His Name is Tim
I was asked to do a F1A on James 2:1 only but I thought the verses that followed really painted the entire picture. When I read this passage, two stories came to mind. The one Chris Case recently shared about how Saul’s replacement for King of Israel was selected and the guidelines Samuel used but was quickly set straight on by the Lord in I Samuel 16:7 (NLT):
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
WOW! Have you ever been guilty of that, I know I sure have! The second story that came to mind when reading this passage I received in an email as a forward from my mom, it may be one you have seen before, but I had not. I don’t know the original author but the story brought tears to my eyes and left a lasting impression on my heart on how we can make others feel right at home no matter how they look or fail to conform to our “normal”:
His name is Tim. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans, and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college.
He is brilliant. Kind of profound and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college.
Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students but are not sure how to go about it..
One day Tim decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Tim starts down the aisle looking for a seat.
The church is completely packed and he can’t find a seat. By now, people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything.
Tim gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet.
By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick.
About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Tim.
Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves that you can’t blame him for what he’s going to do.
How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?
It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy.
The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man’s cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can’t even hear anyone breathing. The minister can’t even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do.
And now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty, he lowers himself and sits down next to Tim and worships with him so he won’t be alone.
Everyone chokes up with emotion…
When the minister gains control, he says, ‘What I’m about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget.’
I hope that we “never forget” as the minister says and that these stories stick with us as we have the opportunity to show God’s love to others in our day to day lives.
Christy, this brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing. I hope that I will remember when a “Tim” needs not to be alone.
This was an awesome read! Completely stirred my soul. Thanks!