I was sitting in Starbucks today, doing some sermon preparation, and was given a visual sermon by someone else.
A young lady (in her early 20's) was sitting at a table, drinking her latte and talking on her cell phone. All of a sudden she dropped her phone and jumped out of her seat. It was so abrupt that it caught the attention of several of us sitting near by.
It turns out she had spotted an older gentleman walking through the store. The lid on his coffee cup was not on all the way and he was not aware of it. So she asked if she could help him with it. The man was very appreciative of the help, she fixed his cup and they both went on there way.
It got me thinking. How many times a day do we miss opportunities to help someone, even in a small way, because we have our agenda, appointments, phone calls, stress, etc.? Who knows what difference that small act of kindness and sensitivity made in that man's life and in the lives of the people that he came in contact with later?
It reminds me of another story. Two young men (high school age) entered a church to attend a service. They were late, the service had already started, and the place was packed. When they saw that, they turned around to leave, thinking that there was no room for them.
An usher, an older gentleman, saw them leaving and chased them down, invited them to come back and helped them find a seat. That night, in that service, those two young men gave their lives to Christ. One of them was named Billy Graham.
I bet that usher had no idea how that small act of kindness and sensitivity would impact the world. I'm sure he has since passed away and gone to heaven. Can you imagine the line of people, waiting to thank that usher for helping those two young men that night.
