At the small church that I once served in North Carolina, I collected the offering plates from the ushers during worship one Sunday morning, only to discover a set of car keys in one of the plates. Although greatly curious about the keys, I was unable to satisfy my curiosity since I was right smack dab in the middle of a worship service.
The first person to greet me following worship was Phillip. Phillip was one of those people in whom it was not always easy to see the face of Jesus. His life seemed to be an extended movement from one crisis to another. He regularly demanded more of my time than I was willing to give.
“Preacher,” Phillip said to me that day, “did you see my car keys in the offering plate?”
“Yes I did, Phillip. What’s that all about?”
“That’s my offering to God this week,” he answered. I must have looked perplexed at that point. “Don’t you get it,” he asked. “I’m giving my 1982 Honda Civic to the church. It has 119,000 miles on it, but it still runs. I got me another car a few days ago, so I thought I’d give the Honda to the church. I figured I’d help the church to sell it so that the church could use the money for something special.”
That, by the way is precisely what we did. Phillip sold the car for $1,100, then gave the money to the church. That money paid for the church’s Sunday School curriculum for the next two years.
“Phillip,” I said to him, “what made you want to give your car to the church instead of trading it in?” His response was significant. “Well,” he said, “five months ago, this church opened its doors and invited me to come inside. Four months ago, this church put water on my head, baptized me, and made me feel like I belonged. Two months ago, this church gave me a new Bible, so that I could learn more about God. And one month ago, this church gave my family groceries when I was between jobs.”
Tears began to form in his eyes. “This church has been giving me stuff for five months,” Phillip said. “But today, I wanted to be the giver for a change. When I prayed about it, the Lord helped me to see that my 1982 Honda Civic was the best gift that I could offer. So that’s what I’m giving.”
How eccentric and beautiful the Holy Spirit is! He is a Spirit who speaks, even through a disenfranchised soul like Phillip, thereby blindsiding an unsuspecting preacher, and thereby teaching a congregation something significant about what it means to honor God with our very best gifts.
Wow…that is cool and a story I needed to hear about now…thanks.
Very cool story, but I feel it necessary to mention that my college roommate had the exact same car, but NEW and oh so very cool. It was a car that I would be proud to drive today, but a different color, of course. I wish my gift’s to God were as honorable and worthy as the aforementioned gift that Phillip offered! A lesson we all can learn from! Thanks.