The other day I stopped at a local restaurant to get a sandwich. I parked my car and was heading in to get lunch, when I saw a gentleman sitting on the curb with a bag in front of him.

He was bundled up from head to toe in what appeared to be multiple layers of heavy clothing.

I smiled and greeted him, saying ‘Hello,’ and then I headed on inside.

I was sitting at a table eating my French Dip sandwich when I saw the gentleman come inside and go stand in line at the counter.

Watching him standing there, it at first seemed as if he was being ignored by the staff, but then a young lady came up to help him.

I was there enjoying my lunch, when the gentleman approached me and with a smile on his face he handed me a gift card for a free lunch.

His bright smile for me was followed by these words, “Jesus loves you! God bless you, and have a good day!” And then he walked out the door.

As I watched him head out, I thanked him and then repeated his words back at him, “Jesus loves you too. Thank you so much!”

Sitting there in awe, I thought this gentleman appeared to be homeless, wearing maybe all of his clothes at one time, and he gave me a gift.

He gave me a gift!

‘Why me!’ Wondering if maybe I was the only one who saw him sitting there in the parking lot and took the time to smile and say ‘hello?’

Was that why he showed me this act of kindness?

When I looked out the window I didn’t see the man out there anymore.

Finishing my lunch, I put his gift in my pocket, and I headed out to my car. I looked for him out there but he was gone.

When I got home, I told Lynn about the gentleman and his gift.

“Did I just have an encounter with an Angel or was it Jesus in disguise?”

My wife and I talked about the encounter for awhile and then we went about our day.

But that man’s smile and his gift inspired me, blessed me, and has certainly stuck with me.

The Albanian nun, Mother Teresa, has long been a hero of mine.

She spent her adult life in service to the Lord Jesus Christ in the ghettos of Calcutta, India.

She and her fellow Sisters of Charity cared for and loved the homeless, the ones that society thought of as cast-offs, disposable, taking them in off the streets, bathing them, binding their wounds, feeding them and clothing them.

Mother Teresa wanted to share the love of Jesus with everyone she met.

She was barely five feet in height, but she was a Giant in my estimation.

Mother Teresa said, “Each person we meet is Jesus in disguise.”

She said, “I see Jesus in every human being, and I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene; I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus.”

For Mother Teresa, it was Jesus Christ who inspired her to serve others.

And I can say that has been my life’s engine as well, the motivating power behind my service to the Lord and to others.

Jesus has inspired me, empowered me, and has given me the goal to follow Him faithfully all the way to the finish line…even if I have to crawl on my hands and knees to cross it.

Mother Teresa’s mission was not so much to eliminate suffering, as it was to love those who suffer.

It wasn’t to build huge, shiny hospitals, but it was to give the dying a bed and a hand to hold in their final fleeting moments on earth.

Her mission was not so much to cure wounds and sores and disease, but it was to cure what she called the poverty of being “lonely, unwanted, unloved and uncared for.”

She served Jesus in service to others.

That has been my desire through the years as well.

The following prayer had been attributed to St. Francis of Assis.

And I pray this prayer for myself so as to better follow Jesus and love others.

“Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace,

“Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy;

“O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love.

“For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

Friend, don’t be afraid to say ‘hello’ to a stranger on the street.

Be kind to everyone you encounter.

Smile and be friendly. For you may be meeting “Jesus in Disguise.”