Thursday, August 25, 2005
LIVING THE BIBLE
LIVING THE BIBLE
By Rebecca Manley Pippert
Aug 25, 2005
His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it,
jeans and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four
years of college. He is brilliant. Kind of esoteric and very, very
bright. He became a Christian while attending college. Across the
street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church.
They want to develop a ministry to the students, but are not sure how
to go about it. One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no
shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already
started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat. The
church is completely packed and he can't find a seat. By now people are
really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything.
Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit and when he
realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet.
(Although perfectly acceptable behavior at a college fellowship, trust
me, this had never happened in this church before!) By now the people
are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick. About this
time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a
deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill.
Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a
three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very
courtly. He walks with a cane and as he starts walking toward this boy,
everyone is saying to themselves, You can't blame him for what he's
going to do. How can you expect a man of his age and of his background
to understand some college kid on the floor?
It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy. The church is
utterly silent except for the clicking of the man's cane. All eyes are
focused on him. You can't even hear anyone breathing. The people are
thinking. The minister can't even preach the sermon until the deacon
does what he has to do. And now they see this elderly man drop his cane
on the floor. With great difficulty he lowers himself and sits down
next to Bill and worships with him so he won't be alone. Everyone
chokes up with emotion.
When the minister gains control he says, "What I'm about to preach, you
will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget. Be
careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some people will ever
read."
PRAYER
"Eternal God, who are the light of the minds that know you, the joy of
the hearts that love you, and the strength of the wills that serve you;
grant us so to know you, that we may truly love you, and so to love you
that we may fully serve you, whom to serve is perfect freedom, in Jesus
Christ our Lord." (Prayer of Saint Augustine)
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