NEEDED:  FOOD TRUCKS AND PORT-A-POTS

Mother:  I do not want you going, but if you are determined, at least take this to eat.

Son:  Oh, mom.  I am not a baby.   I am sure I will be able to find something to eat. 

Mother:  You are not an adult either and you will do as I say or you will not go.  I have packed the bread and fish so no one will know ‘my mommy packed my lunch.’

Son:  Ok.  But don’t wait up.  I have heard so much about this man that I want to hear everything he says.  Yes, mother, I will be careful.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward 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.

Then Phillip 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?”

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

John 6:5-9, 13

It was fun to close my eyes and picture Jesus quietly teaching about the kingdom of God.  Quietly healing those that needed healing.  Jesus having compassion on them.  After all, He is their shepherd.  What would it have been like to see the crowds leaning forward to hear every word?  What tears fell as a loved one was healed.  How amazing to be hungry and be fed.

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It was not so fun to close my eyes and picture Jesus arriving outside a town today?

Mother:  I do not want you going, but if you are determined, be sure and have your debit card and charge your phone. 

Son:  Oh, mom.  Really!  Quit being a helicopter mom.  I always have my card and you honestly think I would let my phone run down?  Besides, I have the solar charger with me.  I wonder what food trucks will be there.  Sure hope they bring in the fancy port-a-pots.  Some of them are ..

Mother:  I am not a helicopter mom!  Remember you are still my little boy.

Son:  Gotta go.  There will be a lot of traffic.  Don’t wait up.  I have no idea when I will be home.  I do not want to miss a thing!

Can you imagine the entrepreneurs that would follow Jesus around today?  Food trucks.  Port-a-Pot services.  Vendors selling chairs-in-a-bag.  Phone and iPad charging stations.  People selling vials of water guaranteed to be from the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized.  A few shysters selling tickets to the healing line.  (Of course they were never around when the people realized they did not need a ticket.)  And the religious leaders taking notes on what Jesus said and keeping track of each healing.  The local stations would have reporters hoping to get a story for the 11:00 news.  The stage crew.  The sound crew.  The list could go on.

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THREE QUESTIONS

If Jesus came to your town, known only as a teacher and healer, would you be there?  Would you want to hear for yourself?  Would you want to see for yourself? 

If Jesus came to your town, as the risen Christ, would you be there?  Would you want to hear for yourself?  Would you want to see for yourself?

If you go to see Jesus, would you want to see Jesus quietly teaching and healing, as the Shepherd to His Sheep or would you want to see Jesus surrounded by food trucks and lights and little bottles marked “From the Jordan River” and an ATM machine?

This is NOT a put down on contemporary services or today’s music.  I like energy in the service and I listen to today’s contemporary hymns.  What this is (and honestly, I usually do not know where a blog will go until I am done) is a warning about how we worship.  God does not care if we come to church in jeans or dresses.  God does not care if we read the Word from a printed Bible or one on the iPad.  It is okay with God if you keep your hands securely at your side or if you raise them high. 

But God does not want our worship to be a show.  The place where we worship should not be determined by a spectacular scene set up for a series of messages or if cappuccino is available or because it is the newest church in town.

God cares that we worship.  That we worship HIM.  God did not send Jesus to put on a show.  God sent Jesus to save our souls.  To be our way. 

MORE QUESTIONS

Are you hungry?

Do you know where to go to be fed?

Do you know you have a Shepherd that watches over you?

Do you worship the God that sent His Son to be your Savior?

All you have to do is talk honestly to God.

Then listen and He will guide you.