The other evening I was cooking supper, a meal I’d selected from one of those weekly meal-prep delivery services (Thank you, Lakeview! You gifted me with several weeks of meal-prep deliveries when I arrived in 2020, and I continue to use the service). Almost every meal prep calls for a lot of salt and ground pepper, many call for either sour cream or cream cheese, and once in a while, sugar is an ingredient. Personally, I don’t need extra sugar in my food – I consume too much sugar as it is – but this being a new recipe to me, I decided to follow it pretty closely.

Just as I was about to put the dish in the oven for the final touch, I got a text message from my neighbor, asking if I was responsible for the divine smell she was catching at her house; was I grilling something? I told her I was cooking in the kitchen, and the exhaust fan was on; I was making a French onion soup bake, and did she want to join me? Having just bid farewell to her own guests, she confessed she’d eaten too much pizza already, otherwise she would’ve.

Where are you going with this, PK? I’ll tell you.

This meal is The Church, in several ways.

There are a variety of ingredients, some which are complementary (salt and pepper) and some which you might not think of together (salt and sugar). With this particular dish, you wouldn’t make a meal out of any single ingredient.

The Church has a variety of ingredients (people). Some are people we get along with well, people who share ideals and values and hopes and passions. Some are people we wouldn’t normally mix with, people who might be on the other side of whatever spectrum we might consider, people who have different ideals and values and hopes and passions. And The Church is a place for all of us. The Church is better with a variety of us.

And if we’re doing it right, The Church is attractive, it catches the interest and attention of people nearby, and people want to be part of it.

I’m excited to be part of this Church, which is actively seeking to be attractive to neighbors, actively combining talents and hopes of a variety of members, for the purpose of reaching other people with the Good News that there is Life in Jesus Christ.

Oh, another thing or two about the meal as The Church: one meal only lasts so long. No matter how satisfying it may be, in time you’re going to need another meal. And the same meal over and over again loses its appeal, though it may start out providing great satisfaction. Another meal might use many of the same ingredients, and offer a whole different appeal.

Friends, I love you and there is nothing you can do about it. Let’s be in ministry together! – PK

PK asks: What questions do you have for a pastor? Do you wonder something about church theology or history or practice? Do you have questions about ministry or The United Methodist Church or how salvation works? I would like to address your questions in upcoming sermons or emails. Email me at kerry.w.bart@gmail.com to ask a question or make a suggestion for my “Ask A Pastor” sermon series.