20 Jul, 2011
The Lunch Special - Wonderfully Different
From Reader's Digest "Best of America"...
About the SAME Cafe in Denver, CO...their motto is "Wonderfully Different."
"Inside the pleasingly aromatic SAME Cafe in downtown Denver, the spirit of generosity is instantly apparent: A slotted donation box stands in place of a cash register. Customers here pay only what they can afford, no questions asked.
A risky business plan, perhaps, but SAME (it stands for So All May Eat) Cafe has an unassailable mission in the Mile High City: Open only at midday, the restaurant provides needy residents with nutritious, delicious lunches six days a week. Diners unable to pay for their meals can instead volunteer as servers, dishwashers, and prep cooks or offer other maintenance services.
'It's based on trust, and it's working,' says co-owner Brad Birky, who started the cafe with his wife, Libby, in 2006. As veteran volunteers at soup kitchens, the Birkys lamented the often unhealthy meals they served there.
...'We wanted to offer quality food in a restaurant setting where everyone felt comfortable, regardless of their circumstances,' says Birky...
...The luncheonette now averages 65 to 70 customers (and eight volunteers) a day. And the spirit of generosity behind the enterprise appears to be infectious. In early 2007, one volunteer who had shoveled snow for his meals during the long winter bid farewell to his benefactors. 'He said he was going to New Orleans to help with the hurricane cleanup,'...
'Everyone deserves to eat with dignity,' says Brad Birky."
Where do you see Jesus in this story?
Taking risks...going against the grain...creatively serving others...giving others our best...loving others well...caring for the unnoticed and the outcast...
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love...My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command...You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you...This is my command: Love each other." - John 15:9, 12-14, 16-17
This is the essence of abiding...
As you have been loved by the Father, so you love others so they might know Him...and the cycle continues. Your friend then goes on to love others...just like the volunteer who was served by SAME cafe went on to serve others in New Orleans.
This is the contagious nature of His Story and His love.
The couple in this article used the passions and gifts God gave them to find a creative ways to love others...
What gifts and passions has God given you to love others in a unique way?
What else is God be telling you through this article about your own story and how He desires to use you to share His love with others?
One of the best aspects of this article is this: Often times, when we serve others, we are tempted to give them the leftovers, rather than giving them the very best. The Birkys were determined to give the very best to those they serve. But they do more than give, they help them learn to serve others in turn!
How often to you make sacrifices to give the best to others?
How might your kindness in the lives of your friends create the desire in them to extend that same love to others?
How does all of this help your friends draw closer to Jesus?
The couple in this article also took a great risk in opening a donations-only cafe. What risks can you take with the gifts and passions you have to serve the community around you and your lost friends?
Think of specific friends you have who don't know Jesus.
How can you love and serve them in a creative way and give them your best this week?
Also illustrated by this article is the power of eating together and the importance of loving those who usually go unnoticed. There are no doubt tons of students on your campus who are overlooked, unnoticed...who eat alone. What are their names? Would you be willing to eat with them this week?
Ask Jesus to use you in these ways and then share what happens!
Jesus' love is creative, it takes risks, and it's infectious! Pass it on!
GO and be WONDERFULLY DIFFERENT!
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