No Greater Love

 "This is my commandment, that you, love one another just as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:12-13).  Jesus went on and let us know who His friends really were:  "You are my friends if you do what I command you." (v 14).  And then a little later he capped this off with these words, "This I command you, that you love one another" (v. 17).

Hey Gang:  Wow, what price are you willing to pay to reach out to someone who needs to know Jesus as Lord?    A sobbing little girl stood near a small church from which she had been turned away because it was "too crowded".   "I can't go to Sunday School,” she sobbed to the pastor as he walked by.  Seeing her shabby, unkempt appearance, the pastor guessed the reason was not a space issue and taking her by the hand, took her inside and found a place for her in the Sunday School class.  This child was so happy that a place was found for her.She went to bed that night thinking of all the children who have no place to worship Jesus.

Two years later the child passed away in the squallier of her tenement home.  One day her mother was going through the very few possessions her daughter had accumulated and found a very worn and crumpled red purse.  It looked like something that her daughter had picked out of the thrash bin.

Inside was the accumulation of two years of saving for her offering of love.  When the pastor tearfully read this note, he knew instantly what he would do.  Carrying the note and the cracked, red pocketbook to the pulpit, he told the story of her unselfish love and devotion.  He challenged his church family that no one would ever be turned away from their church and a building program ensued to assure there was space available.

Inside the purse with the 57cents  was a scribbled  note in childish handwriting that  read, "This is to help build the little church bigger so more children can go to Sunday School."  A note that acted as a battle cry to the people of that church!  But the story does not end there.

A local newspaper learned of the story and published it.  It was read by a wealthy realtor who offered them a parcel of land worth many dollars.  When the pastor asked the realtor "How much!" he responded, “ 57 cents”.

Funds began to pour in from local and distant places until one day the little girl’s gift had grown to more than a quarter of a million dollars, a huge sum at the turn of the century.  Her unselfish love had paid huge dividends.    If you ever have the opportunity to visit Philadelphia, be sure to visit Temple Baptist Church with a seating capacity of 3,300.  Also, be sure to visit Temple University where thousands of students are educated each year.  Have a look also, at the Good Samaritan Hospital and at a Sunday School building which houses hundreds of beautiful children, built so that no child in the area will ever need to be left outside during Sunday School time.

In one of the rooms may be seen the sweet face of a little girls whose 57 cents, so sacrificially saved, made this remarkable story a reality.  The pastor also wrote a book titled Acres of Diamonds that tells the story of God multiplying the sacrificial gift of this child from a tenement house in Philadelphia.

Soooo,  friends and neighbors, do you happen to have an old worn red purse with your sacrificial gift that God can take and turn it into a hospital or church or Sunday School? There is no greater love than the willingness to lay down our life (to give sacrificially) to help someone.  (Millions of children live in squalor and terrible things happen every day. I am posting this on the day after tragic  tornadoes in Oklahoma)

Blessings,

Gramps