His name is John. He has wild hair, he wears a T-shirt with holes in it, torn jeans and he has no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for the last three years at university. He is kind of esoteric and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending university. Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative Church congregation. They would love to develop a ministry to the university students but are not sure how to go about it.
One day John decides to check out one of their services. He walks in with no shoes, torn jeans, his crumpled T-shirt and wild hair. The service has already started and so John starts down the aisle looking for a seat. The Church is completely packed and he can’t find a seat anywhere. By now people are looking a little uncomfortable, but no one says anything.
John gets closer and closer to the pulpit and when he realizes there are no seats, he just sits down on the carpet. (Although perfectly acceptable behaviour at a university fellowship, trust me, this has 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 Pastor looks toward the back of the Church and sees a Church elder slowly making his way toward John. Now this elder is in his eighties, has silver-grey hair, a three-piece suit, tie and a pocket watch – a godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and as he starts walking toward this young man, everyone is thinking to themselves, “You can’t blame him for what he’s going to do. How can you expect a man of his age and his background to understand some university kid on the floor?”
It takes a long time for the Elder to reach the young man. 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 Pastor can’t even preach the sermon until the elder does what he has to do.”
Now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty he lowers himself and sits down next to John on the carpet so he won’t be alone. Everyone chokes up with emotion. When the Pastor gains control he says, “What I am about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget.”