Thursday, January 24, 2008

Next Step

Okay, Jesus sends the 12 out with his power and authority. They go out and do what Jesus commissions them to do and then Jesus exercises good leadership by taking them away for a debrief.
But, when they are debriefing, the crowds show up. Someone figured out where Jesus was and told 5,00o of his best friends. So, guess what? Jesus stops debriefing and then heals all those that need healing and teaches everyone about the Kingdom of God.
One of the ways he taught about the kingdom of God was through a life illustration.
The people had rushed out into the wilderness and hadn't stopped to bring food. The disciples heard the hunger in their own stomachs and got worried; how were they going to feed 5,000 people?
Ever feel the same? The resource doesn't match the need!
Well, Jesus knowing that they now had the power of the Holy Spirit and his authority tells the disciples "You give them something to eat."
What? There are only 5 loaves of bread and two fishes; but because the Kingdom of God is mysterious and present because Jesus is present, he takes the scarce food and turns it into a kingdom banquet.
Starting something new often seems like the "scarce food" when in reality it is truly the kingdom banquet. And we are the disciples, having been given the best: God's power and his authority to go and do what Jesus did. Can you remember having a situation where your need didn't match the resources you had and you saw Jesus take it and turn it into kingdom abundance?
If you haven't, now may be the time when we will have that privilege.
Let's dream together about what can be.
Where can we take the offerings we bring and see God use it in the world to do extraordinary things?
The world awaits.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I just recently realized that there were 12 baskets of leftovers (John 6:13) interesting that there was one for each disciple. If we are willing to let Jesus use our "whole lunch" I think it will be exciting to see what leftovers Missio Lux will have for us to share.