​The Vicar's "Two Penn'orth"

March 2019:

Jesus’s Feeding of the Five Thousand :​
– A Message of Welcome for our Own Time

Rev Paul, Vicar of Hoylake, writes ...

​Have you ever wondered what it would be like to visit another time and place, and see some of the great moments recorded about Jesus’s Life? I have. To imagine seeing myself as one of the people on the hillside, as Jesus shared the bread and fishes to five thousand people, and to watch this miracle unfold. Jesus did amazing things, and always at the heart of his ministry was compassion and care for people. It says in the Bible: “Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” (Matthew 14:16).

When the people were hungry, Jesus fed them; when they were sick, he healed them - despite the fact that doing this was not his key mission on earth – which was to bring salvation through his death on the cross and resurrection to new life.

It teaches us that if we are to be like Jesus, we must develop a ‘ministry of welcome’. When people are welcomed with a warm heart, they will begin to belong; and when they feel a sense of belonging, they will begin to believe.

What does this teach us?

On the mountainside as Jesus taught his followers thousands of years ago, he made sure their physical  needs were taken care of - they all had enough to eat. I imagine there would have been people there who had just come along with their friends to see and hear Jesus that day - but what an opportunity for Jesus to open the scriptures and teach them about the love of God.

I am reminded of a passage in the Bible:

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,” (Matthew 25:34-35)

As a church surely this is our aim - to bring people in and welcome them. In fact, recently, St Hildeburgh’s has become a recognised ‘Place of Welcome’ - which means we offer a place to meet, be cared for and to be made unconditionally welcome.​

During our weekly Bacon Butty drop-in recently - which is one of our ‘Places of Welcome’ initiatives – representatives from the Diocese came along to see what we do for the community, and made a short film (which I am sure you will be able to view in the near future).

PICTURED BELOW:
Our Weekly Bacon Butty
Drop-in (Tuesday mornings)

I hope we can expand our ministry of welcome to include an 'open meal' where all local people can come along if they want to, and experience for themselves the ministry of welcome and hospitality.

When I think of Jesus and his sharing of the bread and fishes (called the 'miracle of the feeding of the five thousand'), it leads me to think of his call to share also in his body and blood, in which, each time we break bread we remember him and all he has done for us. Through the bread and wine shared at our church services of ‘Holy Communion’ - to us Jesus’s body and blood - we are all reminded that Jesus gave his life for all on the cross. Jesus won the ultimate prize as he defeated the old enemy: Death.

Jesus continues to be present each time we come together as a church family. He is present in our worship. He is in our midst when folk join us for the very first time, maybe at the beginning of their faith journey, are glimpsing his Kingdom as they experience his love through his people. The Bible’s Gospel of St John (6:35) informs us “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

May I encourage you as God’s chosen ones to continue this wonderful work of hospitality as we bring God’s people home?

Your friend,

Rev Paul,
Vicar of Hoylake