You Give Them Something to Eat
Last week we all encountered cold like many of us (at least us life-long Texans) have rarely experienced. Our infrastructure was not prepared for the what came and as a result many people were left without power, water, or even a warm place to stay. I have been contemplating what we could have done in order to have been better prepared. What I have realized is that many of us did as much as we could do before the storm came, yet the systems we rely on were not good enough. I am not writing this blog to criticize our government, but to instead encourage us to be ready next time the church is needed to respond.
During this winter storm, I had wanted to open up our Family Life Center as a warming location, but I couldn’t since the use of it is technically prohibited. The Family Life Center is currently unusable do to a broken fire alarm system that needs to be replaced and until then it should not be occupied. We have been putting off replacing the alarm because the Family Life Center has not been used regularly since the pandemic began in March of 2020. As I think about that wonderful space that God has blessed us with, I have been burdened by the thought that this blessing should be shared with our community. With a full kitchen, showers, and lots of space, the Family Life Center is a perfect emergency shelter. Actually it is perfect for a lot of community activities. Our church has a mission here in the Lake Cities area and that is to expand the Kingdom of God within the surrounding community. If we are going to expand the Kingdom of God and make a difference in our community, it is going to begin with intention!
In the Mark 6:30-44, the disciples return to Jesus after he has sent them out on a mission to proclaim and live the life that Jesus lives. The scripture says that they were so busy in their work that they had no time to eat. People took notice of what they were doing and began to follow them everywhere. One day they realized that much like themselves the people following them were hungry. So they decided to send them away to find something to eat on their own, while they took care of themselves. Jesus however stops the disciples and says, “You give them something to eat.” This command by Jesus was difficult because what they had to give was so little and not really enough. They were unprepared to feed that many people.
This past week, I felt Jesus say the same thing to me. It wasn’t “you give them something to eat” but instead “you keep them warm”. I hesitated because we were not ready to do that. We couldn’t do that. But we should have. We should have been ready to do something with what God has given us. So, I am determined as the pastor of Lake Cities United Methodist Church to get us ready to do as Jesus commands. I am determined to take what God has blessed us with and use it for the same mission work that Jesus called his first disciples to. Very soon we will begin the work to get ready and we are going to need your help. Many of us will look at the few loaves and fish we have and think that this task is impossible, but that is what humans do (doubt). What Jesus does, however is he takes what little we have and makes it abundant. So stay tuned… we are about to do something!
In God’s grip,
Pastor Chuck Church
