Mark 9:41 — For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.

A cup of water. Does it make so much difference then? Yes it does. 

At first glance this verse might seem like an oddly selfish proposition. Let’s analyze it, following Matthew Henry:

1. Christians are privileged to be in Christ’s family.
   
2. Being in Christ’s family may not prevent us from becoming so poor that we may even be grateful for a cup of cold water.
   
3. Helping Christ’s family is a good deed and He will accept it and reward it.
   
4. But that kindness must be done because we are Christ’s family — that is what makes it holy and valuable to God.
   
5. This is why we should not reject those who are good to the family — even if they are not in the family.

The proposition is anything but selfish. To be one of Christ’s disciples is to be prepared for whatever God chooses to provide, and to allow others to be His agents to meet some of our needs … to their eternal benefit. 

There is another aspect that suggests itself to me about this, and I know I might be stretching a little. But suppose Jesus looks at anybody in need and sees one of His children, one of His “little ones” which is what the parallel verse at Matthew 10:42 calls them. If that’s right then any charitable act — any “cup of water” will be rewarded. The idea appeals to me because there’s something going on that’s filling a lot of those cups of water. And in its way that’s a lot of worship going on, a lot of holy and valuable kindness.

Formally, I suppose, the movement would be called micro charity — indeed there is even a “dot com” called microcharity.com based in India. The idea is that lots of people make tiny donations that add up to substantial hope. There are other initiatives that I’m aware of. A local store that donates 10¢ every time a customer brings their own bag. Amazon has a “Smile” program that donates a fraction of every purchase. SurveyMonkey provides an option for donations when surveys are completed. None of the donations are more than that cup of water … but together they add up to a flood of kindness. All those people who are not in the family, being kind to the family, … unintentionally giving glory to God!