As a young minister, I was asked by a funeral director to hold a graveside service for a homeless man with no family or friends. The funeral was to be held at a cemetery way back in the country, and this man would be the first to be laid to rest.
As I was not familiar with the back woods area, I soon became lost, and being a typical man did not stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late. I saw the backhoe and the crew, who was eating lunch, but the hearse was no where in sight.
I apologized to the workers for my tardiness, and stepped to the side of the open grave, where I saw the vault lid already in place. I assured the workers I would not hold them up for long, but this was the proper thing to do. The workers gathered around still eating lunch. I poured out my heart and soul. As I preached the workers began to say, "Amen," "Praise the Lord," and "Glory." I preached and preached like I'd never preached before, from Genesis all the way to Revelations.
I closed the lengthy service with a prayer and walked to my car. As I was opening the car door and taking off my coat, I overheard one of the workers saying to another, "I ain't ever seen anything like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for 20 years!"
