Jeff was the janitor at the grade school, just down the street a few blocks from where he lived. Jeff hated his job, he didn’t care for the kids there either. They seen him only as someone in the way, making it harder to get down the crowded hallways to their next class. A couple kids he did like, Sam was one of them. Sam would talk to him like he was somebody instead of a nobody, Sam liked to talk a lot. Sometimes they would even walk home together, Sam lived on the same street, only a block closer to the school. Sam called the janitor Mr. Jeff, to everyone else he was just the janitor.
Sam of course had his troubles at school too, Children would always find a reason to pick on some of the other kids. This week it was rhyming names like, Earl, he’s a squirrel. Kate, bake me a cake. Today the other children started on Sam by saying - Sam I am, Hey Sam I Am. Sam heard that all day long in every class.
Sam was looking forward to getting out of school today and going on his paper route. Sam rode a black bike to deliver his paper with , he kept that bike shinning by washing and waxing it at least once a week. Sam would even wax it in the winter time. Sam’s paper route took about one hour to deliver all of the papers. Sam would stop and talk to people on his route, So it took him twice as long when he talked a lot.
When Sam finished his paper route, he went home to eat supper. Sam’s grandfather was there to visit today. After supper Sam and his grandfather sat on the front porch and talked a while. Sam told his grandfather about the other children mocking him saying Sam I Am.
His grandfather said, Let me show you something in the Bible Sam. He opened his Bible to where God was talking to Moses by the burning bush. See here Sam, God called himself "I am." Sam said, Wow.
Sam’s grandfather knew a lot about the Bible, he had been a Deacon in his church for 25 years. Sam said, Grandfather I bet God is proud of you and you will be real important in heaven when you get there. Grandfather said, No, not me, I’d be lucky if I get the job of sweeping the streets of gold.
Sam was thinking about what his grandfather had said on the porch when he saw the janitor the next day in school. He asked the janitor if he was a Christian? The janitor said, No, they don’t let people like me in church, I don’t have enough money to put in the offering plate. Sam said, They would in the church I go to, a lot of people don’t put any money in the offering plate.
Sam said, My grandfather is a deacon in his church and he said, it would be great if he could even be a janitor in heaven. The janitor said, I don’t have cable TV at my house. Sam said, Neither do I , but what does that have to do with going to church? The janitor said , My wife wants cable TV to watch and we can’t afford it. So I asked God for Cable TV and if he would give me and my wife cable TV, then we would come to church.
Sam said, Thats not how it works, you are not suppose to try and tempt God, besides that, he doesn’t hear your prayers if your not saved, you can only get in touch with God by prayer if you are one of his, or if you are asking to be saved by Jesus. God has caller ID, if you call on God and your not someone he knows, The caller ID shows up "Sinner" and he doesn’t answer the phone. But if your one of his, it shows up who you are, and God picks up the phone before it even rings.
The janitor said, Sam you ask for cable and if you get it, I’ll go to church with you someday. Sam said No that would still be trying to tempt God, I’m not going to ask for cable TV. The janitor said, That’s because you know you wouldn’t get cable TV even if you asked for it, just like I didn’t get cable TV when I asked for it. Sam said, I’m glad I’m not the one that turned down Heaven over Cable TV.
The janitor said, It would just be my luck, if I did get to heaven, I’d get the job of janitor there too. Sam said, If you don’t turn yourself over to Jesus, you might become Satan’s janitor, I bet it’s real messy down there. The rest of the day those words laid heavy on the janitors mind.
The janitor went home that night with it still on his mind. He told his wife: Lets go to church tonight, its Wednesday night, it wouldn’t be like real church. She asked what had suddenly got into him, they still didn’t have cable TV? He said, Well cable TV is not everything dear, I think it wouldn’t hurt us to go tonight.
His wife called Sam’s mother to see what time church started and what to wear? Sam’s mother said, We don’t dress up, come in a dress that’s what everyone else does. When Sam heard his mother tell him about the janitor and his wife going to church he wanted to wait for them out in front of the doors to welcome them in.
Sam went to church early and asked to be the usher and hand out the church bulletins as the people came in. The deacon said, Sure Sam, that would be nice. So Sam was at the door where the janitor and his wife arrived. He said, I’ll show you where to sit, its close to where I always sit, up in the front. The janitor said, How about some place in the back?
The preacher started the service. He said You know, come judgment day when your standing in front of God all mighty. Your not going to make it in to heaven if you don’t have Jesus as your Lawyer. We all know who the prosecutor will be, Satan, that’s who.
Satan is a tattle tell, he’ll tell everything on you that you have ever done in your life. Satan will tell it all, stuff you forgot about. I’m sure all of us here has done things we wouldn’t want our mothers to know about, or for anyone else to find out about. Satan is going to tell everybody everything you ever did. Satan is going to tell on you like you have never been told on before.
Satan has a video tape, showing you was drinking out of the milk jug when you said you wasn’t. Satan will say see, thats you lying to your momma.
