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Who have you fed recently?
Who have you fed
recently?
After
breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me
more than these?" "Yes, Master, you know I love you." Jesus
said, "Feed my lambs." He then asked a second time, "Simon, son
of John, do you love me?" Yes Master, you know I love you." He
then asked a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Jesus
said, "Shepherd my sheep." Then he said it a third time: "Simon,
son of John, do you love me?" Peter was upset that he asked for the third
time, "Do you love me?" so he answered, "Master, you know
everything there is to know. You've got to know that I love you." Jesus
said, "Feed my sheep. I'm telling you the very truth now: When you were
young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old
you'll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes
you where you don't want to go." He said this to hint at the kind of death
by which Peter would glorify God. And then he commanded, "Follow me."
John 21:13-18 The Message
On Ash Wednesday, our evening service focused on hunger. Service was
right after a dinner of a small bowl of rice and beans or a McDonalds
hamburger, fries, and coke. Eighty percent of us at the dinner drew the
rice and beans card symbolizing the part of the world either going hungry or
surviving on rice and beans - or less.
After dinner, grateful for my little bowl of rice and beans, I reflected on the
people I had met over the years. Akha villagers in bamboo huts where I
ate the best sweet potatoes I ever had in my life, cooked over an open
fire. An host family in North
Africa who served me harissa and made sure I didn’t eat a whole spoonful at
once. A grandmother in El Salvador who
prepared bountiful breakfasts each morning so that we would have enough energy
to work through the day. A Karen
villager and his daughters in Thailand who brought out whole dried fish for
dinner and then, without making fun of me, helped me get the meat off the
bones. A missionary in Thailand who brought my favorite snack food to the airport for our journey to Bangkok … sticky rice and beans
cooked in bamboo. There are more experiences too numerous to mention, but all
memories of being physically fed through the generous hospitality of fellow
human beings.
More than the food,
which was delicious and nourishing, was the gift of being fed emotionally and
spiritually. Basically, someone loved
enough to care for my needs, often out of their very meager supply. Each person expressed the basic deep down
love and respect for another human being.
So the question is…
who have you fed recently? Who have you
reached out to in love to share a smile, a tear, a kind word, even a meal. The thing is, you may not even know you fed
someone through your kindness and love, but that’s ok. What you think may have been a small gesture
may have been huge to the person receiving it.
I know. Simple things like “Here,
sit next to me” can make a huge impact to a new person at your fellowship
supper.
Who have you fed
recently? Who has fed you? Reflect about these questions and then pray
about this challenge…. Who is God
calling you to feed?