Pass The Cheer

Last week I was impressed by an article on Pastor Ken Pierpont's website. (Read Six Cars Back.)

He had written about doing kind things in Jesus' name. And he told a story about his wife being at Starbucks and the person in the drive-thru had paid for the coffee behind them and that person passed it on and this kind deed went on for six cars.

It was such a sweet story. One person receiving a blessing and instead of keeping to themselves, passing it to the next person.

I was impressed and purposed to do that the next time I went to Starbucks.

So yesterday after I ordered my Carmel Macchiato I told the guy at the window that I was also paying for the person behind me. He was taken aback. "What, do you know him or something?" he asked me. "No." I said. "Wow! You're awesome" he replied. I told him Merry Christmas and drove away. As I pulled around I could see the mans face when he was told he was getting a free cup of coffee. he honked his horn in thanks to me. I honked back to let him know I heard and that he was welcome. When I stopped at the stoplight his truck was next to me. He held up his coffee cup and mouthed "Thank you, that was really nice of you." He was so grateful and you could tell it was so unexpected. I mouthed back. "You're welcome, Merry Christmas."

It felt so good to do something for somebody else especially when they can't repay you for it. You see, we live in a "me" centered world. People don't do nice things for strangers. Now I'm not trying to say. "Ooh, look at me. I am such a great person, look at what I did." I'm not. But I did want to share with you the joy that comes from doing random acts of kindness.

When was the last time you went to Starbucks? Did you take a good look at the people around you? If you did you probably noticed that most of these people have something in common with each other, they are unhappy and tired. Maybe you saw a middle aged gentleman ordering something with a couple extra shots of espresso hoping that this jump start would be enough to get him through a crazy morning? Maybe you saw a high-maintenance twenty year old girl ordering a "perfume coffee" hoping it would wake her up so she can get through class? Maybe you saw a you saw a stressed out mother who can barely keep her head above water and this coffee break is the only thing keeping her sane? So you see, we might never meet these people but we can show them the love and kindness that Jesus would show to them.

Mark 9:41 says:

Whoever gives a cup of water (or coffee) to drink in my name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly I say to you, he will by no means loose his reward

This is my encouragement to you today: Go and do something in Jesus' name, and pass the cheer.

Abbe