You know you can’t get in heaven after lying to your momma all your life. You have to confess now, you can’t lie. Satan, will tell, not only about you drinking out of the milk jug, but everything else you did too. The list of charges against you will be longer than Santa Clause’s list for Christmas toys. If Jesus is not your Lawyer your going to be found guilty of everyone of those charges, and sent to hell for an eternal life sentence with out a chance of parole.
But if Jesus is your lawyer, this is how it will go, Satan will start to open his mouth to tell on you. Jesus will say: Objection! I paid for all his sins, his record is white as snow, I move he be set free and allowed into heaven. Satan will say But, But, But. God will say Silence, hold Thy tongue Satan. That’s God’s way of saying Shut up Devil, nobody is talking to you!
Then God will say This is my son, in whom I am well pleased. Sense he is yours Jesus, let him through the pearly Gates into heaven. As you are going through the gates into Heaven you will be singing. "Jesus dropped the charges, Jesus dropped the charges, A-men." But if you don’t know Jesus, and Jesus doesn’t know you, then you will be going through different gates, the gates of hell. You can’t get to Heaven by your self, you have to know Jesus to get in.
It’s a private Club for members only, if you ain’t a member, your not getting in, no way, no how. You better be getting your name written down in the book of life brother. You don’t want to be standing at the Gate and hear, No I don’t see your name written down in the book , there is no you listed here. It’s to late then, Satan will drag you off and throw you in the lake of fire before you can say a word.
Thats all I got to say tonight, you know your choices,.. up, or down. Then the preacher said: Piano player, play "Just As I Am with out one Plea" give anyone that is lost here tonight a chance to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and savior, don’t listen to Satan saying do it later, you got plenty of time to think about it. Brother I tell you your time has run out, its time to get down on your knee’s and pray for forgiveness.
Piano Player, Play that song and play it loud, so people in the street passing by can here it too. Wake up the whole neighbor hood an let everybody know Jesus is saving people right here tonight.
The janitor and his wife just stood there in the back silently. They thought about going forward, but it would be too embarrassing to walk up front with everyone watching. Sam said, Sometimes you only get one chance.
When church was dismissed a lot of people invited the janitor and his wife to come back and visit again on Sunday. When Sunday Morning came around the janitor decided to stay home and wash his car instead. He loved that old car, it was a classic. When he had finished washing and waxing the car, he and his wife sat in the front yard in lawn chairs enjoying the warm summers day.
After noon, the Henderson’s was having a Bar-BQ in their front yard, a lot of people were there for the meal. The janitors wife noticed a large bird circling high in the sky over head, she said, Is that an eagle dear? The janitor looked up and said, No its a buzzard, they circle like that, eagles don’t.
She saw Sam coming up the street on his bicycle, she said, We’ll ask Sam when he gets here, he’s young and has good eyes. Just before Sam reached the front of the janitors house, the bird went into a dive towards the ground. The janitor said, It’s a hawk, only a hawk can dive like that, I read they dive at over 200 miles an hour.
She said Thats the biggest bird I have ever seen. A speeding car came sliding around the corner street, they heard police sirens in the distance. The car was heading straight for Sam on his bicycle, there wasn’t time to call out and warn Sam, all they could do was watch in horror. Sam was in the middle of the street on his bicycle, blocked on either side by cars, one of which was the janitor’s classic car that he had just shinned up.
Just as the speeding car, that was out of control, hit the bicycle, an angel swooped down and picked Sam up. It was not an eagle or a buzzard, or even a hawk after all. It was Sam’s guardian angel that was circling over head, then dived to save Sam from the speeding car.
The speeding car smashed into the janitor’s car, then both cars bursted into flames while Sam was still in the air. The angel set Sam gently to the ground on a neighbors lawn a few houses down, then flew off again. The police cars that had been chasing the speeding vehicle arrived.
The janitor and his wife ran to where Sam was still laying. The people at the bar-BQ across the street gathered to watch as the police tried to get to the driver of the burning car. The heat kept them back, they could not pull the man from the burning car that he was trapped in.
The smell of burning flesh soon filled the neighborhood air. The fire trucks arrived and put out the flames. Sam was all right, not even a scratch. The police got statements from everyone that seen what had happened, the police took lots of pictures. All of the statements were the same, except for the janitor and his wife, they told about how the angel had swooped down and carried Sam to safety. No one said anything but they thought the two of them had been out in the Sun too long and had started seeing things.
Sam was the only one that believed what they had said, Sam didn’t say exactly why or tell about what he had seen. Sam said, The Lord is trying to tell you something Mr. & Mrs. Jeff, he wants you to go to church and hear his word, not to stay home and wax your car.
The janitor and his wife went to Sam’s church that night. They didn’t see Sam there in church anywhere. The preacher stood in front of the church and began to preach. He said, This after noon a man robbed a liquor store, he shot and killed the man working in the liquor store. The Police chased the man as he speeded through town in an attempt to get away. He had the money in a sac beside of him in the car.
