Hope 21 - Bread

This morning I read the following in Hebrews 6:18 (Message translation)

We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go.

I really loved the way that Peterson translated that passage. While the other translations also referenced the same and gave a similar sense, there was something powerful about the idea of grabbing the promised hope and never letting go.

But I wondered a lot of the day about the different things we choose (and sometimes life chooses for us) to hold onto.

This afternoon, I helped out at the church where my wife is serving. They are filing in as a distribution point for our local food pantry while the pantry is closed for the Christmas break. What struck me when I came in was how much bread had been donated - normal sandwich bread, tortillas, buns, cocktail bread, bagels, and even more than that. I got thinking about the words in the Lord’s Prayer - give us this day our daily bread. And there it was - daily bread - a basic core need for people.

I was wondering as I was there - how can the church help people to hold onto a heavenly Jesus if they feel that the earthly Jesus isn’t providing for their basic needs? Yes, a sharing like today is a gift for people in need, but the needs are far greater than the ways we work to meet those needs. The church of Jesus Christ needs to be at the forefront of helping to meet the basic food needs of people. This isn’t just handing food out, but it is innovative ways of helping people cook healthy food, advocating for stores to eliminate food deserts in cities, working to make sure companies provide living wages for their employees. Giving people their daily bread.