Sand Mountain Sermonette 37
2 Timothy 1:5-7; Matthew 6:25-26a, 28b-29,31,33
Cornbread in the Snow
“For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that is in you as well. For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:5-7
“For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life…Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them…Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these…Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘What shall we eat ?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’…But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:25-26a, 28b-29,31,33
Passing along one’s faith in Christ to the next generation is not only Biblical, it’s crucial as well! I was blessed to have a grandmother “Bernice” Mabrey who like Timothy’s grandmother Lois, was a key witness for Christ in my early and “formative” years.
One cold and snowy North Alabama morning when I about five or six years old, my Mamaw Mabrey did something with a leftover piece of that good old iron-skillet -cornmeal-made cornbread that forever changed my life! Mamaw and Papaw lived in a split-level home that featured an average-sized back yard; one covered that morning in a deep blanket of glistening white snow. We were both in the kitchen when she suited up with her long coat, scarf, and rubber boots, before grabbing that hunk of cornbread from the skillet and proceeding to walk out the kitchen door. Once the door was closed, I did something she never wanted me to do; I proceeded to climb up on her kitchen sink so I could look out the window, and sure enough, there she was walking into view in the backyard with cornbread in hand. And then Mamaw did something I did not quite understand at the time; she broke off pieces of the cornbread and pitched them into the snow, before walking back into the house. But before she opened the kitchen door, I saw something amazing! I witnessed little black birds, one after the other, flying down to eat their breakfast fill upon the snow!
Dear friends, I can assure you that not only has God provided me with His strength, hope, joy, direction, peace, and love in both the good and difficult times of thirty-one years of ministry, I know deep within my heart, I am where I am today, because of the faithful prayers of my grandmother Mabrey. Her faith; sincere and unashamed, was the kind of faith Paul encouraged Timothy to “rekindle” [keep in full flame] so as not to neglect the gift of teaching and preaching the gospel to a lost and dying world of the first century A.D. Oh! Christian! Will our heavenly Father not take care of His children as He most assuredly feeds the birds and clothes so beautifully the flowers? Never be ashamed of the gospel message as you invite the Holy Spirit to “rekindle” your gifting today all to the glory of God!
Pastor Louie