Jesus feeding the 5000… Why?

My son Johnathan invited me to "The Feeding" a few years back.

But I never had the time…

Correction - I never MADE the time…

But in January of 2014 I joined him on a chilly Monday night in downtown Nashville.  It was awesome.

The group www.peoplelovingnashville.com have served dinner to the homeless for the last 7 or 8 years without missing a Monday.

I recruited a few volunteers from TPN and have been joining them for 9 months now.

So…

it finally hit me why jesus fed the 5000.

Answer - it was a hook - a tool - a gimmick - to gather people and share with them the love of God.

OK - gimmicks are frowned on in many cases but think about it.

Jesus saw that people were hungry - so He used His resources to feed them.  In that "feeding" He was able to supply an immediate need - while telling them about a cool new path in life they could walk.

I have a friend, George Medley,  who does the same thing in Denver every week.

He opens his warehouse every weekend and hands out bags of food and clothing to the poor in the city.

Whats more - for about 2 years he gave away a used car every week - 

He would have three hundred people show up just to win a car - and then he would tell them outright…

"I used this car to get you to come here to my warehouse - so I could tell you about a man called Jesus".

George used a hook-  a tool - a Gimmick…

 

This is what the Lampa family is doing every Monday night.

Using a dinner to gather people to show them through action -  the love of God.

Perhaps we need to find more ways to gather people into our lives  - 

Gimmick or not - Lets continue to  "Reflect the Love of God" in helping our fellow man.