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Daily Lenten Meditation
By Christine White
Mark 6:30-46
The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, 'Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.' For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, 'This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.' But he answered them, 'You give them something to eat.' They said to him, 'Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?' And he said to them, 'How many loaves have you? Go and see.' When they had found out, they said, 'Five, and two fish.' Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.
Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray. NRSV
The crowd in this story in Mark is so eager to hear Jesus' words that they drop everything and go to a deserted place to greet him when he arrives. Jesus, it seems, was going to the deserted place for a well-deserved rest for his disciples and himself. When he saw the crowd, his initial reaction may have been how you or I might respond - with a big sigh because there would be no rest for him. Immediately, he had compassion on the crowd and began to teach them.
A consistent dual purpose is evident in the ministry of Jesus: both to care for and to preach the gospel to people. Is the Church called to the responsibility of living up to Christ's example by balancing those two tasks? Can the church effectively do social ministry, feeding and caring for those who can't care themselves, and preach the gospel while also providing public worship?
The example of Jesus certainly calls to do both. Christianity cannot exist without proclaiming of the gospel; teaching and learning the Word of God are just as essential to our faith and our life in community as praying and belonging. But, we are also called to have compassion for the suffering of those in our presence, as Jesus demonstrated in this story. Our responsibility is to be the physical body and spiritual presence of God to those in need, meeting their social and material needs, whether or not those who receive our care ever join MCCGSL. Those in need are our brothers and sisters - they are our church - whether or not they understand the spiritual principle.
At MCCGSL, we are blessed to have a wide variety of opportunities to learn and grow in our knowledge of what it means to be in relationship with God and to serve the social justice needs of the community in which we live, the community both within and beyond our church walls. For example, classes are available that help us grow in our spiritual life.
"Creating a Life That Matters" is an eighteen-week long exploration of our relationships with the sacred, ourselves and with our passion. Jackie McNeil, Vicky Stricklin, Bonnie Long, and Michael Desmond co-lead this class. The comments made by people who have taken this class is that it is utterly remarkable in the contribution it can make to one's process of self-discovery.
Reverend Sue offers a class entitled "Recovering from Homophobic Religion" which examines the fundamental misunderstanding of scripture which hundreds of years of church - not Biblical - doctrine has created. She addresses ways of healing the damage done to all of us by this theological malpractice.
Another class, "Living the Questions," led by Reverend Dave, helps us find a comfort zone where we can live with the ambiguity we face while seeking answers which may not be readily available to us. The scholarship in this video-based study is of stellar quality.
Ember Baker offers Prayer 101, a class that explores eclectic approaches to prayer; teaches us how to pray in order to build our relationship with the divine by tuning in to the Holy Spirit's voice in our personal lives; and how to pray through guided meditations. Ember uses music as well as some methods borrowed from non-Christian spiritual traditions, resulting in a creative and prayerful experience.
The Sunday morning study group, "Dream, Think, Be, Do" led by Val Jackson, tackles tough theological issues in a safe and comfortable way. Like all of MCCGSL's classes, this video-based study helps us define and clarify our individual theology, moving from where we have traveled in the past to where we prefer to go.
Another resource is weekly and, during particular seasons, daily meditations written by a team of writers who spend a great deal of time reflecting on a passage of scripture and putting in words that which has been revealed to them in their studies.
Covenant families are small groups that gather once or twice a month in a member's home for Bible Study, fellowship and prayer.
MCCGSL also has teams which you can join in order to live your faith. First is a social justice team, led by Susan Menhard, Steven Pursley, and Jonathan Wyatt, which seeks ways for each of us to become involved in local, national and/or global social justice. A second team is the Community Support Team led by Elaine Lopez and Dusty Geiger which reaches out into our community to feed and care for the those who are in need.
May this Lenten season be a reminder to us to embrace our responsibility as followers of Christ to both learn and serve others. .
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