Bread

By Allan R. Bevere

Many years ago on a mission trip in Haiti, our group was ministering in the isolated mountains in the west near the Dominican Republic. They village where we stayed was where the road ended. To say it was a “road” was an exaggeration. Early one Sunday morning, we mounted horses and made our way to another village, even more remote, to worship with the believers there. We gathered with them in their sanctuary, a rectangular banana leaf hut. The worship was quite meaningful even though none of us understood Creole. Nevertheless, we didn’t need to speak their language to know that God was being worshiped and Jesus was being glorified.

After worship we gathered at the pastor’s house, a small hut, and we were served dinner. Some of us noticed that none of our Haitian brothers and sisters joined us, but for some reason we didn’t think to ask. We ate a variety of foods and when we were finished, we were quite satisfied.

Later in the day when we were on our way back to the village of our temporary residence, the missionary who was hosting us told us something that made the rest of the trip quite quiet. He informed us that our Haitian brothers and sisters of the village had given up their daily meal, the food they had for that day, so that we could eat. They had given up their daily bread so that we could have ours.

Do we really understand what it means to ask God for our daily bread? We who have more bread than we need? Somewhere, I can’t remember, Bishop William Willimon reminds us that most of us have in the affluent West have more bread than we need. Indeed, more of us in the affluent West will die of too much bread rather than too little bread. How serious can we be when we pray each Sunday, “Give us this day our daily bread?”

I have no doubt when the brother in Christ in Haiti utters that line in prayer, it means something very different from when I pray it. I am sure that when the sister in Jesus offers that request to God in Ethiopia, it is sincere in a way that I cannot fathom. When I say, as I do every Sunday along with the rest of the congregation, “Give us this day our daily bread,” how desperate, and therefore, how sincere am I, in what I say?

Is it possible for me to understand what it means to ask God only for the bread I need for today, when I have bread in the freezer at home? Perhaps, when I ask God for my daily bread each week, such words should remind me of how I must give out of my abundance so that others, who pray the same words, will receive the bread they need just for the present day.

May I be so willing to give up my daily bread, so that others will receive theirs.

What Are You Receiving in Return for the Price of a Spent Day?

From Allan R. Bevere:

 

Some words to consider each morning from the Trappist Monks in the Abbey of the Genesee:

This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good. What I do today is important because I’m exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something I have traded for it. I want it to be gain, not loss; good, not evil; success, not failure; in order that I shall not regret the price I paid for it.

When this day is over what will you have received in exchange for it?

Where's Jesus?

By Allan R. Bevere

Many years ago, when our children were very young, during our vacation in North Carolina we stopped at Duke University so I could show our children my alma mater. The girls had not been there since they were babies, and since Dad was always talking about what a wonderful place Duke was, I decided I should show it to them.

I saved the best part of the tour for last and we entered Duke Chapel. There was the typical sign when one enters a cathedral asking that visitors be quiet, as there may be people praying and meditating. So with our four children we walked quietly to the front of the chancel area. As we walked I drew their attention to the sculptures and stained glass, giving them a lesson on why the sculpture of Paul was in one place, and Peter in another. As I whispered in the midst of the silent, praying people, our son Jason (about four years of age) blurted out at the top of his lungs, "Where's Jesus?" "Where's Jesus?" He wasn't interested in Paul. He didn't care about Peter. He wanted to see Jesus.

I tried to quiet him down discreetly, but to no avail. "Where's Jesus?" "Where's Jesus?" As people were raising their heads looking at us-- some smiling, some not-- I finally pointed to the stained glass window at the back of the chancel and I said to him, "Jason, there's Jesus!" Instead of silencing him, he shouted all the louder, "Jesus!" "Jesus!"

That is the heart of it all, isn't it? It is conviction of the New Testament writers that Jesus is Lord and the crux of Christian faith. The center of Christianity is not an idea, not a program, but a person-- this carpenter from Nazareth. For the church Jesus is the center of the faith and must always be.

The church gets into trouble when it loses sight of Jesus. When something or someone else becomes the center of that faith community's life and worship, it falls into serious trouble. Those groups we typically call cults have lost the central place of Christ, and have substituted someone else, a visionary or a self-proclaimed prophet. Visionaries and prophets are supposed to point to Jesus, not to themselves.

The task of the church, the followers of Jesus is to keep the main thing the main thing. That main thing is Jesus. There can be no substitutes. It's Jesus. Every Sunday we gather together for worship and Sunday School, at every church meeting, in all of our educational events, classes, special services, mission outreach; in everything we say and do, we should see Jesus in our midst. If we cannot see Jesus in our midst, then not only is it impossible to fulfill our tasks as disciples, it is impossible to present Jesus to others; for many people are looking for Jesus. Some of them may not know they are looking for Jesus, but they are. There are people like you and me who need to be transformed. There are people like you and me who are hurting. There are people like you and me who need hope. There are like you and me who need the truth. There are people like you and me who need Jesus. They want to see Jesus, and the only way they will be able to see and meet Jesus is through us. If they do not see Jesus in us, they may not see Jesus at all.

The New Testament says that Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15-20). Since we are made in the image of God, that means our lives reflect the image of Jesus Christ; and that must mean something for the way we live every day. People need to see Jesus. They are looking for Jesus in us. Can they see him?

Do We Really Understand What It Means to Ask God for Our Daily Bread?

This is a great post by Allan Bevere who blogs here:

Many years ago on a mission trip in Haiti, our group was ministering in the isolated mountains in the west near the Dominican Republic. They village where we stayed was where the road ended. To say it was a “road” was an exaggeration. Early one Sunday morning, we mounted horses and made our way to another village, even more remote, to worship with the believers there. We gathered with them in their sanctuary, a rectangular banana leaf hut. The worship was quite meaningful even though none of us understood Creole. Nevertheless, we didn’t need to speak their language to know that God was being worshiped and Jesus was being glorified.

After worship we gathered at the pastor’s house, a small hut, and we were served dinner. Some of us noticed that none of our Haitian brothers and sisters joined us, but for some reason we didn’t think to ask. We ate a variety of foods and when we were finished, we were quite satisfied.

Later in the day when we were on our way back to the village of our temporary residence, the missionary who was hosting us told us something that made the rest of the trip quite quiet. He informed us that our Haitian brothers and sisters of the village had given up their daily meal, the food they had for that day, so that we could eat. They had given up their daily bread so that we could have ours.

Do we really understand what it means to ask God for our daily bread? We who have more bread than we need? Somewhere, I can’t remember, Bishop William Willimon reminds us that most of us have in the affluent West have more bread than we need. Indeed, more of us in the affluent West will die of too much bread rather than too little bread. How serious can we be when we pray each Sunday, “Give us this day our daily bread?”

I have no doubt when the brother in Christ in Haiti utters that line in prayer, it means something very different from when I pray it. I am sure that when the sister in Jesus offers that request to God in Ethiopia, it is sincere in a way that I cannot fathom. When I say, as I do every Sunday along with the rest of the congregation, “Give us this day our daily bread,” how desperate, and therefore, how sincere am I, in what I say?

Is it possible for me to understand what it means to ask God only for the bread I need for today, when I have bread in the freezer at home? Perhaps, when I ask God for my daily bread each week, such words should remind me of how I must give out of my abundance so that others, who pray the same words, will receive the bread they need just for the present day.

May I be so willing to give up my daily bread, so that others will receive theirs.