by Jason Kirk Bartley

A Homeless beggar was seeking a warm place to stay for a few hours on a Sunday.
He decided to go to church and that way he could pray.
But He was not received with open arms,
the people mocked and ridiculed him to his alarm.
How he just thought that he’d be accepted by God’s people there,
but he smelled bad with his long greasy hair.
He didn’t play the part.
Yet he was as a child with a pure heart.
He asked if anyone could spare a dime? 
But the congregation ignored him and didn’t give him the time.
‘Till the Pastor arrived,
he was seated in an empty isolated chair alone.
The Pastor began his sermon and speaking into his microphone.
It went a little something like this.
There was a beggar and a rich man,
and the beggar just wanted to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table,
The rich man didn’t let him even though he was able.
The beggar was covered in sores.
They both died.
The rich man lifted up his eyes in hell forevermore. 
Lazarus, the beggar was carried into heaven,
because he had accepted the gift of God, His grace.
The Pastor then called the Homeless man to the front to sit with him near the pulpit to the crowd’s disgrace.
He gave him some money for food,
The old Homeless person cracked a smile on his face. 
The Pastor gave him some clothes that were warm and new,
and offered him a place in the church to stay, 
where he could be out of harm’s way,
along with some things to do.
He gave the beggar a list of odd jobs around the church.
He would be cleaning, building, and painting,
things he knew how to do.
Some of the people argued with the pastor and said, “they were through.”
But it didn’t stop the Pastor from making a lifelong friend in the eyes of the homeless man who was on the mend.
The Homeless beggar would have never found his way if it weren’t for the Pastor
and a beggar that did pray.
His prayer had been answered in the unlikeliest of ways by a man who obeyed God and was obedient to his voice.
Sometimes it takes a Homeless man to help us make our choice.
Are we being Christlike to everyone and kind with compassion,
or are we picking and choosing who can come with wicked fashion?
Jesus died for all.
His grace is free.
No one’s any less or any greater.
He knows the heart,
and whether we choose Christ,
the foundation of our new start.

Jason Kirk Bartley is a Christian poet from Chillicothe, Ohio. He is 47 years old and married to Nila, his forever love. He has been published poems and won awards. Jason holds a Master’s degree in Ministry from Ohio Christian University in Circleville, Ohio.