Preaching from a pulpit in the north part of the country still often referred to as “The World’s Bread Basket” the Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton cried out for United Methodists to remember the “House of Bread” in the Bible and in their local churches and communities on Thursday.
At opening worship for the 2011 Detroit Annual Conference at Adrian College Keaton preached a message titled “Bethlehem Revisited,” focusing on how the gospel of Matthew and land of Bethlehem relates to nourishing the souls and bodies of the hungry and poor.
The Hebrew meaning of Bethlehem is translated as “house of bread” and a deeper look at the root origin of the word reveals “bread” stood for “the kneading of the dough,” a phrase often associated with struggles or strife in Biblical times.
“Bethlehem is world famous as Jesus’ birthplace, however it has a history that stretches out 800 or 900 years before Christ and it lives on after Christ,” Keaton said, noting that King David was also born in Bethlehem and he too was a shepherd of the people.
“Bethlehem was a ‘house of bread’ to feed the human belly and to feed kids and also the ‘house of bread’ to feed the spiritual hunger and desire of the people.”
Keaton said that history shows that while there was plenty of food to go around in ancient Bethlehem, the deacons of the city had to help many people gain access to it due to political and demographical impediments.
He said it’s comparable to the malnutrition epidemic continuing in many parts of the country and world today.
“Our country has produced enough food each year the last 40-50 years to feed the entire world…but then also, a recent CBS News report showed that (more than 40 million) people are on food stamps in the U.S.” he said. “There’s a devastating famine in the land of Detroit, much like there has been in Bethlehem.”
Keaton said just as the deacons in Bethlehem had to help distribute the food to those on the fringe of society, churches and Christians need to become more informed about the social structures and historic roadblocks that are stifling their communities, in order to create plans of action.
He said common reasons that people are poor include economic systems that control resources, consequences of military action in oppressive countries, natural disasters and simply being born into a lineage that has had a tough time making ends meet and may be uneducated.
“It is important to learn about the history of your town and understand what it means, to see it in a new light, to know its needs,” he said. “You don’t have to go 800 miles — sometimes it’s two miles, it’s right where you are.”
Keaton said his experience in sharing resources with those in need is that God will often provide an abundance and new opportunities will arise through faith.
Annual conference attendees shared resources on Thursday, through a special offering that will go toward The Advance’s Hot Lunch Program in Haiti and a safe haven known as the Bishop Judith Craig Children’s Village in Liberia.
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