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Topic: Hospitality (02/07/05)
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TITLE: What is "He" doing here? | Previous Challenge Entry
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02/09/05 -
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“What is he doing here,” gray-haired sister Temple questioned as the old gentleman in tattered clothes slipped into the back and slunk down in a pew.
When I was twelve, My father was the pastor of a small urban church in Muncie Indiana. The congregation boasted 20 on a good day, so a visitor; any visitor, was a welcome sight. Most visitors were greeted as if they were the prodigal son returning home. The people would fall over themselves to get back and shake their hand and welcome them to our little church. But not this stranger; at least not a first.
It was a cold snowy night. We had received four inches of snow earlier that day, and the Sunday evening crowd was thinner than normal when an aged white haired man with a beard a few days old, and a patched plaid jacket slipped through the back door and settled down on the end of a pew. I later came to know him simply as Tom. Most of the people agreed he must be a vagrant traveling through who came in for a little warmth. But slowly a few of the braver people made their way back to talk with him. Tom was very quiet about his past. He refused to speak about his home or family. He kept the conversation light. I found Tom to be a kind and gentle man who was down on his luck. Following the service one of the members slipped up to my dad and suggested we take up a special but secret offering to help Tom out. Sister Temple led the way by going to each person and asking for a gift while dad kept Tom busy.
After the offering was taken the little group had raised $ 40.00 dollars, a large amount for a small group of retirees on fixed incomes.. This was presented by my father to Tom with no fan fair, in fact, if you did not watch closely you would have missed it. Tom went on his way with $ 40.00 dollars in his pocket having experiences Christian love and little warmth on a cold winter night.
After he had left we found a old dirty envelope on the pew where Tom sat. Inside the envelope was a note that said simply, “Thank You For Making Me Welcome.” Also in the envelop was a tattered aged check from a bank miles away with his first name and date scrawled child like on it and of $ 2,000 in the box amount box. Nothing else was on it. Everyone agreed the was worthless, it was just Tom’s way of showing his appreciation.
The next morning, just for fun the treasurer called the bank to see if Tom still had an account. The teller looked up his account and told our treasurer the check was not only good but Tom could cash a check for ten times that amount and not miss it.
For the next four years, whenever the bills piled up and cash dried up, like an angle from God, in would walk a white haired elderly man with a beard a few days old, and a patched tattered plaid jacket. When he left there would be an crumpled envelope with a check inside. Over the next four years Tom invested over $ 20,000 dollars in this small congregation.
This just proves that the writer of Hebrews said, “ Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2) Tom may have been one those angels; what do you think?
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