Eucharist at the start of Worcester Fellowship: Piles of sandwiches. We had worship, and as part of that Eucharist, and then the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, piled high on the folding table that was our altar. People could come and take sandwiches and it was for me, so theologically beautiful, so profound. This pile of plenty for people to come and take. Abundance. My picture of abundance was that pile of sandwiches.
And then time went by. Mary, my co-pastor asked me to help making the sandwiches. I didn’t like that as much! And then we had more and more people, and we never ran out of sandwiches, but people complained that some people were taking too many.
And then people who weren’t taking part in worship would get in line for the sandwiches before communion was over, and the people who were part of worship got upset. We’d created a leadership team and that team was clear: first that we had to stand in line, no just grabbing, and then that we’d have lunch first, then worship, and then, that you couldn’t have seconds until after worship, so that late comers would get a chance to eat.
I have to tell you—I was devastated by this image of rules and by what I saw as the abundance denied.
For me, it was like holding back Bartimaeaus from the healing that Jesus so freely offered. Wait in line we were telling him, hold back, don’t shout so loud.
Except, have you actually looked at this text? Does Jesus take credit for healing Bartimaeus? Here is the story:
Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; get up, he is calling you."
So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.
Then Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said to him, "My teacher, let me see again."
Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well."
Immediately he regained his sight and followed Jesus on the way.
“YOUR FAITH HAS MADE YOU WELL” Jesus suggests that the man had the gift that was needed to heal himself. Jesus says “your faith is what has made you well”.
Jesus, on seeing a man who clearly needed healing, doesn’t offer healing, but instead offers a question: what do you need? He trusts the man knows what he needs. And then, he sees again, deeply, into the man, and that he has the faith needed to heal himself. So Jesus notices the ABUNDANCE Of this man’s faith, the abundance of his gift.
And the man responds, not by coming again next week for healing from something else, but instead by becoming a disciple—a follower, a student, of Jesus.
Here is the abundance I could not see at Worcester Fellowship. I could not see that Bob was managing the lunch line. I could not see that Tyler was proud, and had told his mother of all his volunteer work with us. I could not see that WF leadership team was a place that Joe’s voice was taken seriously. I could not see that Mark loved to hand out lunches, and to say hi to each person, many of them by name.
What I could not see is that the ABUNDANCE of the good news of the Kingdom is not an abundance of stuff: sandwiches or bus passes or socks. The good news of the Kingdom is instead the abundance of human GIFTS. That every person has something to offer to our ministry: if we can just see them, welcome them, love them, share with them, and let them share with us.
And then time went by. Mary, my co-pastor asked me to help making the sandwiches. I didn’t like that as much! And then we had more and more people, and we never ran out of sandwiches, but people complained that some people were taking too many.
And then people who weren’t taking part in worship would get in line for the sandwiches before communion was over, and the people who were part of worship got upset. We’d created a leadership team and that team was clear: first that we had to stand in line, no just grabbing, and then that we’d have lunch first, then worship, and then, that you couldn’t have seconds until after worship, so that late comers would get a chance to eat.
I have to tell you—I was devastated by this image of rules and by what I saw as the abundance denied.
For me, it was like holding back Bartimaeaus from the healing that Jesus so freely offered. Wait in line we were telling him, hold back, don’t shout so loud.
Except, have you actually looked at this text? Does Jesus take credit for healing Bartimaeus? Here is the story:
Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; get up, he is calling you."
So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.
Then Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said to him, "My teacher, let me see again."
Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well."
Immediately he regained his sight and followed Jesus on the way.
“YOUR FAITH HAS MADE YOU WELL” Jesus suggests that the man had the gift that was needed to heal himself. Jesus says “your faith is what has made you well”.
Jesus, on seeing a man who clearly needed healing, doesn’t offer healing, but instead offers a question: what do you need? He trusts the man knows what he needs. And then, he sees again, deeply, into the man, and that he has the faith needed to heal himself. So Jesus notices the ABUNDANCE Of this man’s faith, the abundance of his gift.
And the man responds, not by coming again next week for healing from something else, but instead by becoming a disciple—a follower, a student, of Jesus.
Here is the abundance I could not see at Worcester Fellowship. I could not see that Bob was managing the lunch line. I could not see that Tyler was proud, and had told his mother of all his volunteer work with us. I could not see that WF leadership team was a place that Joe’s voice was taken seriously. I could not see that Mark loved to hand out lunches, and to say hi to each person, many of them by name.
What I could not see is that the ABUNDANCE of the good news of the Kingdom is not an abundance of stuff: sandwiches or bus passes or socks. The good news of the Kingdom is instead the abundance of human GIFTS. That every person has something to offer to our ministry: if we can just see them, welcome them, love them, share with them, and let them share with us.
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