Pete

I meet with a friend of mine every other week at a local coffee house close to John's house. The neighborhood is very diverse with some pretty unique places to eat and hang out. We study the Bible a little, encourage each other and just talk about life.

God has really transformed John over the last year. He really has a heart for people who are far from God. One of those people is Pete. Pete was sleeping on the porch of an abandoned house until John invited him to stay with him. At first Pete declined, but after a cold night he changed his mind. Now Pete lives with John.

Pete has come to church with John the last four Sundays. He has been somewhat hesitant because he grew up going to a church where everyone dressed up. Pete doesn't have the resources to have a large wardrobe of clothes. John has told him to come anyway.

One of the things about Pete, is he is blind in one eye and can't see very well from the other. John did say he can recognize a 40 oz. bottle very well from a distant though. His blindness has been a benefit as well, because he can't see some of the looks he has gotten when he walked into church.

Anyway, the first Sunday as the offering plate was passed, Pete reached in and was about to take out an envelope. John stopped him, explaining that it was an offering plate. Pete thought they we were passing out envelopes for some reason to everyone (Now that would be a way to get people to come to church, give out envelopes of money). If you know Pete, you also know this was not intentional, he was not trying to be dishonest in any way.

Another Sunday, when the plate was passed, Pete dropped $1 bill in the plate. Now that may not sound like much, but when you don't have much of any income, if any at all it is a fortune. $1 is over 50% of what a 40 oz. bottle cost. $1 was all the money Pete had in life. He chose to give his last dollar to God.

This reminds me of a story in the Bible where Jesus praises a woman who gave from her poverty rather than her wealth. It is found in Mark 12:41-44. I want to retell the story from a modern day perspective.

"Jesus sat down opposite the place where offerings were being collected and watched a congregation of people put money in the church offering (you know God knows what we give). Many rich people threw in large amounts (Most of us do not think we are rich, but to most of the world we are). But a poor widower (Pete's wife died in the 90's) came and put a dollar in the plate.

Calling his followers to him, Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth, this poor widower has put more money in the offering than all the others. They gave out of their wealth; but he gave out of his poverty, put in everything--all he had to live on.'"

I think despite Pete's ability to see, he is starting to see God. He told John the other day he is getting tired of the life he has been living. The 40 oz. bottle is getting old for Pete. He is drinking it less frequently. Pete is noticing how his life is beginning to change. He is beginning to see a God who he once thought was so far away, as being a God who is present enough that he wanted to give God all he had.

This is not a story about Pete. This is a story about a real God, that is serious about reaching people who are far from Him.

Add Pete to your prayer list. Ask God to continue to reveal Himself to Him. Follow the example of John and do what you can to reach people who are far from God. They are everywhere. You work beside them, live beside them (maybe with them) and may even sit beside them at church.