abundance

So. Much. Bread.

/ JJS / 1 Comment

somuchbread

Today’s readings:
Psalms 96; 147:1-11, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Galatians 4:21-31, Mark 8:11-26

If we experienced an event – not once but twice – where a few loaves and fishes miraculously fed a multitude, would it have a lasting impact on us?

Today’s Gospel reading takes place after that second feeding of the multitudes, yet the disciples don’t seem quite able to process the meaning of what has happened. Does their thick-headedness frustrate us? Certainly Jesus felt frustrated as his time on earth grew shorter and his need to teach them more urgent. When they later mistake Jesus’s metaphor of yeast for yet another bread shortage, he responds:

“Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and fail to see? Do you have ears and fail to hear? And do you not remember? […] Do you not yet understand?”

In other words, “What are you not getting about all this bread?!”

While the disciples were amazed both times the loaves and fishes multiplied, they failed to internalize the accompanying lesson: God’s abundance frees us for concerns beyond bread. It seems the impact of miracles on our faith and spiritual maturity is fleeting at best. This is an easy lesson to forget, because so many “ministries” promise a life full of miracles if we pray, repent, or donate enough. So much so, that when we don’t experience logic-defying miracles in our lives, we think something is wrong. Signs and wonders, or more accurately the lack of them, become an impediment to faith.

Who can say with authority why, when, or if miracles happen? They don’t define our faith – if they did, wouldn’t miracles alone have been sufficient for the disciples? Rather, Gospel miracles illustrate what life is like in God’s kingdom.

Apart from the odd cursed fig tree, Jesus’s miracles are about healing, abundance, and wholeness. We don’t have to be able to cure by laying on hands to contribute to this kingdom. When we forgive others, nurture the sick and feed the hungry, or embrace the alienated, we build God’s kingdom. When we live in Christ, each of us is a miracle waiting to bless the world.

Comfort: Our God is abundant in love and grace.

Challenge: God’s abundance can be expressed through our generosity; ask yourself where you might be more generous.

Prayer: Thank you God for filling me with the Bread of Life and satisfying me with Living Waters. Amen.

Discussion: Sadly, many people are genuinely in need of bread and clean water. How would you speak with them about God’s abundance?

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Thanks In Advance

/ JJS / Leave a comment

steadfastlove

Today’s readings:
Psalms 12; 146, Isaiah 52:1-12, Galatians 4:12-20, Mark 8:1-10

From childhood we are taught to sprinkle conversations with a generous seasoning of “thank yous” until they become more of a reflex than a thoughtful response. But why do we say “Thank you?”

Usually we say it after we’ve received something, such as a gift or a compliment,  but the sentiment behind our thanks can vary in meaning. Maybe most of the time we are genuinely grateful for what we’ve received. Other times we are humbled. And then there are those times we feel unworthy of what we’ve been given. Like many phrases which seem simple and easy to interpret, “Thank you” can turn out to be quite complicated.

When Jesus asked the disciples to feed thousands of people with a few fish and loaves of bread (for the second time), he began the meal by giving thanks to God. This may seem little different than the grace said before a church pot luck, but there is one important difference: Jesus hadn’t received anything yet. When we say grace in advance of a meal, we know there is a meal waiting to be had. For what was Jesus thankful? Perhaps for the faith that God would provide.

Some people believe pre-emptively thanking God or the universe is a formula for actualizing your desires. Beginning from a place of thanks is simpler than that: it helps us acknowledge that what we have is enough – and when we have enough we find it easier to share with those who do not.

The origin of saying grace is tied to meals because long ago before eating (and before the FDA) people would pray the food would not literally kill them. What if we said a prayer of thanks before a wider range of activities? Thanking God for the time, money, resources, and love in our lives – in advance of the time we receive, need, or share them – can greatly improve our attitudes and outlook.

Let’s not reserve our thanksgiving until after we have received. Let’s give thanks in advance for whatever it is God may place in our lives, and we will be prepared to put those gifts to use in ways beyond imagining.

Comfort: Gratitude can change your life.

Challenge: Even on bad days, try to find one thing for which you can offer a prayer of thanks.

Prayer: Thank you for being a loving and generous God. I will trust in your abundance. Amen.

Discussion: What do you take for granted?

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Whom do you trust?

/ JJS / 2 Comments

godalone

Today’s readings:
Psalms 62; 145, Isaiah 51:17-23, Galatians 4:1-11, Mark 7:24-37

Trust is at the core of faith. Whom (or what) we trust reveals where our true faith lies. We can say and believe we trust God, but when pressed, do we turn to God… or to something else? Under trying circumstances, do we grow more generous in response to the increased needs of others, or do we cling more tightly to what we have? Do we trust our savior or our financial advisor? Psalm 62 warns us not to trust in increased riches, but we often place practicality above generosity.

