A Lesson from Timothy
“For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.” — Mark 9:41 (NRSV)
One day several years ago, I was pulling through the drive-through at the local Wendy’s. An older employee who looked vaguely familiar was doing maintenance tasks outside and walked up to the car. “Pastor!” he said, “I want you to know that I’m following the plan we discussed, and it’s working for me!” I was taken aback. I admit I had no idea what he was talking about. I stammered, “Hey, Im glad it’s working — God’s blessings!” before pulling forward. As I thought it through, I vaguely remembered a conversation with him a year or so earlier. At that point, the offices of a local shelter agency were at the church, and so we saw a lot of people experiencing homelessness. It wasn’t unusual for me to have sit-down conversations with clients when they asked. We would talk over the next couple of years whenever I saw him. I apologized and asked his name again, which was Tim. From what I’ve put together, we had some conversation and prayer about getting into housing (through a Housing First program), getting help from the agency, and then finding a job. Our talk and prayer evidently greatly impacted him, although I could barely remember the initial conversation.
I went into Wendy’s today, and there was a picture of him on the counter. I asked after him — he passed away several months ago — he was very beloved by his fellow employees (as you can see from the photo). I’ll miss seeing him around, but the lesson he taught me will always remain with me.
For those of us who are ministers of the Gospel and those in other helping professions, it’s often hard to see the results of what we do. We talk to people, we teach, we preach. Very seldom do we see the direct impact of our work. Sometimes, we put days of preparation into something, believing it will have a huge impact, and then no one gives feedback — that can be super frustrating. But sometimes you do something that seems so minor, like a twenty-minute conversation with a person experiencing homelessness, that turns out to change the entire direction of someone’s life.
Tim’s gone to his creator, but his gift to me remains. Any time I am wondering if what I do matters, I can remember Tim and that even the “cup of water to drink” of a friendly, prayer-filled conversation can have a life-changing impact.
Thank you, Tim. Move from strength to strength in God’s glory.
A Lesson from Timothy was originally published in Preaching from the Rood Screen on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.