Give Us This Day, Our Daily Bread

7 Comment(s)

1. David Quisenberry | Feb 25, 2008 | Reply

   Last week Adam quoted from Matthew 6:25″Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

   Then it sounded like he said that if we put our trust in God, then he promises to feed us. Later Adam noted that tens of thousands of people starve to death each day.

   I do believe that God answers most prayers through people. I do agree with Adam that, as christians and loving citizens of the world, we should take personal responsibility for feeding the world. I believe God knows and loves each of those starving people.

   While I believe that their faith may have feed them spiritually during a time of great hardship. I think it is unfortunate to interpret Mathew 6 suggesting that if they had only trusted in God they would not have died of hunger.

   The notion that the fortunate and unfortunate events in our lives are proportional to our personal trust in God is not in keeping with the evidence and message typical of COR.

2. Northstar | Feb 25, 2008 | Reply

   Hi Dave, I taught you sunday school…at Colonial. I was at Harvester’s last week and thought of your Dad. Good to hear from you on the blog. I’m not sure but I think you might have made a very commom logic error. If an argument says: If “a” then “b” does not mean: If not “a” then not “b”. In otherwords, just because Adam says that God will feed those who trust him doesn’t mean that he is also saying if we don’t trust him he won’t feed us (or as you said, if we starve to death we must have not trusted him). We know this because God feeds people who don’t trust him all the time…

3. chuckrussell | Feb 25, 2008 | Reply

   I’m highly doubtful Adam meant to suggest what you think he might be suggesting. Having said that there are some really difficult passages to struggle with on this topic. For example Psalm 37 says this “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.” So there are streams of thought in scripture that seem to indicate that Righteousness and provision Go hand in hand, not Prosperity necessarily, but basic provision. I think you can make a case that a world dedicated to holiness and righteousness would be a world were the basic provisions of life would be met for every person.

4. adam | Feb 26, 2008 | Reply

   Thanks, Dave, for raising this question. Northstar and Chuck are correct, I definitely did NOT mean to say that those who starve did not have enough faith. I was trying to make three different points. My points were a. God give us our daily bread through people and natural processes which include our own work and efforts (not by magically making it appear on our plate after we pray). b. Jesus’ teaching in this part of the prayer likely is unpacked by him in the light of what follows in Matthew 6 - the verses about worrying - in the prayer we’re trusting God for what we need, and at the same time we’re recognizing that God gives us our daily bread by means of natural processes. c. Finally, I meant to make the point that we who have resources are responsible for sharing with those who do not. One last word, as related to Chuck’s comment about Psalm 37 - Jesus’ teaching (and the rest of the Bible) fits a context where the average person has food and where all can receive it somehow. I think Jesus would have said something very different were he ministering in sub-Saharan Africa today. This is a point that requires serious thought - this concern about poverty and how to reconcile it with the scriptures. I attempted to offer one answer, in part, by noting that starvation is not a matter of their not being enough food on the earth, but the unequal distribution of the food.

5. stranlaw | Feb 26, 2008 | Reply

   Hi, Pastor!

   I wanted to post to tell you that I was personally touched by your service Sunday about bread. My name is Stacey and my husband and I are foster parents. We have 1 biological son (age 3) and 5 foster babies…a 4 week old girl, 9 month old girl, 1 1/2 year old boy/girl twins and a 2 year old boy. It is crazy but wonderful.

   I wanted to share a message I made on my message board here: http://tryingtoconceive.yuku.com/topic/80767

   [quote]
   [b]The coolest thing happened today at church[/b]

   I got up this morning and had this crazy desire to take all 6 kiddos to church. I don’t know what came over me…because that is a big undertaking. I called my mom to see if she’d want to help me get them to church and we could give Elijah a break so he could relax kid free for a couple hours.

   Well, we got all 6 kids dolled up and in their car seats. We drove to our church…which is a HUGE church with thousands of members. I love it…the pastor is so wonderful and the people are very nice. This is where Isaiah goes to preschool, too.

