A funeral director asked a young minister to hold a grave side service for a homeless man with no family or friends. The funeral was to be at a cemetery way out in the country. This was a new cemetery, and this man was the first to be laid to rest there.

The minister was not familiar with the area and became lost. He finally found the cemetery about an hour later. The back hoe was there, and the crew was eating their lunch. The hearse was nowhere to be seen.

He apologized to the workers for being late. As he looked into the open grave, he saw the vault lid already in place. He told the workers he would not keep them long, but that this was the proper thing to do. The workers, still eating their lunch, gathered around the opening.

He was young and enthusiastic and poured out his heart and soul as he preached. The workers joined in with, “Praise the Lord,” “Amen,” and “Glory!” He got so into the service that he preached and preached and preached, from Genesis to Revelations.

When the service was over, he said a prayer and walked to his car. As he opened the door, he heard one of the workers say, “I never saw anything like that before, and I’ve been putting in septic systems for 20 years.”