Episode 849
Radical Hospitality: Embracing Unconditional Love | 849
The "Daily Bible Refresh" is presented each day by Rev. Dr. Brad Miller who has a goal of speaking a bit of the bible into two million ears (one million people) in three years (2025-2028).
He is the author of "The A, B, C-1,2,3 Bible Study Guide" Free to you by clicking HERE.
Brad served as a local church pastor for forty years and has a background in radio and podcasting. Moreover, he is a life-long student of The Bible.
He believes in the words of Jesus that “scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21)
The "Daily Bible Refresh" is available seven days a week by 6:00 am ET. The episodes are no longer than ten minutes long and are...
- Understandable: A reading from the New Testament (usually the Gospel) selected from the Revised Common Lectionary using "The Message" translation.
- Relatable: You will have a couple of "points to ponder" from the text which will relate to your life
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The discussion centers around the scriptural passage from Luke 9:10-17, where Jesus performs the miraculous feeding of a vast crowd with minimal resources. This narrative serves as a poignant allegory for contemporary society's struggle with issues of scarcity and inequality. The speaker draws attention to the disciples' initial response to the crowd, which reflects a common tendency to deflect responsibility onto others. Jesus’ command to 'feed them' serves as a clarion call for collective action and accountability in addressing community needs. The episode further explores the organized process of gathering the crowd into groups of fifty, suggesting that intentionality in community organization is vital for effective service delivery. The discussion challenges listeners to confront their own perceptions of abundance, emphasizing that the real miracle lies in recognizing the potential for resource-sharing in our communities. By fostering an environment of radical hospitality, we are reminded of our duty to ensure that everyone’s basic human needs are met, thus modeling the unconditional love that Jesus exemplified. In conclusion, listeners are urged to take actionable steps in their own neighborhoods to promote food justice and community support, transforming the narrative of scarcity into one of shared abundance and grace.
Takeaways:
- Radical hospitality, as exemplified by Jesus, exemplifies unconditional love that transcends societal barriers.
- The miracle of feeding the 5,000 illustrates the transformative power of community and collective responsibility.
- In a world rife with scarcity, we are called to recognize and share the abundance around us.
- Jesus' command to 'you feed them' serves as a profound challenge to our tendency to deflect responsibility for others' needs.
- Through the lens of Luke 9:10-17, we observe the importance of organized community efforts in addressing hunger.
- The daily study of Scriptures fosters a greater understanding of our collective role in alleviating societal inequities.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- voiceofgoddaily.com
Transcript
Radical hospitality without conditions.
Speaker A:A study of Luke 9:10 through 17 on the Daily Bible refresh with Dr.
Speaker A:Brad Miller.
Speaker A:Hello good people.
Speaker A:Welcome to Daily Bible Refresh with Dr.
Speaker A:Brad Miller.
Speaker A:That's me.
Speaker A:Thank you for joining me on my mission to get the audible word of God into 2 million years.
Speaker A: llion people, millionaires by: Speaker A:We do that by studying the Scriptures every single day.
Speaker A:We read from the New Testament.
Speaker A:We read from the selected verse from the Revised Common Lectionary.
Speaker A:We're in year C, the Lenten season.
Speaker A:We make the Word of God understandable by reading from the message version.
Speaker A:We make it relatable by giving you some points to ponder and applicable by giving you an action step to take.
Speaker A:We do all of that from our website voiceofgoddaily.com which is the home of the ABC1 Bible Study Method.
Speaker A:Let's get into today's reading.
Speaker A: It's from the Gospel of Luke: Speaker A:Reading from the message, the apostles returned and reported on what they had done.
Speaker A:Jesus took them away off by themselves near the town called Bethsaida.
Speaker A:But the crowds got wind of it and followed.
Speaker A:Jesus graciously welcomed them and talked to them about the kingdom of God.
Speaker A:Those who needed healing, he healed.
Speaker A:Bread and fish for 5,000.
Speaker A:As the sun set, the 12 said, dismiss the crowds so they can go to the farms and villages around here and get a room for the night and a bite to eat.
Speaker A:We're out in the middle of nowhere.
Speaker A:You feed them, Jesus said.
Speaker A:They said we couldn't scrape up more than five loaves of bread and a couple of fish.
Speaker A:Unless of course, you want us to go to town ourselves and buy food for everybody.
Speaker A:There was more than 5,000 people in the crowd, but he went ahead and directed his disciples, set them down in groups of about 50.
Speaker A:They did what he said and soon had everyone seated.
Speaker A:And he took the five loaves and the two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer.
Speaker A:He blessed and broke it and gave the bread and the fish to the disciples to hand to the crowd.
Speaker A:And after the people had eaten their fill, 12 baskets of leftover were gathered up.
Speaker A:Wow, what a great story.
Speaker A:A familiar story of course, about the feeding of the 5,000.
Speaker A:And it really speaks powerfully to the modern challenges we have in our world right now of scarcity, community care and a collective responsibility.
Speaker A:So let's get in some points to ponder.
Speaker A:One is about the abundance there.
Speaker A:There is abundance in community, in our world of individualism and artificial scarcity.
Speaker A:This is a storage which challenges the myth that there isn't enough to go around.
Speaker A:When the disciples saw limitation, Jesus saw possibility.
Speaker A:And this mirrors our modern context where we're told that resources are scarce, yet we waste enough food globally to feed millions.
Speaker A:And the miracle here isn't just multiplication.
Speaker A:It's the transformation of mindset from scarcity to abundance through collective sharing and and distribution.
Speaker A:Another point is about radical hospitality without conditions.
Speaker A:Notice that Jesus doesn't screen the crowd and check their beliefs at the door or demand anything in return.
Speaker A:He graciously welcomed them is what it says, healing and feeding all who came.
Speaker A:And this models a form of unconditional love that challenges a modern tendency to place some sort of requirement or restrictions on aid or support.
Speaker A:In an era of means testing and disservice, of disserving politics, Jesus demonstrates that everyone deserves to have their basic human needs met.
Speaker A:Another point is about the politics of food justice.
Speaker A:The disciples initially their initial response is to send them away.
Speaker A:It reflects how we often try to make human needs somebody else's problem.
Speaker A:And Jesus command is you feed them.
Speaker A:It's a direct challenge to this deflection of responsibility.
Speaker A:The story isn't just about miraculous provision.
Speaker A:It's about responsibility to address hunger and needs and iniquity and inequality in our communities.
Speaker A:The gathering in groups of 50 is another way that suggests an organized process.
Speaker A:To do this.
Speaker A:An intentional community organizes to serve the needs rather than being involved in some sort of chaotic charity.
Speaker A:Here's your action step for today.
Speaker A:I want you to investigate just one area.
Speaker A:Food justice or injustice perhaps, or in your community.
Speaker A:And what are some initiatives in your community to meet the needs of food?
Speaker A:Consider joining some sort of a food aid network or support a community clothes closet or community food bank or fridge or organizing a food sharing program in your neighborhood.
Speaker A:You could start small or volunteer with some present organization.
Speaker A:And could your possibility of your faith community or even your friend group pool your resources in such a way that everyone has enough.
Speaker A:Remember, this miracle began with just five loaves and two fish that fed 5,000 people.
Speaker A:What might your small community do to contribute to the needs in your community?
Speaker A:Think how it can be a catalyst for the mag and the multiplication to meet the need.
Speaker A:We're going to pray here in just a minute, but I did want to give you something else that you can do and that is you can read the Bible on your own.
Speaker A:We love to have you here on the daily Bible refresh.
Speaker A:But we also want to know that it's so important that you study the Bible of your own.
Speaker A:So we have a resource for you.
Speaker A:I want you to head over to voiceofgoddaily.com that's our website.
Speaker A:And there we have a free resource to help you read the Bible every day.
Speaker A:It's called the ABC 1, 2, 3 Bible Study Guide.
Speaker A:And it will help you do just that.
Speaker A:Make Bible study point by point.
Speaker A:ABC 1, 2, 3.
Speaker A:And it's there to be helpful to you.
Speaker A:And we hope that you will do just that to pick it up at Voice of God daily.
Speaker A:Let's pray.
Speaker A:Oh God, you are the divine source of abundance.
Speaker A:And we confess our tendency to see scarcity where you see possibility.
Speaker A:Open our eyes to the resources already present in our communities and give us courage to share what we have, even when it doesn't seem like enough.
Speaker A:Help us move beyond the impulse to send people away to solve their own problems.
Speaker A:Remind us that we are all, all are responsible for each other's well being.
Speaker A:Guide us in creating systems of care that reflect your generous love.
Speaker A:Transform our hearts from spaces of anxiety about not enough to vessels of abundant grace in the spirit of collective care and radical hospitality.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Think abundance, everybody.
Speaker A:It's such a pleasure to be with you.
Speaker A:My name is Dr.
Speaker A:Brad Miller and we come to you every day here.
Speaker A:Usually before 6am Eastern time, we drop these episodes of the Daily Bible Refresh.
Speaker A:We've got over 800 episodes on our website that you can check out as well.
Speaker A:We hope that you will and you will hope to join us again tomorrow and bring a friend so we can meet our goal of reaching the ears of 2 million people.
Speaker A: ion ears, a million people by: Speaker A:So until tomorrow, friends, remember that God's loyal love doesn't run out.
Speaker A:His merciful love hasn't dried up, it's created new.
Speaker A:Every morning.
