This week Bonsack UMC has carried on a tradition that has been a part of the ethos of this congregation for decades – making Apple butter. On Sunday bushels of apples were purchased for the activity, and on Wednesday and Thursday many volunteers, men and women, showed up to peel, core, and slice the apples, placing the prepared product in large trash bags ready to be ground for cooking.
Tonight even more volunteers will show up at 6 PM to grind the apples into mush which will be
placed into large copper kettles for cooking over an open flame. The mush will be seasoned and cooked overnight, while at the same time constantly stirred to prevent burning. Thus more volunteers will work shifts stirring, talking, and sharing in this activity of fellowship, fun, and work.
Tomorrow morning a whole new set of volunteers will come in early to can the freshly made apple butter, sanitizing the jars, filling them with piping hot apple butter, then sealing them so they can set for 24 hours before being sold for consumption.
As one can imagine, this is quite a process. It takes much coordination, many volunteer hours, and materials, all to create a finished product that is wonderfully tasty and brings joy to those who receive it. Many consume it themselves, but many give apple butter away as gifts. All of it is intended to be a blessing.
Not only does the blessing come in the tasting, however, for the funds that are received from the apple butter purchases is used for ministry and mission. These funds have been used to help improve the facilities but most often used to help this church be in ministry to those outside this place through mission opportunities. They have been shared locally, nationally, and internationally, but the blessing has come through the sharing of what God generated through this congregation’s efforts and care.
Every year when apple butter comes about I am reminded, however, that this activity is about far more than just making apple butter. As stated before, it is about raising funds for mission and ministry, but it is about even more than that, it is also about being the Body of Christ together. It is about fellowship, sharing in a common task, and listening and learning things. It is about meeting Christ as we work together.
Around those tables when the apples are being peeled, cored, and prepared, conversations arise
which otherwise would not take place. The young mother sits across from the table from the new widow, and God weaves Godself into the conversation and connects their hearts and lives. The pastor or staff member sits among the flock, laughing, learning, and celebrating the blessing of being a part of this part of the Body of Christ. The outsider or new visitor to the church shows up and experiences something that is so easily lost, missed, or never experienced, community.
Tonight around pots of steaming mush, children, youth, and adults will take turns stirring the pots
while groups will share in conversations about life, sports, news, and mostly how God is moving among us. We will stand under the stars, warming ourselves around open flames, and the scene enfolds us so that we experience what it’s like to be in the moment, in creation. And slowly, patiently, as the mush boils down to the finished product, we are given an analogy for the Christian life being something that takes effort, coordination, and lots and lots of time.
As the canning takes place, we capture a moment in time and pass it on to those who receive it. We take all of that effort, love, and joy, and we try to bottle it, passing it on to those whom we love. And God works among those who do the work to knit us together as community. Indeed, this is about more than Apple butter.
In Matthew 18 Jesus is waxing eloquent about how to live in community, and He is addressing what happens when community is broken down and there are divisions. He talks about how, if we have an issue with someone, then we are first called to seek them out and seek restoration, then if that doesn’t help, bring some people from the community along to help, and if not, then release them and pray they will return. Then Jesus ends this instruction by saying, “if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, then my Father who is in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I’m there with them.” (Matthew 18: 19-20)
That last line is used over and over again in many contexts, but what I find most interesting is the original context in which it was written. Often we don’t use this phrase of two or three being
gathered in the context of conflict, but instead we like to use it as a reminder that when we gather, God is with us. And yet, in every situation, the truth of the original context is present, even if we don’t name it.
Around those tables, kettles, and jars, there are folks that have been, or even are, in conflict. They have not sought reconciliation nor been reconciled. They are hurting from life, as well as from each other. They are not whole, and the brokenness can be laid bare. And yet, despite such things, Christ is there.
Even more powerfully, despite the pain, brokenness, and unspoken conflict, there can come reconciliation and understanding...among the conversation, the working together, the producing of something for the glory of God. Indeed, in the midst of the activity, fellowship, and sharing of a common task, God weaves Godself among us, and we become the Body of Christ for each other and the world.
This tradition of which I am blessed to be a part is about far more than apple butter. It’s about God at work through us, among us, and in us, and for me that’s a gift God graciously lavishes upon us year after year after year.
Is there some activity or mission or class that is going on among your church or circle of influence in which you need to be engaged? Are there folks with whom you need to be reconciled?
