Making a Practical Difference with a Cup
By Fred | Thursday, October 29, 2009
Matthew 10:42 – “I can guarantee this truth: Whoever gives any of my humble followers a cup of cold water because that person is my disciple will certainly never lose his reward.”
A couple of weeks ago we gave away a cup at the end of our Sunday message on “making a practical difference in the lives of other people.” The cup represented our potential to make a difference – what can you do with this cup, what can you fill it with, in order to make a practical difference to other people?
I was pleasantly surprised to see no cups lying around Theater 1 or the foyer after the service. That communicates to me that either everyone was really engaging with this challenge or that we have very efficient ushers (or somewhere in between?).
I’ve heard one story so far in response where one family held a drawn out conversation about what they could do with these cups, how they could respond. After bandying about several ideas, one family member mentioned the impact of the phone call with Pastor Doreen, who was in Malawi at the time. More specifically, they recalled that the people with whom the WOW mission team was working had no access to any Bibles whatsoever. This family decided to give sacrificially give to provide $500 for Bibles to the people in Malawi. Wow! What a long-term impact generated by the question: what can you do with this cup?
I anticipate hearing more stories about what people decided to do with their cups.
Tags: malawi WOW value
Category: Stuff
Comments (3)
Not everybody has money to give. There are many ways to fill the cup with joy. One of the easiest and most affordable ways to fill the cup is to simply express to another human being on the planet how much you care for them. Being a trucker I get around the city a lot and am continually shocked to see how many sad faces there are in the city. Everybody keeps their heads down. Nobody talks to each other. Shopkeepers get nervous when you enter their store late at night. The vibe of fear runs rampant through the entire city.
I had an occasion to meet a young lady who was buying a pizza slice at the same outlet I was in. Her face was sullen and she almost looked like she was going to cry. I looked at her for many long moments and was so confused how such a pretty young woman could be so sad. She caught on to the fact that I was staring at her and her eyes met mine. So I spoke with her!
Hello! How are you!? Nice to meet you. I’m Adam. What’s your name? Etc, etc, etc. Her facial expression changed from unhappy to very glad and we ended up having a wonderful 1/2 hour discussion with each other. Well this young lady isn’t from Ontario, I learned. She’s from Alberta.
Her final comment to me was: THANK YOU! She had been visiting Ontario and nobody anywhere would talk to her. She had begun to think that everybody in Ontario was stuck up and would never come back to Ontario again. Her own town, she commented, is very friendly and everybody talks to each other, even strangers.
Take a moment and reach out to a stranger. You’d be surprised how much you can affect somebody’s life with a very nice smile and a Hello, How are you? What’s your name? My name is such and such…
Adam Suhr.
That’s true, Adam. There are a lot of hurting people in the world, and there are a lot of people for whom money isn’t “the answer.”
When we handed the cups out, I certainly didn’t intend for people to understand that the only thing to put in it was money. I hope you’re not the only one that got that! : )
Oh Fred, not at all. I didn’t even think that in the first place. Many Faith groups that I’ve visited, however, center a lot on the idea of money to establish promotion of a better society. Clearly money is required to build a foundation for any church and also for the relevant materials in the promotion of a church.
Ultimately, however, the church is in the people and they come from many different walks of faith. My own faith group is usually flat broke! LOL! Yet we are a very united Family.
I was simply pointing out there are many ways to fill somebody else’s cup with joy. The trouble is, however, many people are afraid to approach a stranger and wish them well.