“We’ll do waffles! With a waffle iron right there on the sidewalk!”
I prayed with my friend Mary and the idea to start a waffle ministry on our campus began to take shape. I visited churches and fellowships on and off campus, asked for contributions and gave speeches about our mission. I faced groups who thought it was too Christian, too secular, too idealistic and everywhere in between.
And, as I prayed and spoke, I realized a “theology of waffles” was forming within me. I was called to gather Christians from every fellowship to give a free waffle, no questions asked, to whoever walked by. We would serve our campus community—notorious for heavy drinking and Greek life—where they were.
We would act out Christ’s love as one body, without beating anyone over the head with the gospel. No, we would let the action of gospel love; that is, unconditional, surprising love, speak for itself.
This message is adapted from “Ministry of Waffles” written by Lauren Heywood n in the April 2015 issue of Café magazine. Please pray for the ELCA Youth Gathering in Detroit, which begins this week.
Today is the seventh Sunday after Pentecost. The readings are Amos 7:7-15; 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 (semicontinuous); Psalm 85:8-13; Psalm 24 (semicontinuous); Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:14-29. We remember today Nathan Söderblom, bishop of Uppsala, who died in 1931.
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