Pray about it and listen. Maybe God needs you to respond. May the community of faith needs you to be more fully a part of the Body.
Tonight even more volunteers will show up at 6 PM to grind the apples into mush which will be
placed into large copper kettles for cooking over an open flame. The mush will be seasoned and cooked overnight, while at the same time constantly stirred to prevent burning. Thus more volunteers will work shifts stirring, talking, and sharing in this activity of fellowship, fun, and work.Tomorrow morning a whole new set of volunteers will come in early to can the freshly made apple butter, sanitizing the jars, filling them with piping hot apple butter, then sealing them so they can set for 24 hours before being sold for consumption.
As one can imagine, this is quite a process. It takes much coordination, many volunteer hours, and materials, all to create a finished product that is wonderfully tasty and brings joy to those who receive it. Many consume it themselves, but many give apple butter away as gifts. All of it is intended to be a blessing.
Not only does the blessing come in the tasting, however, for the funds that are received from the apple butter purchases is used for ministry and mission. These funds have been used to help improve the facilities but most often used to help this church be in ministry to those outside this place through mission opportunities. They have been shared locally, nationally, and internationally, but the blessing has come through the sharing of what God generated through this congregation’s efforts and care.
Every year when apple butter comes about I am reminded, however, that this activity is about far more than just making apple butter. As stated before, it is about raising funds for mission and ministry, but it is about even more than that, it is also about being the Body of Christ together. It is about fellowship, sharing in a common task, and listening and learning things. It is about meeting Christ as we work together.
Around those tables when the apples are being peeled, cored, and prepared, conversations arise
which otherwise would not take place. The young mother sits across from the table from the new widow, and God weaves Godself into the conversation and connects their hearts and lives. The pastor or staff member sits among the flock, laughing, learning, and celebrating the blessing of being a part of this part of the Body of Christ. The outsider or new visitor to the church shows up and experiences something that is so easily lost, missed, or never experienced, community.Tonight around pots of steaming mush, children, youth, and adults will take turns stirring the pots
while groups will share in conversations about life, sports, news, and mostly how God is moving among us. We will stand under the stars, warming ourselves around open flames, and the scene enfolds us so that we experience what it’s like to be in the moment, in creation. And slowly, patiently, as the mush boils down to the finished product, we are given an analogy for the Christian life being something that takes effort, coordination, and lots and lots of time.As the canning takes place, we capture a moment in time and pass it on to those who receive it. We take all of that effort, love, and joy, and we try to bottle it, passing it on to those whom we love. And God works among those who do the work to knit us together as community. Indeed, this is about more than Apple butter.
In Matthew 18 Jesus is waxing eloquent about how to live in community, and He is addressing what happens when community is broken down and there are divisions. He talks about how, if we have an issue with someone, then we are first called to seek them out and seek restoration, then if that doesn’t help, bring some people from the community along to help, and if not, then release them and pray they will return. Then Jesus ends this instruction by saying, “if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, then my Father who is in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I’m there with them.” (Matthew 18: 19-20)
That last line is used over and over again in many contexts, but what I find most interesting is the original context in which it was written. Often we don’t use this phrase of two or three being
gathered in the context of conflict, but instead we like to use it as a reminder that when we gather, God is with us. And yet, in every situation, the truth of the original context is present, even if we don’t name it.Around those tables, kettles, and jars, there are folks that have been, or even are, in conflict. They have not sought reconciliation nor been reconciled. They are hurting from life, as well as from each other. They are not whole, and the brokenness can be laid bare. And yet, despite such things, Christ is there.
Even more powerfully, despite the pain, brokenness, and unspoken conflict, there can come reconciliation and understanding...among the conversation, the working together, the producing of something for the glory of God. Indeed, in the midst of the activity, fellowship, and sharing of a common task, God weaves Godself among us, and we become the Body of Christ for each other and the world.
This tradition of which I am blessed to be a part is about far more than apple butter. It’s about God at work through us, among us, and in us, and for me that’s a gift God graciously lavishes upon us year after year after year.
Is there some activity or mission or class that is going on among your church or circle of influence in which you need to be engaged? Are there folks with whom you need to be reconciled?
Pray about it and listen. Maybe God needs you to respond. May the community of faith needs you to be more fully a part of the Body.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment