Pieces of the Puzzle

The apostles returned to Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught. Many people were coming and going, so there was no time to eat. He said to the apostles, “Come by yourselves to a secluded place and rest for a while.” They departed in a boat by themselves for a deserted place. Many people saw them leaving and recognized them, so they ran ahead from all the cities and arrived before them. When Jesus arrived and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things. Late in the day, his disciples came to him and said, “This is an isolated place, and it’s already late in the day. Send them away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy something to eat for themselves.” He replied, “You give them something to eat.” But they said to him, “Should we go off and buy bread worth almost eight months’ pay and give it to them to eat?” He said to them, “How much bread do you have? Take a look.” After checking, they said, “Five loaves of bread and two fish.” He directed the disciples to seat all the people in groups as though they were having a banquet on the green grass. They sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. He took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them, broke the loaves into pieces, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. Everyone ate until they were full. They filled twelve baskets with the leftover pieces of bread and fish. About five thousand had eaten. ~Mark 6:30-44 (CEB)

My current pastor, Rev. Laura Rasor, gave a sermon based on this scripture. She asked the questions: “Where are the miracles? Did they only happen long ago? Maybe we are just not looking?”

It does seem sometimes that we live in a time where miracles no longer happen. Sometimes problems seem so much more than we can contribute to.

There was a boy who heard the charge given by our Pastor last May, Rev. Amy Probst, to see what he could do to feed the hungry in our community. We all heard the charge. Some felt empowered to do something because as the pastor had said, “There is too much for us to do everything but there is enough for each of us to do something.” In May we were given the opportunity to learn how different organizations reach out to the hungry in our area. One organization, the Society of St. Andrew is a non-profit ecumenical Christian ministry dedicated to fighting hunger in our nation and the world.  The Society works primarily to salvage fresh produce that would otherwise to go waste and deliver it to people in need.  The ministries of the Society of St. Andrew deliver food to the nation’s hunger at a cost of about two cents per serving.

For his eagle project this youth set up just such a “crop drop”. By faith he had 40 thousand pounds of sweet potatoes dumped in a parking lot, believing that help would come. People from our church and other churches did come. Over the course of a 5 hour stretch that huge pile that would have filled up my living room began to dwindle and disappear into bags. Half went to Second harvest and the rest went to surrounding food banks. The unusable portions, the rotten ones, were taken to the Knoxville zoo and we were told fed the elephant two meals.

120 thousand servings came out of that food drop. Produce that would normally have been thrown away because it did not meet the market standards now will go to feed the hungry. Pastor Laura said to her that seemed a miracle. My son and I were there for most of the bagging of sweet potatoes. I would have to agree. To look at that huge mound of sweet potatoes go from a pile dumped in the parking lot to bagged produce for families in need gives me goose bumps still to think about it.

I am thankful that a youth from our church heard the call to action. I am thankful that my children and I had the opportunity to see a miracle in action. Yes, I think Pastor Laura was right, miracles still do happen today.

Heavenly Father, I thank You for everyday miracles. I thank You for people who hear Your call to action inspiring others to be a part of Your miracles. May I never be so wrapped up in my own problems to miss the times You send my way to be Your hands, Your feet, Your Heart and Your love to the world. Amen.

Let’s hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, because the one who made the promises is reliable. Let’s also think about how to motivate each other to show love and to do good works. Don’t stop meeting together with other believers, which some people have gotten into the habit of doing. Instead, encourage each other, especially as you see the day drawing near. ~Heb. 10:23-25 (CEB)

There seems to be many people who have begun to lose hope. Those who hunger for life’s basic needs but see no relief; those who see too many problems and cannot see a solution. When there is no hope, there is no life- we lose our will to fight, to trust, or to live.

Sometimes problems seem hopeless both to the victims and bystanders. Hope is inseparably connected to love and faith… God’s love and faithfulness. We can trust and hope that He continues to supply for the needs of many through us and through all the means available today.  Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let’s hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, because the one who made the promises is reliable”. Empowered by hope in God we can do great things

I begin to lose hope when the world’s problems seem too big to handle. My heart cries out at the needs of others and I begin to feel overwhelmed with the needs. When Pastor Amy Probst said in her sermon series Sharing God’s Abundance the words, “There is too much for us to do everything but there is enough for each of us to do something”, I began to stop looking at the “big problem” of hunger. Instead I began to see how I could help with “small actions” by collecting food at a food drive, serving meals at the Welcome Table and participating in Crop Drops.

When I ignore a problem, I begin to believe that there is no way that the situation can change. I sometimes find that I begin to accept that that is just the nature of things. I become blind to the need. With the sweet potato drop that I participated in a few weeks back, I felt that each potato I picked up was one more meal for someone who was hungry. The sweet potato drop was a tangible situation where I could be a part of the solution instead of just ignoring the problem. Who knew that hope could come in the form or a huge sweet potato that was too big for the market? Hope not just for the people who would receive a meal, but hope for the people who gave of their time to be a part of the solution.

Through our good works not only do we see hope begin to flicker in the eyes of others but we find by reaching out that hope begins to grow in us as well. Hope is the opportunity to be a part of the solution. As we reach out encouragement goes both ways and the lines between victim and bystander are demolished.

Heavenly Father, May I not become blind to the problems of the world. May I always see with Your eyes and feel with Your heart. May I see “small solutions” to the “big problems” that face our society and be Your hands and feet in the world. Amen.