“Where God guides, God provides”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Luke 9: 1-17 (Forward, p. 79) CEV p. 1070
This is an old slogan, one that I recall from my early years as a committed Christian. It is a very attractive concept, but do we really believe it, and act upon it, in real life, in our everyday lives. Interestingly, we do see it being lived out twice in today’s passage.
In the first instance, the twelve have been sent out on a missions trip, and unlike many of our church projects and undertakings today, it was not ‘burdened’ with a whole bunch of advance planning. (This is not to say that planning is bad, but merely to say that it wasn’t Jesus’ intention in this case.) And not only were they to skip planning ahead but they were also to travel light, no walking sticks, traveling bags, food, money, or changes of clothing. They were to be supplied with what they needed on route. Whenever they were welcomed into a home, they were to stay in that one spot until the end of that local mission and enjoy those people’s hospitality rather than move around. God then, presumably, would move people to supply the needs of those missionaries. And, not only that, God would empower them in their ministry as well, whether it was in preaching, healing or deliverance.
In our second story, the Feeding of the 5,000, it is the disciples themselves that have some provisions, five small loaves of bread and two fish, and the disciples are quite sure—reasonably so, I would say—that they wouldn’t ‘fit the bill’. But once again, God provides, simply using the meagre resources that they already have.
Those two stories got me thinking, on two levels. Firstly, are there resources for ministry ‘out there’ in the community that we have never tapped, never thought to look to? I suspect that there is. But how do we access it? A good question. Maybe we need to venture out in mission for this to show itself?
And secondly, do we have resources right in our midst that we have never called upon, meagre or insufficient as they may seem? Maybe, as in the case of the 5,000 we simply need to offer them, ridiculous as it may seem.
So, here God ‘pulled off’ the seemingly impossible. Maybe this was why Herod Antipas was left wondering. And certainly, it would leave us wondering, and amazed, as well. Wouldn’t that be great!
Forward notes: “But he said to them, ‘You give them something to eat’” (verse 13).
“Someone once said, ‘Vision comes before provision.’ We often want the provision to come first so we have the resources to make that vision a reality. In this passage from Luke, the people are hungry. The disciples are pressing Jesus to do something about it, but Jesus turns the tables and says, ‘You give them something to eat.’ Oof. Not what the disciples wanted to hear.
“I started the work of launching Mosaic Episcopal Church in 2019. Then the pandemic hit and, well, ruined everything. For months, I waited for the ‘right’ moment to pick everything back up again. The thing about waiting for the ‘right’ moment is that it rarely comes, and so we wait and wait and wait until the vision passes us by. I was waiting for the right people and the right moment to restart.
“On Pentecost of 2020, I decided to launch the church virtually, by myself. Was it ideal? Not even close. But I had this vision of a community given by God, and I felt I couldn’t wait any longer. Sometimes, you have to build with what is in front of you and move forward with faith.
Moving Forward: “Is God calling you to something new? What are you waiting for?”