02/01/2023
This story is surely unforgettable, but also unforgettable is the impact that Martha Pierce has had on my life and my relationship with Jesus. She took me under her wing 50 years ago and showed me what the love of Jesus looks like. To this day, her name is the first one that comes to mind when someone asks me who has God used to make a difference in my life. ❤️
You Will Never Forget- Submitted by Martha Pierce
Rebecca M. Pippert
Retold by Alice Gray
His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college.
He is brilliant. Kind’a esoteric and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college. Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students but are not sure how to go about it.
One Sunday morning Bill decides to go to the church. He walks in with no shoes, wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat. The church is completely packed, and he can’t find a seat. By now people are looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one say anything.
Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet. (Although perfectly acceptable behavior at a college fellowship, but trust me, this had 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 minister realized that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill. Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, a three-piece suit, and a pocket watch. A godly man – very elegant, very dignified, very refined demeanor.
He walks with a cane and as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves, You can’t blame him for what he’s going to do. How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?
It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy. 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, Our minister can’t even preach until the deacon does what he has to do.
And now they see the elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and begins to worship with him, so he won’t be alone. Everyone in that church chokes up with emotion.
When the minister gains control, he says, “What I’m about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen,
You Will Never Forget.”
…and to that Martha Pierce adds:
When I read that story of compassion, it literally ignites my spirit to become more like that old deacon. My prayer is: Lord, may I spend the rest of my time on this earth, reflecting You, making a difference everywhere I go…“for such a time as this”. May I simply imitate Your love to others, being careful to show them that indeed they are so very special, and so very much loved. May I do so with humility and with calm assurance that it will make all the difference for all of eternity!
