Today’s message was written by Rev. Roger Kunkel, founder of Dial Hope.

The pain of this world is an opportunity for us to be an instrument of God’s redemptive healing. Or said another way, we have the opportunity to be an ambassador for Christ amid someone else’s pain. 

Dr. James Stewart, the brilliant professor of the New Testament of Edinburgh, Scotland once made a hospital call. He went to the cancer ward of the hospital and as he walked in, he noticed the nurses and the doctors were all frazzled. Many of the interns had just had it. People had been dying, there was pain, there was suffering. And Dr. Stewart was invited to go to a meeting of the nurses and doctors. They called him because they wanted to ask for his pastoral wisdom. In this meeting, there were doctors, nurses, and technicians who were groping for answers. And they asked Dr. Stewart – “Why did God allow a 31-year-old woman, mother of three to die of cancer?” “Why did God allow a teenage boy to die of leukemia?” “Why is it, Dr. Stewart? Why does God allow a little child to die at childbirth because a mother could not function because she had cancer?” “Why, why, why Dr. Stewart?” “Why does God do that?” “And Dr. Stewart what is God’s answer?” “What do we tell these people?” “Dr. Stewart, what is the answer?” 

In four words Dr. Stewart gave an answer that thundered down the corridors of the hospital when he whispered to all those doctors and nurses hanging on his every word “YOU ARE GOD’S ANSWER. God has put you in this hospital right now today, for this moment so you might care for one of these children or one of these moms or one of these dads or one of these people waiting in the waiting room. God has given you arms and legs. He has given you mouths, ears, eyes, and touch. And a mind to think creatively in which to care. YOU ARE GOD’S ANSWER.” 

What is the answer to the homeless in Sarasota, in St. Louis, in Chicago? What is the answer to the pain and the suffering and the loss? What is the answer? We are God’s answer. For God has strategically placed us in hospitals, in apartments, in condos, on the street, in retirement centers, in classrooms, in the church, in church meetings, in the store, in the office meeting, to be creative listeners, to bring redemptive healing to the people around us. Don’t ever underestimate the difference your touch, your card, your smile, your note, your call, your fax, your email, your look, your listening ear can mean in the life of someone who is hurting, who is experiencing pain. 

Let us pray: Awesome God, bless us today so that we may be a blessing to others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Over the past several days, we’ve reflected on the story of the feeding of the 5,000, and raised the question: What can Jesus do with just a little bit of faith, and some small action on our part?

So I think about the church I’m currently serving. We’re not a big church. We don’t have unlimited resources. But when our gifts were placed in Jesus’ hands this past summer, 160-something children heard about God’s love for them at our Vacation Bible School. I think about the challenges these children will face over the next several years. They are enormous. In light of this, I am tremendously grateful for even the small seeds of faith that we were able to plant. 

Sometimes we might wonder if our small actions make a difference.  We might look at our schedules and say, “O God, I don’t have time to help that person in need. Or, I don’t have time to go to counseling… Or, I don’t have time to give to that ministry.” And God says, “Spend the time, and I will bless it.”

We might look at our lives and say, “O God, I don’t have any extra to give.” And God says, “Give, and there will be more than enough.”

We might look into our hearts and say, “O God, I don’t have it in my heart to forgive or to love that person. I just can’t do it.” And God says, “Forgive. And grace will abound. Love. And there will be love overflowing.”

It’s amazing what Jesus can do with just a little faith and some small action.

Let us pray: O God, give us eyes to see the world not as the disciples saw it, but as Jesus sees it – as a world with the potential for miracles when our lives and our gifts are placed in his hands. Amen. 

Over the past two days, we’ve reflected on the story of the feeding of the 5,000, and raised the question: What can Jesus do with just a little bit of faith, and some small action on our part?

I remember a number of years ago now, I was leading a young adult Sunday School class in another church, and this young couple showed up – kind of out of the blue.  They had two small boys in tow. We got the boys to their class, and the parents stayed with us. They showed up the next Sunday, and then the next. Over the course of the next few years, it was rare that they missed a Sunday.  

And then one day in that same class, the father shared with us – that on that Saturday night before their first visit, his wife had told him that she was leaving. She wanted out of the marriage. They were both deeply unhappy. But the next morning when they woke up she said, “You know when I was a little girl we used to go to church.” He said, “So did I…”  And so we came here that first morning, and that was three years ago.

Sometimes… just a little faith, and some small action, in the hands of Jesus, can lead to a miracle.

Let us pray: O God, give us eyes to see the world not as the disciples saw it, but as Jesus sees it – as a world with the potential for miracles when our lives and our gifts are placed in his hands. Amen. 

I was reflecting recently on the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 (Matthew 14:13-21). You may remember that in the story, the disciples noticed the need. Jesus had been teaching and it was getting late in the day. They knew the people would be getting hungry, and they asked Jesus to send the crowds on their way.

But Jesus says, “They don’t need to go away. You feed them.”

You can almost hear the frustration when the disciples respond, “We only have five loaves of bread and two fish.”  You got to be kidding me! Look at all of this need. We won’t even make a dent.

Jesus says simply, “Bring them to me.” Bring me what you have. 

It seems as though he is looking for just a little faith; perhaps leading to some small action on our part; which in his hands might, might in turn, lead to a miracle.

What can Jesus do with just a little bit of faith, and some small action?

Let us pray: O God, give us eyes to see the world not as the disciples saw it, but as Jesus sees it – as a world with the potential for miracles when our lives and our gifts are placed in his hands. Amen. 

My friend Rev. Ray Woody, who was a retired pastor, once told me that during his ministry, on Sundays, he used to visit all the visitors to his church. One particular Sunday he had an unusual experience.  The first family he visited said they found the church to be warm and friendly. They were excited to go back. However, at the second home he visited, a man answered the door and said, “Pastor, I’ve got to tell you, that was the coldest church I’ve ever been in. No one welcomed me, no one talked to me.” 

Same church, same Sunday.

When he told me this, Ray said, “Joe you know what I’ve found? In life, most people will meet me halfway. If I smile, they’ll smile back. If I put out my hand, they’ll put out theirs. If I initiate a conversation, others will talk. If I want to get involved, I can.”

Have you noticed that when we care enough about something or someone to put our heart and soul into it, it is rich and rewarding? Think about a job or a relationship. But, if we give only half our heart – we never really get to experience the fullness of what it could be.

This is true also with our faith, isn’t it? When we make time for prayer and worship, when we give, and when we serve, our faith is most often alive and it is a resource we can draw on.

I pray today that the fullness of God’s peace would rest upon you. May you know God’s love, forgiveness, and hope in the very deepest part of your being. And, may you respond with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.

Let us pray: You have blessed us so richly, O God. May we in turn, be a blessing to others and to you. Amen.