The 9th chapter of Luke is filled with
important actions. Jesus fed 5,000 and
that is a story we should be telling over and over, but I’ll save that for a
few paragraphs later! It is in this
chapter that we learn that Jesus instructed the Disciples and gave them the
power to heal people and to cast out demons.
Those demons were a big thing, weren’t they? Remember that Christ is laying the foundation for a whole mankind
saving religion while Satan is in control of the earth.
Jesus also learns that it is time to let his journey
to the cross come to play out. He takes
Peter, James and John to the mountaintop to pray and something incredible
happens. Jesus is transformed with
lightening like light. He is joined by
two Heavenly bodies … thought to be Moses and Elijah. The ancient alien theorists love this
story, because they can turn Moses and Elijah into aliens so quickly, it isn’t
even funny! Them men carried the
message from God that it was now time to go to the cross. Jesus knew what was going to happen and
exactly how it would happen.
During these conversations,
one of the Disciples told Jesus that he had encountered another who was trying
to cast out demons in Jesus’ name. He
had told the man to stop, because he wasn’t a true believer. Jesus corrected him and said that anybody
trying to do their work should be accepted.
To me, this is an important concept.
I tell one of my Jewish friends that he and I are going to end up in the
same Heaven! Is any religion better
than another? Is any minister better
than others … or better than the least active member of his/her
congregation? Church bodies can be torn
to shambles because a “given few” assume that they are the “given few”. That is not what Jesus intends for us.
I want to go back to the fish and the loaves,
though. I’ve told this story zillions of
times and most recently as part of a presentation I make in senior citizen
centers. My father was a hoop net
fisherman, and there were times that he and my brothers would pull up a truck
bed load of fish from the Big Muddy River.
Those were times when they would drive all over town and give fish away
to people who needed it. (He was also an
avid gardener and gave produce away!) My
husband’s grandfather was the same way.
He lived in a tiny coal mining community that was close to a river’s
bank. He fished for the whole town and on
a regular basis delivered fish to families that didn’t have enough food.
Some scholars surmise that Jesus didn’t literally multiply the food, but that the mere fact that the little boy gave what he had
caused other people to give the little that they had. In the end, all combined, there was enough
food for everybody. I’m not sure it
matters which really happened. I like
the miracle of multiplying the amount of food, but the other concept makes me
giggle, too! The notion that a little
child started the whole thing is important, too. Sometimes the little ones see needs and
solutions before adults do!
Hunger is very real, and we don’t have to look at
third world countries to see it. There
are communities within a 100-mile radius of my home that do not have grocery
stores. Grandmothers are raising little
children and they have to send them to the gas station quick shop for food and
milk. There is no fresh produce. Other communities don’t even have that
much. If these communities are lucky,
they have a food pantry … or a food pantry delivery system. Children go to bed hungry all over the world,
and sometimes in places where we least expect this to be true.
Jesus knew that people could not comprehend His
message, if they were hungry. We know
that children don’t learn in school if they don’t have breakfast. I’m so proud of school systems that are now
packaging leftovers for children to take home for weekend meals or evening
meals. In most of the communities around
this university town I live in, there are such large numbers of impoverished
that school food programs are free … but I also read stories on a regular basis
about school employees who will pay for a child’s nutrition program, if they
cannot pay for it themselves.
My take-away from this chapter: Feed the hungry. I had the privilege of receiving a federal
grant a few years ago that allowed me to teach people how to cook with locally
grown produce. A friend and I had over
1,000 students in our program. The
youngest was 3 and the oldest was 87. When we taught about using blueberries, every
student received a quart of blueberries to take home and share. When we cooked with corn, every student
received a dozen ears of corn to take home.
I had never been so close to seeing hunger as I was that summer. Jesus expects us to address this problem in
our communities.
Let’s Cook!
Chilled French Radish Bisque
4 cups of sliced radishes, Daikon are brest
1
medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
2
Tablespoons butter
1
Tablespoon olive oil
1
big sprig of fresh Rosemary
2
Tablespoons flour
3
cups chicken or vegetable stock
1
teaspoon artisan’s salt
½
cup sour cream or buttermilk
Fresh
Mint Leaves for garnish
Clean the radishes but save the tops for a salad or
flavoring other vegetables. Slice the
radishes and the onion really thin. In
a heavy deep pan, melt the butter and olive oil; and add the onion, radishes
and Rosemary leaves. Gently sauté the
vegetables for approximately 10 minutes, until they are soft. Don’t let them turn brown. While cooking, the radishes will lose their
color, but the flavors are enhanced considerably. Add the flour and stir it until it blends
into the oil. Add the stock and the salt
and bring the mixture to a simmer, cooking for 15 minutes.
Use an immersion blender and puree until the soup is
smooth. This soup should be chilled
overnight. Add the sour cream or
buttermilk just before serving and garnish with freshly ground black pepper,
julienne strips of additional radish and mint leaves.
