Being Shrove Tuesday, our church plant, Stour Valley Vineyard Church is taking to the streets to do our Great Big Pancake Giveaway, offering these culinary delights to our town's office and shop workers, along with the shoppers themselves.
The 'Great Big GIveaways' came about after reading American Vineyard Pastor Dave Workman's book three years ago called The Outward Focused Life, which is all about creating 'a servant culture in a serve me world'. If you don't have a copy, buy one.
Today we'll be out there with our familiar SVV Gazebo, along with camping gas cookers, frying pans and spatulas. This follows on from the other mass giveaways we do, such as hot mince pies at Christmas, bottles of water and juices in the Summer, heart-shaped chocolates on Valentine's Day and Hot Cross Buns on Palm Sunday.
So why do we do it?
it is part of our expression of what we believe we are called to be: kind to strangers. We are in the Kingdom business of wanting to show a God of kindness and generosity - with no strings attached. We don't give it a name like evangelism. This is way too loaded and full of over-expectation. However, it is undoubtedly a witness and is making hopefully a postive statement why we do what we do. And we love it.
Of course, we want to see our church grow numerically and spiritually, but if we reduce evangelism to a free pancake on a cold Shrove Tuesday lunchtime it becomes a cheap gimmick and we should be very ashamed of ourselves.
Admittedly, but unbegrudgingly, it does costs us quite of a lot of time, money and energy to do these community events, and if we were looking at these from a business investment perspective I am not that sure we would have many financial backers.
But that's the Kingdom for you. It often takes the reverse position to point people towards Christ without distraction.
For instance, we see in the gospels the coming of Christ in an unkingly manner born in a dirty stable, the lonely unglamourous death on a Roman cross and the unexpected power of the resurrection. This is not an obvious formula for success. However following Jesus has spawned a worldwide movement, spanning 2,000 years and encompassing a third of the world's population, as well as still being the fastest growing major faith system.
This makes God's way very different to the world's. The Kingdom of God is an upside down way of working. For instance, In our weakness we find strength, we are told the first shall be last and the least shall be great. Whoever wants position must be another's servant.
So we go out on the streets and do something untriumphantly understated as give out a pancake. However we believe 'small acts of kindness done with great love', to quote Mother Teresa, can change the world. And it is within every Christian's grasp to do it, individually and corporately.
Yes, it means we are have to be sacrificial with our resouces without looking for a return on our investments, otherwise we are not truly being servant-hearted. For some today it will mean booking a day off work, lose a day's pay or simply getting the courage up to leave the walls of the church building and be seen as a servant of Christ in our community.
So as we prepare to begin Lent tomorrow, on Ash Wednesday, which for many Christians will mean abstention of certain things, may I wish you all a very Happy Pancake Day!
ASD
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