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Dr. Pepper, The Winebibbing Kingdom, The Cookie Lady & Great Joy!

by Timothy Ringering
Wednesday, December 29th, 2004

Just below, I’ve scrawled out a mini article about food, the kingdom of God and how all that relates to someone very special in our church. At the end, there’s a call to action. I pray you take three or four minutes and read on. Then I pray God moves your heart to respond.

Would Paul Pound Down Dr. Pepper for the Glory of God?

I love the Apostle Paul’s view on life. For Paul, everything was sacred and every moment was an unique opportunity to glorify God. He was so fanatical about this way of living, that he’d even get stoked about mundane and menial things like … eating and drinking. He wrote, “Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all to the glory of God” ~ 1Cor 10:31. Hmmm….wait a minute.

If you actually read that verse, you start to get the idea that maybe Paul was saying eating and drinking aren’t so mundane and menial, after all. Last week, a thought came to me as I was cramming a spicy chicken burrito halfway past my uvula and pounding it down with 32 ounce chaser of Dr. Pepper. Later, as my stomach was recovering I thought, “I betcha Paul ate spicy chicken burritos with Dr. Pepper chasers with much more imagination. I think he wrote that verse thinking about Christ’s life and ministry. Maybe he saw Christ’s use of mundane things like food and drink and his Holy Spirit inspired imagination soared. Maybe the same inspiration can provoke our insta-meal minds to profound and creative ways of ministering the Gospel.

A Food Nibbling, Winebibbing Kingdom

If you think about it, eating and drinking were great hallmarks in Christ’s ministry while on earth. Seems to me like most of His miraculous moments took place around a whole lot of food and beverages. Remember the wedding feast at Cana, when He turned barrels of water into barrels of Sauvignon? Remember the day the woman lovingly spilled perfume and tears over Christ’s dusty, road weary feet as he was reclining after a stout Hebrew meal? He eyes Zacchaeus up in a tree and what does He do? He asks him if he can have a bite to eat with him at his house. There’s the drink with the woman at the well that led to the salvation of a city, those winebibbing Matthew parties with sinners and tax collectors, and all of those halibut fish and chips by campfire on the Galilean shore with his disciples. Oh, don’t forget the time he opened his own food bank on the side of a mountain with just five loaves of bread and a couple of fish. It’s amazing how creatively central Christ made eating and drinking in the way He related with and ministered to people. True, the kingdom of God has never been about eating and drinking, but there’s a whole lot of it going on in Scripture.

The Cookie Lady

Sara Modrall knows something about food and the kingdom of God, too. She’s been reaching out to people through homemade delectables for years. At The Well, you might know her as Sara, but in downtown Portland, street youths know her as “The Cookie Lady”. You see, for years now, Sara has been baking delicious, piping hot chocolate chip cookies and taking them downtown to homeless youth. You know, the same street youth that we silently pray for whenever we make an excursion down to Pioneer Place. The ones we desperately hope God will do something about. The same kids that cause business people and downtown shoppers to avert their eyes or cross the street, not wanting to be the next victim of random violence listed in the Metro section of the Oregonian. Well, Sara just brings them food and has a conversation about their lives. Every single week. Just cookies and conversation. But what glorious morsels and meetings they are!

Today, nearly 30 of these homeless youths gather at Sara’s house each week where she cooks them a hearty meal before they all sit down and dive into God’s word. Sam Sanders, Kisha Dixson, Eric Johnston and other’s lead these studies and something amazing has happened. These kids have become hungry for more than cookies or hearty meals. Heroin addicts, petty thugs, and teenage prostitutes are hungry for Christ! An amazing transformation is happening as the hungry are fed and the unlovable loved. All of them have had life-altering encounters with Christ through plates of homemade cookies. Many of them are now coming to church.

Grace has come alive! Oh sure, they still struggle just like you and I, but their lives have taken on radical new meaning and purpose. Each time I meet with one of these kids, I see Christ-loving, cross-clinging hearts ablaze with passion for God. Five of these homeless youths actually live with Sara in her home as God turns their lives around. She does this virtually alone. All the cookies, all the meals, all the home care. It’s been back breaking and many tears have spilled over the lids of her eyes in the night. She’d never tell you that, but I will. I want you to be as amazed as I am.

The Joy of Eating and Drinking for God’s Glory

I see beautiful opportunities to participate in the Gospel tangibly (if not tastily) manifesting among us to the glory of our great God. I sent you this little note, with the prayer that God will stir your heart like He has stirred The Cookie Lady’s. That we would join her quest in preparing meals where Christ’s grace is seen and shared and savored. Here’s my simple plea. That you would join a team of people who will commit to preparing a meal for Sara’s Saturday night Bible studies once per month for a year. That’s just twelve meals. But it will require a sacrifice. You’ll spend your time, your energy and some of your food. One Saturday a month, you will prepare a dish or two for a potluck style meal of around 30 people. Then, you and your team will share that meal with Sara and the street youth who attend the Bible study at her home. The only dividend I can promise is your joy and God’s glory in these meals.

Cookies on a plate. Loaves of bread in a basket. Fish baking over a Galilean campfire. Wine at a wedding feast. Spicy chicken burritos. It’s all just food and drink, right? Nah, I don’t think so.

To join up in this quest, mark the Saturday that you’d like to prepare a meal and reply to this message. If you can’t commit to an entire year, just let us know and we’ll make it all work. We’ll form teams of 8 or 10 people for each Saturday who will prepare and share these meals beginning January 8th. Once these teams are formed, we’ll get back to you with all the details. Also, give me a call if you’d like to lead one of the Bible studies.

For Christ Alone,

Pastor Timothy

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