Jesus himself accepted advice that living a life of abundance means not hoarding resources, especially spiritual ones. When a Syrophoenician woman asked him to heal her demon-possessed daughter, he responded by saying it wasn’t fair to throw the children’s food to the dogs. The children were the Jewish people, and the dogs – an insulting term in his culture – were the Gentiles. When the woman reminded him even the dogs got crumbs that fell on the floor, he relented and healed her daughter.

In that moment, Jesus displayed trust in a God abundant enough to transcend his mission among the Jews. Do we trust God’s abundance enough to be open to those who are strangers or even foes to us, or does a narrow vision of our mission limit what God can accomplish through us?

Sometimes we need to undergo some self-examination to understand where we place our trust. Paul reminds the Galatians that a person who trusts in anything other than God, such as the Law or superstition, becomes enslaved to that thing. Today we may cling to the law instead of love, or make idols of creeds or ideas. We may define ourselves by our looks, popularity, intelligence, wealth or any number of things which are impermanent at best, rather than by our relationship with God. If we lost any of these – or all of them! – tomorrow, we would still have God.

What things are we enslaved to; that is, what unworthy things divert our trust from God? Let’s trust God now, so we have nothing to regret later.

Comfort: When everyone and everything are gone, God remains.

Challenge: Meditate on what you really trust. When you begin to fear or worry, remind yourself to trust God.

Prayer: God of abundance, I place my trust in You. Amen.

Discussion: When have you been disappointed by something you thought you could rely on?

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No Excuses

/ JJS / 1 Comment

1456963310560

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 27; 147:12-20, Genesis 46:1-7, 28-34, 1 Corinthians 9:1-15, Mark 6:30-46

In what ways are we humans responsible to each other? This question produces heated debates about public policy for everything from healthcare to school lunches to seat belt laws to immigration. While one side cries “nanny state” and the other cries “class warfare” both seem less interested in compassion than in domination. People of faith can not look to secular leaders – even Christian ones – for answers about how to respond to God’s call to compassion. Fortunately, we have Christ as our guide.

When Jesus led his disciples to what he hoped would be a place of rest, and instead found a great crowd already waiting, he didn’t complain or look for a different place. Rather, “he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.” Compassion drove him even when he sought rest. Does our own compassion take precedence over our immediate fears and desires, or is it a slave to budgets, calendars, and convenience? It is tempting to make excuses when compassion asks for more than we want to give, especially to strangers. Compassion can be inconvenient, and may make demands of us when we are tired, hungry, or poor ourselves.

When the disciples asked Jesus to send that same crowd into town so they could find dinner, his response was: “You give them something to eat.” The disciples’ first reaction was to claim they couldn’t afford food for everyone. How often have we answered the call to compassion with similar excuses? Yet Jesus only asked them to give what was at hand, which turned out to be more than enough. He didn’t ask them to evaluate who was truly deserving, or to run a stewardship campaign to determine what resources were available. He trusted that God would use the gifts of the people to provide what was needed.

We can try to instill fairness, wisdom and compassion into secular society and government, but in the end Jesus is telling each of us: “you feed them” (or clothe them, or heal them, or help them). Will we respond with compassion or an excuse?

Comfort: The gifts you already possess are enough to make an important difference to someone.

Challenge: Of course you can’t be all things to all people at all times, but also try not to let yourself off the hook by dismissing what you have to offer.

Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for the gifts you have entrusted to me. Please bless me with the strength and will to use them in your service. Amen.

Discussion: In what ways are you stingy with your compassion? What excuses do you make for not using your gifts?

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Attitude of Abundance

/ JJS / 5 Comments

GRASPFUTURE

Today’s readings (click below to open in a new tab/window):
Psalms 88; 148, Genesis 17:15-27, Hebrews 10:11-25, John 6:1-15

Our culture promotes irony and cynicism. These can be useful and enlightening, but many times they simply mask an underlying state of fear. When push comes to shove, we tend to hoard the resources we have rather than trust them to God’s abundance. Even in faith communities simple optimism is often characterized as simple-mindedness.

God told Abraham and Sarah, at 100 and 90 years old respectively, they would conceive a child. Abraham laughed in disbelief. When their son was born, they did as God had instructed and named him Isaac, meaning “he laughs.” With God in the mix, irony became hope.

When thousands gathered at the Sea of Galilee to hear Jesus preach, he asked his disciple Philip where they could buy bread to feed everyone. We don’t know if Phillip laughed, but it’s easy to imagine a dismissive chuckle when he told Jesus they would need more than six months’ wages to buy enough food. And it seems likely there might have been some eye rolling when Andrew mentioned a boy with five loaves of bread and two fish. Yet from this tiny bit, upon Christ’s instructions, they managed to feed everyone with twelve baskets left over.

At first glance the common theme between these stories seem to be that God is most visibly present in the impossible. Unfortunately this idea pushes God outside our normal expectations into a realm where we can only experience his blessings through reality-warping events.

