America, America, God shed his grace on thee”
Merry Monday by Parris Bailey
Today for the last 22 years we have been doing Feed the Multitudes on July 4th. It’s a living parable of God’s grace being shed upon our lives and living in the America that we dreamed of. Lots of thoughts run through my head, living in a city that likes to party and eat and be religious. Put them all together with the grace of God and you get Feed the Multitudes. What is this special event, I am glad you asked.
Its the gospel, the main message that Jesus and everyone in the Word of God have been communicating all along. It’s about love at its best but better than love, cause it’s simply about Jesus saving the lost. Feed the Multitues came from Victory Fellowship almost closing it’s doors in the early 1990’s. We were not paying the bills, our credit was worthless and our people were running out the doors like rats on a sinking ship. We thought God’s name was called “MONEY”! We were compelled by the Lord to begin to reach out to the homeless so that his house would be filled. Our whole purpose in moving to Airline Drive in the first place was to get to a bus line so “anyone or everyone” could attend. So we bussed in the homeless and you guessed it, more of our families left. They didn’t like the homeless “cleaning up” in the bathrooms or sitting close to them. (I couldn’t blame them, my first encounter was with a guy asking me for some money for lice……after he had just hugged me) I lived in my box far too long.
The boy with the lunch, or the widow with the oil in the cupboard, or Joseph with his empty grave, all had something in common. Give what they have and put it into the master’s hand. Victory needed to get her eyes off of our failures and our mistakes and find “what was in the house”. We, Christians, unbelievers or whoever can stand around all day and pick out each other’s mistakes, or we can come together and find other people worse off than us, and give them our little lunch or what is in our hand.
A.B. Simpson says this about the widow woman in 2 Kings-
“Was there, then, nothing left for her? Was she entirely without resources? “Tell me, what hast thou in the house?” And she answered, “Thy servant hath nothing, save a pot of oil.” To her that seemed like nothing, and yet it contained the supply of all her need. God loves to utilize and economize all the resources which He has already given to us. Just as a master workman can do a great deal of excellent work with very common tools, so God can work with very simple instruments; but He wants us to utilize what He has already given. It was very little that Moses had, but that little rod was sufficient to divide the Red Sea and to break the power of Pharaoh. It was very little that the lad on the Galilean shore had that day; but his five loaves and two small fish were sufficient to feed the five thousand, when they were given to Jesus and placed at His service. Our least is enough for God, if we allow Him complete control.”
Well, there you have it, “OUR LEAST IS ENOUGH FOR GOD, IF WE ALLOW HIM COMPLETE CONTROL”. Your church may not be the coolest thing in town, or your pastor, youth group, etc. But jump on board and see what God can do with the least of these. You can tweet, Facebook your opinions all day about how the church or Christians are supposed to be doing or not doing. Or better yet come join me and a few others as we celebrate our freedom in our nation that God has shed his grace on. OH, DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR LUNCH! LOL!