Saturday 14 September 2019

The world needs bread!

I remember the Biafra crisis (1). Researchers consider this hunger-catastrophe to be the first humanitarian crisis that through media really managed to create engagement all over the world. My family had shortly before the crisis inherited a TV-set, and the pictures of the hungry and skinny kids made a huge impact on an 11-year-old boy. 

For the same reason I also remember the Norwegian Church Aid's first collection box with the inscription "Bread for the World". It came as a response to the crisis in the lent-season of 1968. Of course, I had to do my part and help to fill a collection-box. The world needs bread.

The roman emperors knew it, and gave people bread and circus. Even in Moldova, where we have lived for more than seven years, bread is partly subsidized by the state and come fairly cheap so that the poor at least can afford a loaf of bread.

Jesus fed a huge crowd with five loaves of bread and two fishes, and as a result the crowd followed him. Jesus questioned their motive and the discussion he had with the crowd includes this statement:

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
John 6:35
If I want to bring Jesus’ life to people, one of the attributes of his life is that it will feed the spiritual hunger of people. He is food for life. William Booth’s argument that you cannot preach the gospel to a person with an empty stomach, is valid – however, physical food should always be accompanied by spiritual food.

Albert Orsborn captured this in his beautiful song: “My life must be Christ’s broken bread” (2). Because, as Jesus is, we are in this world (3). So if He is in the world as the “bread of life”, so are we.

I am fed spiritually when I meet Christians sharing their faith-stories with me, it is bread from heaven; and I pray that they in the same way are fed when I share mine - and I believe even non-believers like to hear a good faith-story.

‘Manna’

…is bread from heaven every day!
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(1) See: More info here - NB "Doctors without borders" was founded as a result of this war
(2) Link to the full text 
(3) 1 John 4:17b

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