'I was hungry and you fed me'

I want to start this message with passage of Scripture that resonates with so much that our parish does by way of mission.

Jesus said, ‘for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”  Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?  And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?  And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?”  And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”  (Matthew 25: 35 – 40)

Over the summer I have be thinking about how much of our missional outreach is underpinned by feeding people.   In so many of our churches across the parish, God’s love is shared in Cafes, lunches, breakfasts, food parcels, special events, post service fellowship over refreshments and many others ways.   God’s audacious love is poured out freely to us; ours is the privilege of passing that love on to others who as yet, may not know or have a  relationship with God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.   I am deeply encouraged by Henri Nouwen’s comment in his book, ‘With Burning Hearts’ where he says, ‘Even the most insignificant event speaks the language of faith, hope and above all love’.

However all of this missional outreach does not happen without the gift of time, expertise and love given by so many volunteers in all of our churches.   At the end of Matthew’s gospel we are reminded that our calling is to go and make disciples, empowered by the Holy Spirit.   Each of us has different gifts; God gives us those gifts to use in his service.   Neil Hudson, in his book ‘Imagine Church’ puts it far better than I can.   He says, ‘our frontline is the place we are in, with people who do not know Christ and where we accept the responsibility to live as mission agents of the kingdom of God’.   Hudson further suggests that, ‘we need to start where we are, not where we would like to be; living an integrated life: one where faith and the rest of our life connects’.

As individuals, we have so many links with other organisations and groups in our community; we are called to share the love of God wherever we are, be that at work, at school, in clubs, music activities or other groups that we belong to.   These are the places that God has put us in, not to hide our faith away, but to, ’be faithful and fruitful out in the great mission field of everyday life’ (Hudson).

No ‘frontlines’ are the same, each of us has unique gifts with which to serve our Lord.  Some of us are called by God into very public frontlines, some into the quiet places of pastoral support or prayer.   Some have an amazing ability to cook delicious food for others, some can draw alongside the hurting and lonely.   The list is never ending because God knows the need and equips us to share in building his kingdom.   Sometimes this means working in partnership with other organisations; an example of this is the church and Fareshare working in partnership with supermarkets to bring food to those in need. 

Recently our Mayor, Lyn Suddards visited Park Farm Tesco store to thank the Community Champions and Fareshare for all their support.    When we have our spiritual antenna up we can see signs of God at work in so many different and surprising ways.   Recently, I went to Tesco’s armed with £78, donations from a congregation.   I shopped for the items requested by our cooking team at Makelunch and was met by the Community Champion at the checkout.   She asked me how much I thought I had spent, I replied that I had no idea, I had merely bought the items on the list.   Once the Clubcard had been added to the equation, the bill came to £77.99.  

The Community Champion said she thought I must be good at Maths; my reply was, ‘I do the shopping, God does the Maths’!   I have heard many other stories like this from others around the parish.   We need to encourage each other and share the stories of God at work, building his kingdom.  

So the question to be asked by all of us is twofold, where is God already at work and how can we join in with him?   Also what gifts has God given each one of us and how can they be used in our everyday lives to build the kingdom of God, empowered by his Holy Spirit?  

The Revd Cathie Aldis-Saunders