   We got everyone out of their carseats and walked our huge procession of kiddos into the church. They have a very high tech way of checking your kids into their class…scanning these id’s for each kid. Isaiah went to his class, the twins went to another class, the 2 year old went to his class and the 9-month baby went to a baby class. My mom and I took the infant with us to listen to the sermon. They have a special room for parents of babies with big comfy rocking chairs. It is sound proof so if the babies cry it doesn’t disturb anyone…very nice! My mom and I sat in there with our tiny baby and took turns holding and feeding her while we listened to the sermon.

   The sermon was all about bread. The pastor talked about how there are over 300 instances of bread being talked about in the Bible. He dissected the Lord’s Prayer and the portion that says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” The pastor talked about how we are instructed to share bread with others who need it. He said that when you share bread…it doesn’t have to be literally “bread”…your bread can be any good thing that you do to help others. He urged everyone to find out what bread they can give to other people.

   Well, when the service was over my mom and I went and got all the kiddos out of their classes. My mom pushed the twin boy and 9-month girl in the twin stroller. I held the infant carrier and the twin girls hand. Isaiah held the 2-year old’s hand and we all started walking down the hall and towards the exit. We had a lot of people comment about all of our kiddos and they were very nice when they heard that 5 of them were foster kids. Our church really encourages families to become foster parents to help the community.

   When we got to the exit, this lady who was about my age held the door open for us. She commented on how cute the kiddos were and I told her that we had 5 foster babies and 1 bio son. She was really nice. We walked out to our car and I got all of the kiddos loaded into their car seats. All of a sudden, this lady came up to me again…she got out of her Mercedes SUV and came over to me. She said, “Hi! I was wondering if you could use a Pack and Play”. She said that she had one that was barely used for just one child and that she was wanting to give it to someone who could use it. I told her that I’d absolutely love it if she was sure she wanted to give it to me. She said that she was so happy to give it to someone who could put it to good use. So, she gave me her number and I said I’d call her later today.

   I called Amy this afternoon and we started talking on the phone. She told me that she had been thinking about the sermon today and trying to think about what could be her “bread”…what she could do to help others. Then, she said that she held the door open for me and all my kids and that it hit her…helping me could be her bread. She said that it gave her chills just to think about how neat it was to run into me right after that sermon.

   She said that she had a ton of baby/toddler gear and clothes and that she wanted to donate it all to me. She said, “I’ll be your supplier from now on. I’ve got so much good stuff and I don’t do garage sales. I usually give to the Salvation Army, but I’d much rather give it to you and know that it is helping out your kids”. She told me that she had a high chair if I wanted it, a Maclaran stroller, toys, clothes, etc. I couldn’t believe it.

   So, she came over to our house this afternoon and had her SUV loaded with incredible stuff for us. She gave us a great pack and play that doesn’t look like it was ever used. She gave us a Maclaran stroller, and a Svan high chair…it is the coolest high chair ever and it is made in Sweden. Then, she gave me a huge bag full of really great sweaters, shirts, jackets, coats, boots, etc for little boys. All of it was name brand and in great condition. I was just stunned.

   We talked to her for quite a while. I told her that when she told me the story about her “bread” being to help me that I got off the phone and cried. She said that she cried too thinking about how great it would be to help my kids. We hugged and we are going to stay in touch. She said that any time she has gear or clothes that her kids don’t need anymore that she will call me and bring it over. I can’t even tell you guys what a blessing that is for us. I am so happy that I went to church today. [/quote]

   I hope that you enjoy getting some feedback and seeing that your message had an impact on me.

   Thanks for all the bread you give!
   Stacey Salaah

6. David Quisenberry | Feb 26, 2008 | Reply

   Thanks Adam, Northstar, and Chuck. I agree with all your points. I was raised in a church where Matthew 6 was interpreted in a much different way than what you describe. I remember the negative emotions of having my holiness and faith challenged when others felt I didn’t trust enough in God (especially around bad things happing to good people). I’m certain that these memories hijacked my emotions while listening to the passage again. Thank you all for contributing to this blog and thank God for our community of faith.

7. adam | Feb 27, 2008 | Reply

   Stacey, what a great story! Thank you for sharing it. It is so interesting to see how God works in these ways. God is using you, and God used Amy to bless you - and this happened because both of you were open to the Spirit. Very cool! David, thanks for your comments - I appreciate your note and can understand how painful that must have been. Blessings to you both!

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