During these days of lockdown we have lots of time to ourselves to ponder about life. I fear that there will be plenty of funerals in the days and weeks ahead for aged care residents – and for loved ones that will be very difficult. Jesus also knew about grief and suffering. In this week’s Gospel reading he is mourning the brutal death of his cousin John the Baptist and wanting to get away by himself for some time of rest and reflection. But crowds follow Jesus to the remote place and it eventually comes round to dinner time.
What to do? Jesus challenges the disciples to give them something to eat. All they have to hand are five small loaves and two fish. Jesus takes what they have, prays, blesses the food and everyone eats and is satisfied, 5000 plus people.
But is there more to this story than simply filling hungry stomachs? Jesus demonstrates what the kingdom of God is like and points to the character of God who generously provides what we need. I wonder what we most need this day? What are we most hungry for?
God abundantly provides what will ultimately satisfy our deepest needs … and sometimes asks us to be part of the answer to our prayers, to use what little we have available to help and transform the lives of others and to carry God’s blessing to them.
We will be holding a Zoom worship meeting this Sunday morning from 9.45 am. I will host the meeting from my home but it will be an opportunity to hold a larger (virtual) gathering and to see each others’ faces. We will be basing our worship on the attached worship@home resource for this week, so it would be handy to have a copy present. We can send you a link to the meeting or a phone number and meeting details if you sign up by emailing the Croydon UC church office on office@croydon.unitingchurch.org.au or using the form in the sidebar.
Click here for worship@home resources God feeds us with more than just food - 2 Aug 2020