Today at church, the teen Sunday school teacher told us an interesting story. This is what I can remember of it:
There was this German man who used to fight on the German army in WW2. He escaped the battle and ran away to another country. While he was there, he took up the job as a floor sweeper at a particular church. He worked this job his whole life. He never said a word, he just did his job. He would observe the people around him and their lives. All he did his whole life was sweep and observe. One day there was this really amazing evangelist, named Peter who came up to him and asked him a series of questions. “Where did you come from?” “What do you like to do?” “Tell me about your family” So the German man answered these questions and said that he used to be a painter in Germany. The evangelist was surprised. So he asked the man to paint his portrait. At first he was reluctant, but after much begging, he agreed. But he made the evangelist promise that he won’t look at it until it is completely finished. So Peter sat week after week as the painter painted his portrait. This took very long and many weeks had passed. Peter asked day after day if the painter was finished. He replied, “Almost, it’s just not quite finished”. So one day, as the painter was painting the evangelist, the evangelist’s wife was standing in the doorway and the painter didn’t see her. She saw the painting and shrieked. “This painting is horrible!!” The evangelist was confused. He asked to see the painting. The German painter replied, “Sure, but it’s still not finished”. When the evangelist saw the painting, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The painting looked terrible! He asked the painter why he had painted him that way. The painter replied, “all my life, I have been observing people and how they live. How they act everyday and what they do. I realized that it was the truth of God that made them as they are. So as I observed the people I wondered what they would be like without God, and this is what I see.” He finished motioning to the painting.
(This is not the painting)
There was this German man who used to fight on the German army in WW2. He escaped the battle and ran away to another country. While he was there, he took up the job as a floor sweeper at a particular church. He worked this job his whole life. He never said a word, he just did his job. He would observe the people around him and their lives. All he did his whole life was sweep and observe. One day there was this really amazing evangelist, named Peter who came up to him and asked him a series of questions. “Where did you come from?” “What do you like to do?” “Tell me about your family” So the German man answered these questions and said that he used to be a painter in Germany. The evangelist was surprised. So he asked the man to paint his portrait. At first he was reluctant, but after much begging, he agreed. But he made the evangelist promise that he won’t look at it until it is completely finished. So Peter sat week after week as the painter painted his portrait. This took very long and many weeks had passed. Peter asked day after day if the painter was finished. He replied, “Almost, it’s just not quite finished”. So one day, as the painter was painting the evangelist, the evangelist’s wife was standing in the doorway and the painter didn’t see her. She saw the painting and shrieked. “This painting is horrible!!” The evangelist was confused. He asked to see the painting. The German painter replied, “Sure, but it’s still not finished”. When the evangelist saw the painting, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The painting looked terrible! He asked the painter why he had painted him that way. The painter replied, “all my life, I have been observing people and how they live. How they act everyday and what they do. I realized that it was the truth of God that made them as they are. So as I observed the people I wondered what they would be like without God, and this is what I see.” He finished motioning to the painting.
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