25 Oct 2015 Solihull Dedication of Pastoral Visitors

Prayer, Care and Making Disciples

Bible readings: Ephesians 4:7,11-13; Mark 6:30-44

"On our disordered spirits move, and let there now be light" sang Wesley. Is this a place where we can be honest like that about what it is to be human? Some people here are finding life very hard at the moment; some in ways that we know about, and some in ways that we do not. Sometimes we come to church simply seeking to hang in there with our faith, with our lives; looking for ways of getting through the next week, the next day. How as a community do we help and support each other in all that? How does it affect the way we pray, and what we do? The gospel provides some clues. The disciples see a problem, and try to alert Jesus to it. But they are seeking to hand all responsibility over to Jesus and, in effect, demanding a miracle. Jesus, though, hands the responsibility back, calls them to become part of the solution to the problem, and then enables them to do it. He shows them that they are wrong just to see other people (the crowds in this case) as walking bundles of needs, and not notice that the same people already have God-given resources among them. By recognising those resources, offering thanksgiving to God for them, and encouraging the sharing of them, they somehow become sufficient to meet the needs.