen him Jerry had accepted the Lord and it made all the difference.
The story doesn’t end there though. Within a few years he had studied for the ministry. A short time after completing his studies, Jerry had his own church. They were kind of in a bind, their former pastor died and they needed someone to fill the pulpit fast. From there he went on to plant several other churches as the yeas passed.
He also had great concern for the children who had been deprived of prayer in schools by the courts. Working with Godly lawyers and legal experts he led the way to getting a minute of silence to start the school-day.
God had made him a new creature. The new improved Jerry was so completely changed he was unrecognizable to someone who had only met his old man once. Jerry became a good friend. And in spite of his being a used car salesman, with the reputation they have, I bought three cars over the years. He was someone I could trust.
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Wow! This is a great story. It just goes to show what God can do with anyone. Your style and personal demeanor really brought this to life. Good job! One comment, and it's a little one: "...seen to much television..." The "to" should have two O's. Other than that, thanks for blessing us with this story.
