"The Least" Likely

Shortly after I first came to pastor in Harrisonburg, I had a lady in our church, Dreena Burke, to dress as a bag lady, "Angelica Divine". She concealed herself perfectly with make-up, a scent of filth, and even pushed an overflowing shopping cart of belongings. 

She was on our church property when our people arrived for morning worship. Only three of our attenders even spoke to her, with just one inviting her to join us for worship. She rudely declined. 

When the time came for me to accent the morning message, "Angelica Divine" surprisingly burst through the sanctuary doors with her shooping cart and talking quite loudly. She proceeded down the aisle and to the front where I finally revealed who she actually was -- one of us. It was a very powerful illustration for us to always see Jesus in "the least" likely of individuals.

Matthew 25:40 (NIV) “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’" --Jesus

Grateful