An important lesson in these stories is that God has created us not be starved by fear and doubt, but to feast on possibilities and faith. The approach we take affects the quality of our lives, and the lives of others. More than a simple “can-do” attitude, faith that God’s world is abundant opens us up to true generosity. If we stop worrying that what we have is not enough, we grow comfortable with being generous even in uncertain times. Individuals with this faith can have a positive impact, and communities that cultivate this attitude will find endless doors opening. Behind them is revealed God’s presence in our everyday lives.

The world teaches fear. An abundant faith – focusing not on scarcity and stinginess, but on hope and generosity – is countercultural and revolutionary. Live on the edge.

Comfort: You need less than you think you do. You can give more than you think you have.

Challenge: Embrace hope.

Prayer: Loving God, please help me to remember there is far more to your gifts in the world – seen and unseen – than I could ever comprehend. I will trust you. Amen.

Discussion: In what areas of your life – money, time, affection, etc. – do you take an approach of scarcity? How can you become more generous?

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Multiplied

/ JJS / Leave a comment

chef-s-exposition-1325027

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 51; 148, Ezra 7:27-28, 8:21-36, Revelation 15:1-8, Matthew 14:13-21

When we think about the origin of Holy Communion, we generally reflect on the Last Supper, or the Words of Institution from the Gospels or 1 Corinthians. These passages recollect Jesus comparing the bread and wine to his body and blood, and asking his disciples to remember him by doing the same.

Yet the association between Jesus and bread doesn’t begin with the Last Supper. In John’s Gospel, Jesus refers to himself as the Bread of Life. And in all four Gospels, we read the story of feeding the multitudes with loaves and fishes. In two of them, it happens a second time.

In Matthew’s telling of the first feeding, the disciples were ready to dismiss the crowd because it was late and everyone was hungry. Instead Jesus told the disciples to feed them. The disciples, having only five loaves and two fish, were naturally skeptical but did as he ordered. As the familiar story goes there were a dozen baskets of food left over after five thousand men plus women and children ate their fill.

Isn’t this the essence of the church in action? We don’t dismiss people in need to return after they’ve fended for themselves, but greet them with inclusive hospitality. Even more, we meet those needs trusting not in numbers and naysayers but in the power of Christ to multiply our efforts beyond what we can imagine on our own. And through all of it, we share the message of the Kingdom of Heaven in both word and deed. As the disciples didn’t simply keep what they had to split among themselves, we know our resources do not exist for our own benefit, but to enable us to serve others.

The time we spend remembering Christ while receiving communion is only half the way we honor him. The other half is in trusting him to use us to turn that morsel of bread into a feast for the world. The love and mercy we receive are meant for more than hoarding and sharing only among those who already know Christ. Let us trust they are resources that won’t be depleted but multiplied as we share them.

Comfort: When what we have is blessed by Christ, it will be more than enough.

Challenge: Trust that Christ has a vision greater than yours.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for welcoming me to your table, and for the opportunity to welcome others. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever been able to do more with your resources than you would have thought possible?

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It’s complementary, my dear Christian.

/ JJS / 1 Comment

1473731723760.jpg

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 135; 145, Job 40:1-24, Acts 15:36-16:5, John 11:55-12:8

A friend of mine volunteers a lot of her time working with feral cats. It’s not uncommon for people to dismissively ask why she wastes her efforts on stray animals instead of humans. Besides making unfounded assumptions, these questions rise from an attitude of scarcity which assumes one person’s priorities must be robbing resources from another’s.

Paul and Barnabas successfully worked together to build up the church in Antioch. After a while, Paul suggested they take a journey to visit the cities where they had previously spread the gospel. Barnabas wanted to take along Mark, but Paul objected because earlier Mark had deserted them to return to Jerusalem. They couldn’t come to an agreement, and parted company. Paul took Silas to Syria and Cilicia, and Barnabas took Mark with him to Cyprus, and twice as much ground was covered. We hear a lot more from and about Paul, but reliable information about Barnabas is lost to history. Paul does mention Barnabas and Mark in his letters, and his words suggest they maintained a respectful, possibly friendly, relationship.

They continued to be successful on their separate paths because they realized a disagreement does not mean the work comes to a standstill until one side gets its way. They didn’t interfere with or sabotage each other. To the contrary, they allowed the Spirit room to work. Often in our faith communities, leaders have different visions for the future of the community. For example, some leaders are inwardly focused on spiritual development and sanctuary, while others are more naturally drawn to externally focused work, such as mission and social justice projects. Scarcity-minded leaders assume these visions are competing. Because they feel threatened, they hoard what they see as limited resources and even undermine the “competition.” Grace-minded leaders try to understand how these visions might be complementary, and make room in the community for both – or more.

All good work is good work. Food pantries are not the natural enemy of building fund drives. Be grateful for the work God has called you to do, and be gracious about the work He’s given others.

Comfort: Your work is valuable on its own.

Challenge: Avoid comparisons.

Prayer: Gracious and giving God, thank you for the abundance that allows all your children to do the work of your kingdom. Amen.

Discussion: Have you ever been unnecessarily competitive?

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