Hello Friends -
We are entering a season of the liturgical calendar known, semi-sarcastically, as “bread season.” Last Sunday we read the feeding of the 5,000 from the Gospel of John, and now for four Sundays in August we hear Jesus’ reflections on the bread of life. Over and over again.
For preachers, it can feel monotonous. I’m not saying I planned my summer vacation around this… but I’m not saying that.
However, since I am departing Memorial the last Sunday of “Bread Season” - and because I will miss you all, I thought I would leave you with a series of reflections on Bread For… I mean Faith Formation.
There are four basic steps to breadmaking just as there are four steps to growing our Faith with Jesus.
Mix
Rest
Stretch and Fold
Bake
Today, we will talk about step one: mixing
Bread is a combination of four basic ingredients: flour, water, salt and leven. Each of these have a particular purpose and while you don’t have to be quite as exact in your measurements as you might suspect… big deviations will cause big problems.
Rather than strain the metaphor too much trying to connect each ingredient with something “churchy” I would prefer we focus on the act of mixing. You take four different things and put them together to make one new thing.
Faith formation requires mixing. It requires difference. It requires exposing ourselves to something new, different and challenging and seeing where it takes us.
Take some time to look around your life. Do all the people you interact with look and think the same? Do all the voices you interact with, all the media you consume, books you read reflect one point of view? When is the last time you made a new friend? Heard a new story?
When is the last time you read the Bible? And let it shape your life?
One of the great things about scripture is that there is so much of it that no matter how much of it we think we know, there is always something new. Always a story to hear differently.
So this week - practice “mixing”. Pick up the Bible. Say hello to a new person. Read something you might disagree with. And go to Jesus with your struggles with it.
This is how we continue to grow and shape our faith as we live in to the promise of “the bread of life.”