On Tuesday, I had a meeting scheduled first thing in the morning with a couple of other ministers from the area. A transient man stopped by the office right as the two ministers arrived. He had a need. It was very cold outside, and he was headed west into the wind. He said he was a missionary and asked if we could give him some hot water for the instant coffee he had with him. I invited him into the office kitchen area where we were each getting coffee for ourselves. It was obvious there was no need for him to make his own coffee since we had some perked and hot and ready to drink. He dug his travel mug out of his large duffel bag. I took the cup which smelled of instant soup. I washed it out as I considered the man's appearance and more importantly his eyes. He was a large man wearing dirty clothes and had a weathered face. But his eyes. It is said that the eyes are the window to the soul. The eyes that twinkled behind his cracked glasses were kind.
I filled His mug with fresh coffee, and he asked if there were some place where he could sit down out of the wind. We were headed into our meeting, so I directed him to a place in our church foyer where there were soft chairs to sit on and within ear shot of where we were having our meeting. A few minutes later, he poked his head around the corner and asked if we had any extra gospel tracts he could have. I went to our supply cabinet grabbed a few packets and handed them to him. He was gracious, thanked me, and sat down again. He finished his coffee, and slipped out the front door back on his journey west.
I sat preoccupied with the man's eyes all throughout the meeting. While he was there, I kept an ear open since our secretary was alone in the other room. Yet, I really didn't fear this man. After he left, my thoughts sojourned west with him. Earlier, he had asked if there were a cafe or restaurant in the direction he was headed. Our church building is three miles west of town and there was nothing between us and the next town 10 miles away. I thought of him knowing it was hours before he would reach the next town and a meal. I know that had we kept food at the church office I would have offered him what we had, but there wasn't anything. Perhaps there was some leftovers from our previous Wednesday night meal, but I wasn't thinking of that, I was thinking about my meeting. After all, we had important things to discuss.
This traveler has been gone for days from our church, and yet he has lingered in my mind. I still remember his eyes. There was another visitor the Lord would bring across my path later this week. And with him, would come a stinging rebuke. I will finish this story tomorrow. There still much to be said. Although you did not see him, peer with me into this man's eyes and consider what the Lord will say to you.
1 comment:
an angel, perhaps?
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