"God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you." Luke 14:14

I grew up on a street in Philadelphia where all the neighbor's knew each other's business. It was that kind of neighborhood, but things changed when my nearest neighbors both passed away. When a new neighbor, Tony, moved in, he clearly failed to live up to the saying, “You only get one chance to make a good impression.”
 
I found Tony to be disrespectful to people and their properties, especially those who lived on either side of him. One year he decided to renovate the front of his home. He added rooms that reached over and onto my property. He ignored my repeated requests to fix the problem. I also learned that he never finished paying the contractor for the work he had done. At some point out of anger and frustration I gave up "fighting" with Tony. We no longer spoke to each other and I was fine with that. 
 
A few years passed when I started noticing his newspapers were piling up on the front step, and his car had not been moved in quite some time. I asked one of my neighbors if she had seen him lately. Ann told me that all of his utilities had been shut off, the lock on the front door had been changed, and he was doing odd jobs at the gas station in exchange for a place to sleep on the store room floor. He was homeless!
 
One day my doorbell rang. I went to the door. There stood Tony, man who had once lived a lavish lifestyle—expensive clothes, jewelry, and a luxury car. He cared about no one but himself. Now he was wearing many layers of clothing to ward off the cold. All his earthly possessions were in a trash bag. For some reason he had lost his job at the gas station and had nowhere to go. My heart broke. Here is someone I know, someone who lived next door to me for years and now he's standing on my steps with nothing but the clothes he's wearing. He asked me if it would be okay to use my bathroom so that he could clean up a little. That was all he wanted. After he cleaned up I gave him a little money and he left. I had planned to get a list of homeless shelters together... sadly I would never see him again.
 
A little more than a month later I came home to find several policemen up and down the block questioning neighbors. I don't know exactly when it happened but Tony had broken back into his home and was staying there. Apparently another person was with him because Tony had been thrown down the basement steps. A chair was shoved up against the basement door so that Tony could not escape. When he was found he had been dead for some time. 

Tony’s life ended horribly. I wish I could have done much more to help him. I’m glad, though, that he had come to trust me enough to ask for help. And I’m glad I did not reject him that day, even though it was too little too late.
 
When I read Jesus saying that we should “invite those who cannot repay us,” I think of Tony. Who is near you who you might not know the depth of their need? Can you show kindness and generosity to them today? Will you show God’s kindness to them even if they cannot repay it to you?

We are here to love God and all people so that all people may experience the

life-changing love of Jesus!

LOVE - We meet every weekend to experience God's love for us and show His love for others.

SERVE- We use our abilities, talents, skills, and passions for the good of others.

ENGAGE - We engage with friends to care for one another and to make new friends so they may experience God's kindness too. 

Tuesdays 7 pm

Go Beyond Sunday's message by joining this Zoom group to talk about how to live out what Pastors Sharon and Roger talk about over the weekend. This is discussion and prayer group open to all. 

A prayer for you: A Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for all that you have given us; remind us daily to help those in need and look for nothing in return. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

- Lynne Poindexter