The money was the only thing this man cared about, he had killed in cold blood to get the money. A few blocks after the police started giving chase, a man was walking his dog across the street. Police said, The man in the car speeded up in an attempt to run the man and his dog down. It turned out this was a blind man and his seeing eye dog.
A white dove flew in the open window of the car and startled the man, he swerved a little, just missing the blind man and his dog. He continued on at high speed, he was going over 90 miles an hour when he came around the corner of Hunter street, where Sam, a member of our church was in the middle of the street on his bicycle. The only thing between Sam on his bicycle and this car coming straight at him at 90 miles an hour, was God.
The preacher came out from behind the podium with the mangled burned up remains of Sam’s bicycle. He said, This is what sin can do. Then Sam, the blind man and his seeing eye dog came out of the side door in front of the church and stood beside of the preacher. The preacher said, This is what God can do for you.
He can save you when no one else can. The police couldn’t save them from the speeding car, 37 people at a Bar-BQ across the street from Sam couldn’t save Sam, not even his closest friend in the world, the janitor from his school, sitting right there in the yard with his wife, they couldn’t save Sam, or even call out to warn Sam.
But God saved Sam. The side door opened again, 37 people walked out and stood around Sam, the blind man his dog and preacher. The preacher walked back behind the podium and pulled out a license plate and held it up for all to see. The preacher said, These 37 people was at a Bar-BQ, in a yard across from where the speeding car had came around the corner. It was out of control as the driver tried to make the turn.
The police determined from the skid marks left on the pavement. That the speeding car would have crashed into the middle of the people gathered together for the Bar-BQ. He said, But a freshly waxed car was sitting between them and the speeding car, and thats what saved all those people.
He said, God saved in all, 39 people and a seeing eye dog. The preacher said, I didn’t tell you how Sam was saved. Sam would you tell how God saved you? Sam said, I didn’t see the speeding car, or the angel that carried me to safety. My friend from school and his wife were the only ones that saw the angel that saved me.
I did see Satan get out of the burning car, dragging the driver out along with him. The driver was kicking and screaming, and he was still on fire, burning all over. He was trying to get loose from Satan but couldn’t. It was a terrible thing to see, I would have liked to have seen the angel, so I could have thanked him. Then Sam rejoined the others standing there.
The blind man stepped forward, he said, Tim was a friend of mine, he was the man that was shot and killed at the liquor store this afternoon. I had just left from talking with Tim at the store. I had been trying to get Tim to come to church with me for a long time. He was a good man, but he had never been saved. He said he would come to church someday, but he never did, he always had something else to do, last Sunday it was waxing his car.
He said I’ve been blind my whole life, I’ve never seen another persons face or even my own for that matter. I hear people say God is not real because they can’t see him. Well if that were true, none of you are real either, because I can’t see you. But you are real, even if I can’t see you. I sense you all around me, sometimes I hear you, when your real close I can feel your breath against my face.
They say blind people have increased hearing and touch, to make up for the lost sight. But I don’t think so, I think we just pay more attention. People say how can you have faith in a God you can’t see, to lead you through every day life? I tell them I can’t see my dog either, but he leads me across streets in rush hour traffic. They said, That’s normal, he is a seeing eye dog.
I tell them If a dog can lead a man through all the dangers in life and do such a great job. Think what God can do, if you let him lead you in your life.
The blind man walks back and stands beside of Sam. The preacher walks back up in front of the church, He said, Blind people really do have more faith in their seeing eye dogs than some people have in God. When the dog signals them to stop at the curb, the blind man stops. When God signals people to stop at the curb, they go on out in the street anyway. Then when they are laying in the middle of the road and have been run over a few times, they say Why did you let me get run over God?
If you don’t listen and stay on the curb when God tells you too, you can expect to get run over. And if you just lay there, more cars will run over you. Cars will keep running over you if you stay there! Get back on the curb with God and stay there this time. Satan will try and get you to go back out there again, Satan will say: I think you can make it this time.
Then you step off the curb again more cars run over you, there you are laying in the middle of the street run over again. Then you run back on the curb with God and say I’m not going to listen to Satan any more, I’ll just listen to you God from now on.
A few minutes later, there you are back out there in street run over again, you listened to Satan and got off the curb again. I ask you, how may times must you get run over before you pay attention to what God tells you to do?
Thats all I got to say. Where is that piano player at? Play us some Get Saved music! Lets her "Give Me That Old Time Religion." If your lost out there today come up here and stand on the curb with me and God, get out of the middle of the street where Satan sent you out to get you run over. Get back on the curb with God.
The janitor and his wife walked up to where the preacher was, they said, We want to walk with God, were tired of being run over in the street every day of our life. The preacher said, You have to ask Jesus to come into your heart and give your life over to him to lead you.
And so they did. Sam said, I didn’t think you was ever going to see the light, my grandpa can’t take care of sweeping all of the Golden Streets in heaven by himself, he needs a janitor just like you , I hope God lets me be a janitor too.
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