In my neighborhood there was a Bank of America on the corner near our local shopping plaza. When the recession started in 2009 they closed the bank and the building was left empty. One night I noticed a homeless man sleeping under the entrance of the bank building. He had a nice place to sleep with outdoor lights and a covered roof. Every night he would park his bicycle, unpack his sleeping bag, and sleep in front of the glass doors. At night when I would do my grocery shopping I would drive by to see if he was sleeping by the front door. At one point I wanted to call the police. I thought to myself, “Why don’t the police chase him out of there? I don’t want people like him loitering in my neighborhood.” Every night for months this fellow would sleep in front of the bank doors. The week before Christmas 2010 was bitterly cold. As I was leaving the grocery store I looked over at the bank building and there he was…sleeping at the doors of Bank of America.
I felt sorry for him and I shouted out, “Jesus help him… it’s freezing outside!” And God shouted back at me, “You help him!” My heart was struck with conviction. So I turned my car around and I drove into the parking lot and pulled up to the bank entrance. When I looked toward the bank doors, there he was—lying on the concrete sidewalk in his sleeping bag with the sleeping bag zipped all the way shut, leaving just enough room for him to breathe. I shouted out, “Get up! Wake up! I have something for you.” I held out a $20 bill and for the first time I saw this person. He was just a little old man. I gave him the $20 bill and I said, “God bless you and Jesus loves you.” I left quickly so he could run back and climb into his sleeping bag. I never told my wife or anybody about my little beggar at the bank.
But every night when I would do my grocery shopping I would drive through the bank parking lot on my way home and give him a $20 bill. My wife is a good bookkeeper and she handles all of our finances. But, she never noticed all those $20 bills going to Jerry on the way home from the grocery store. This went on for months and Jerry and I started spending more time talking. Jerry told me he was a Christian and told me a little about his life.
That spring I helped Jerry fly back to his home town of Memphis. The first Wednesday in May Jerry and I both left town on the same day. He flew home to Memphis and I left town for a speaking engagement in Massachusetts. Whenever I do my grocery shopping, I always look over at the Bank of America building to see if anyone is sleeping in front of the doors.
We all want to change the world. We may not have the influence to write the laws of our country, but we can have a profound effect in our sphere of influence. We can be the good neighbor; we can be the eyes that are watching. Each of us has a sphere of influence—the ability to radically affect the people we come in contact with every day. Who is your
neighbor? Who is your problem to solve?
~George DeTellis, Jr.
You may write to George at george@newmissions.org
In Luke 16:19 Jesus tells the story of a beggar named Lazarus who lived at the gate of a rich man. The story ends in tragedy for the rich man because he neglected the opportunity to help the poor. The selfish man is the shrinking man; his world grows smaller until he is all alone. The giving man is the living man; his world grows larger and everything multiplies.
George DeTellis, Jr.
P.S. Jesus did not change any laws of government; He changed the laws of the universe!
