"Heidi and I were somewhere in Pennslyvannia, this small Amish town that's like a tourist attraction. So we were pushing the stroller, i had those baby equipments hung all over my shoulders, walking down this street, and all of a sudden I noticed this really old man at the opposite side of the street, staring at us," he said. "Like his eyes kept following us, and it's just one of those things that you noticed. But we weren't scared or anything. He was just a normal old man, in a black coat, black pants, smoking a pipe, normal Amish clothing."
"Then he started to cross the street toward us. We weren't too concerned till he tapped me on the shoulder and said, '
I'm thirsty.' Well Heidi and I didn't have anything on us besides the baby's stuff, so we apologized and said we couldn't really help him, but maybe one of these shops around here could..."
"And he pointed to one of the bags slung on my shoulder and looked straight at the two bottles of juices we had there and replied, '
you have juice.'
"I was stuck. I explained to him that the juices were for our baby, and that it was all we have throughout the whole day for our baby, so really sorry... and we kinda just walked off. Just seconds after that I get this verses running through my mind, and Heidi and I just felt horrible. I turned back to look for the man again, but he was gone. Not in the shops nearby, not anywhere. He was just... gone."
"I'd missed my chance."
....share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood... Isaiah 58:7
"I thought about it and I remember in the bible that God's angels sometimes come in disguise to test our hearts, and I knew I'd failed that test of compassion. It was a horrible feeling, and you can bet Heidi and I were searching for that man for the rest of the day. In essence, I'd denied Jesus Himself, bcoz He's in everyone of us, our flesh and blood..."
"At the end of the day, we went back to the huge tourist parking lot, and as we walked to our car, we saw that same man, standing right in front of our car bumper! Not two cars away, not standing nearby, but right in front of our bumper."
"There was no way he could've known which car was ours. He didn't say anything, so I quickly approached him and asked if he was still thirsty. He nodded. I could've won a medal for giving him the bottle of juice so fast. He took it, drank it all, and gave the bottle back to me."
"And I was just passing the bottle back to Heidi, and turned back to ask him if there was anything else he needed, and... he was gone. Not walking away, not hiding behind any car, just... gone."
Pastor Brad was really fortunate to have a second chance to do what Jesus has taught us to do. I keep thinking how horrible it'd be to know that you've missed that chance to do something Our Father would be proud of, and to look back with regret instead of thanksgiving.
Every decision we make counts.
Then the King will say... "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."
Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?"
The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
-Matthew 25: 34:40
