3:275 – Gumbo – Who Wants Some?

#faithbites #faithjourney gumbo

Setting

If you’ve got this far, you are probably wondering what Gumbo has to do with #faithbites. Don’t worry, I haven’t gone off the deep end….any further than I normally do.

This morning I had breakfast with one of our pastors. It was time to eat, share life, learn about each other, and challenge each other to live more in God’s word. As I was going to get breakfast, I was reminded of the scene from Disney’s Princess and the Frog where young Tiana and her father are making gumbo. In this scene, you see how poor the family is but that doesn’t stop them from sharing their food. Even moreso, you get an example of missionary communities, as they open up the gumbo to everyone and the neighbors start saying what they will bring to the celebration.

It’s not about the food necessarily, rather it’s about spending time and doing life with one another. Gumbo is what brings people together, just like Jesus brings us back to God.

Are you sharing your Gumbo with others?

Scripture

• Matthew 13-21 – Jesus Feeds the 5000
  • Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. ²¹ And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
• John 6:35 – Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Reflection

Our first story, shows Jesus feeding the 5,000. The disciples knew they needed food and also knew they couldn’t afford to feed everyone. Jesus blessed the fish and the bread making it enough to feed everyone. Jesus finds a way.

The second verse has Jesus telling us that he is the bread of life. If you come to him, you won’t be hungry or thirsty. Jesus provides.

Be it gumbo, bread, fish, or wine, Jesus has a way of providing. When we share a meal together, while we are nourishing our bodies, we are nourishing our souls. When we invite Jesus to the meal, it becomes so much more than just nutrition for the body. You never know what connections will happened between people. I wonder how many of the 5,000 found Jesus that day and began to share what he did after that meal?

Let’s go out and share our meals with those and let the Holy Spirit do his work.

Challenge

What can you share with someone? Have a fire pit? Put it in your front yard and start roasting marshmallows. Invite your neighbors over. Baked some cookies? Send some over to next door. You never know how far that little gesture will go.

Prayer

Father God, thank you for fulfilling all of our needs. You give us all of the nutrition and opportunity we need. WE just need to take advantage of it.

Lord Jesus, thank you for being an example of how to live and share life with others. We just need to imitate you.

Holy Spirit, thank you for building up our faith. Give us the stamina, strength, and energy to follow you.

We pray for guidance, hope, and protection as we turn from the IN to the OUT and focus on how we can do life with our brothers and sisters. In your name, Amen.