FAITH

The Potato!

I don't know about you, but I love potatoes! If you ask me what is my favourite way of cooking them right now I would say chips! Of course I would - I have skipped lunch (again!) and I am sat in a cold lonely office during the school half term break. Normally the church buildings are buzzing with activity what with out two preschool classes and the various other activities. But today I am too stingy to turn on the main heating system just for me. So, of course it's chips!

Yesterday I would have said roast, because I was remembering the amazing roast beef dinner I shared with a lifelong friend. Or maybe I would have said crisps, remembering the packet (s) I often enjoy on a long car journey home.

But it doesn't even stop there, does it? Such is the variety around us that you can have beer-battered crinkle-cut Steakhouse chips, or maybe you prefer straight cut crispy fries, or dare I even suggest curly fries?!

And roasts - some people prefer them crispy, others soft. And had you ever stopped to think just how many different varieties of crisps there are? Scary!

I even had a milkshake from McDonald's the other day, and you realise how they thicken them? Modern culinary techniques may have overtaken my knowledge of the art of “thick shaking", but it wasn't so long ago that potato starch came in handy here also!

Variety! Choices! So much to enjoy!

And who provides it all? The Lord the giver of life, that's who!

In my part of the world are usually rely on others to plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land on my behalf, but I still acknowledge that it is fed and watered by God’s Almighty hand!

And even though I see more bulging supermarket shelves than I do freshly filled barns, I still remember to be ever thankful for the harvest home.

Father of Creation, God the Perfect Provider, thank You so very much for the wonder of your creation and how it blesses me with all that I need each and every day of my life! Amen!

The seed!

It occurred to me the other day that I don't know anything about seedtime and harvest! And I say this for two reasons.

Firstly, whenever I plant things there is a very low chance of them growing at all, far less bearing fruit. My daughter, Hannah, on the other hand could plant a stick found on the beach after years at sea and make it grow (exaggeration for effect!)

Secondly, it's all just a hobby for me, and so I don't know anything about it in an intimate life-giving sense. By this I mean that I have only ever planted seeds purchased out of excess money, once my housekeeping money had been allocated. If, by some amazing miracle, and because of Hannah's involvement (!) something grows, it won't be the only thing I eat that day … or that week. But put yourself in the position of a subsistence farmer, however, and everything changes.

Suddenly there is a choice, and a stark one at that!

Do I feed my children with this grain, or do I bury it in the ground and trust that it will produce food in the future?

What faith the farmer shows each and every time they plant the crop for next season!

Do you remember the story of the boy with five loaves and fishes? Let's read it again as a reminder…

READING: John 6:1-13

Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.

Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.

The Jewish Passover Feast was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming towards him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up,

"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them.

Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted."

So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

What story of faith - or the lack of it!

And who shows the least faith? Yes, those who should have had the most!

The young boy who was there listening to the Lord shared all he had. He gave it to Jesus and said “What's mine is yours - you can make better use of it than I can!”. Mind you, there is no evidence in John's gospel that he said any such thing, is there? You could just as happily believe that the disciple stole it from him and gave it to Jesus himself! Be that as it may, a tiny, insignificant offering was made.

And what did Jesus do with it? Did he eat it himself to satisfy his own hunger? Did he send out a questionnaire to find out who was the most hungry, and therefore the most deserving of it? No, he prayed a blessing over it and it multiplied to provide more than was needed.

For me the most significant part of the story comes in the phrase which the author, John, slips in. “He asked this only to test him”. Here it is a gain in its context: When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming towards him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

Would the boy be willing to share? Would the disciple have the faith to give to Jesus what he had discovered? Would Jesus really be able to use it to satisfy so many?

Will the farmer still have the faith to plant the seed and wait patiently and in hunger for the next year's harvest?

The message is the same, isn't it? Jesus asks us to do things in order to test us - because he already knows what He's going to do, and he is already all-powerful and able to do them without us.

And yet he wants us to know the privilege of being part of his work, leading to the harvest which he will surely reap in us and through us.

In the film "Evan Almighty” God tells Evan that if he wants to change the world he will have to do it by one act of random kindness at a time. Also, even the largest ocean is made up of individual drops of rain.

We you, will I, will we all be willing to invest what we have and who we are into the kingdom of God? If we only have five loaves and two fish - will we give it to the Lord so that he may feed 5000? If we only have a handful of seeds, will we be willing to plant them and work and wait patiently for the harvest?

We may not plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land in the literal sense any more, but you and I both have opportunity to invest in God's work through prayer and action. I guess that if I want to show that I am truly grateful for the harvest, and all the provision I have, the best way is to be willing to share all I have and all I am with others to the glory of God

November 8^th is celebrated as Remembrance Sunday. The time to remember those who were willing to sew their own lives so that others may reap the harvest of peace and freedom.

To be truly grateful for each bowl of cereal we enjoy we really need to think of the cereal that was sacrificed in order to be planted and grown into the food we enjoy.

Similarly, in order to be truly grateful for the peace and freedom that we enjoy we need to remember those who gave their lives for us. But ultimately, we human beings living in freedom and in good relationship with God, need to remember the sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ our Lord, whose life was sacrificed for us also.

There is no harvest without the sowing of seed. Father God, give me the grace to share all that I am and all that I have with others - that your family may grow and flourish your glory’s sake. Amen.