Two brothers in a small town had a reputation for bad behavior. But they were rich enough to avoid the consequences.
The pastor of the local church knew them well and tried to find the good in both of them, although this was next to impossible.
One day, one of the brothers died suddenly. The other came to the church and asked the pastor to speak at his funeral.
"To be honest, I wouldn't know what to say," the pastor replied.
The brother took out his checkbook. "I'm writing you a check for $10,000 for the church renovations you are always talking about. All you have to do is tell everyone at the funeral that my brother was a saint."
The pastor thought for a moment, then accepted the check.
At the funeral, the pastor stood before the townspeople who had come to see the last of one of their disliked neighbors.
"I didn't know this man well," the pastor said. "I do know that he cheated on his wife, and cheated everyone he did business with. But I can say one thing about him: Compared to his brother, he was a saint."