Thought for the day – Sunday 2nd August 2020
One of the tasks we are keen to establish in the Ipswich Methodist Circuit is a virtual Church. One of the new skills that the Coronavirus experience has taught us is that the generation, often missing from our traditional Church services are engaging with us through social media and the worship we are offering online. I believe that this is God showing us a new direction of travel and this could be one of the most exciting opportunities we have faced in a long time. We have a problem though. Several of the people we are wanting to reach are either living on benefits or are in low income jobs. Some have been furloughed for several months now and we can’t reach them through social media, because they don’t own computers and can’t afford to buy them. I remember the WWJD bracelets that my girls wore a few years ago prompting the question “What Would Jesus Do”
Jesus is faced by a multitude who are hungry and what is his response? Does he simply see their urgent need to hear the message that he brings? No of course not, he knows that before addressing their spiritual needs, he must first deal with their practical needs. St Matthew’s account of this story is rich in the message we learn from this Gospel miracle. The disciples appear to be overwhelmed at the challenge of feeding all these people, all they see is the problems, all they have is one humble packed lunch from a young lad. The young lad offers what he has, without a clue of whether or not it will solve the problem, in the hands of mortals there is enough to feed one you boy, in the hands of Christ there is enough to feed a multitude.
Which brings me to our problem. It is my belief that if it is God’s will that people should hear the message, but haven’t the means, then we need to pray about the situation and see if there is something we might do to help. Some people may have an old computer of some kind that they have no use for anymore, there may be other who have the skill to fix them so that others might be able to make use of them. If our plans to share the Gospel message are in accordance with God’s will, then we should do what one little lad did and offer what we have to God, that he may bless those who can’t hear his word.