Helping young people see God’s blessings
cultivates a joy that goes beyond words.
By Dishon Mills, Pastor, Steele Creek, North Carolina, U.S.
In the U.S., we will be celebrating Thanksgiving at the end of this month, so I would like to tell a story that brings together our worship of God and food. I spent seven years as the youth pastor at Pentecostal Church in Boston. Our group had a Friday night service where we would play a game, have a time of singing worship songs, followed by a message and time of prayer. One night, as the Holy Spirit was moving, our time of prayer extended for about 20-30 minutes. Twenty teens were all lifting their hands and joyously worshipping God. As the time of spontaneous worship continued, some of the young people came to the altar and bowed down to pray and worship. I was on the stage praying with and for them, so I could easily hear the prayers offered by the young people. One young man, Matthew, filled with rapturous joy, called out, “You’re The Mac ‘N’ Cheese, O God!”
Let me explain. Matthew is African American. In many, if not most, African American households, the turkey is not the featured dish of the Thanksgiving dinner. The star of the show is The Mac ‘N’ Cheese (capitalization intended). There are other essentials — candied sweet potatoes and collard/mustard greens are two other examples of “must haves.” However, the two priority topics in many African American homes on Thanksgiving are who made The Mac ‘N’ Cheese and was it good. It is a serious affair, and not everyone is allowed to make The Mac ‘N’ Cheese. The maker of this most honored dish must be deemed worthy by the family or else they might get their feelings hurt.
So, when Matthew called God “The Mac ‘N’ Cheese,” he was calling God the most delicious of the delicious foods. He was calling God the most comforting of the comfort foods. He was pointing to God as the one about whom we should be talking about most. He was putting God at the center of his table in a place of honor. Now, don’t get me wrong. Of course, we had a good laugh about it after our service! However, I made sure to tell Matthew how beautiful it was that he saw God as The Mac ‘N’ Cheese.
God is so great that as we get to know him, we cease to be able to speak about him in logical, literal terms all the time. It is no wonder that 33% of the language in the Bible is poetic. Sometimes, to say, “God is good,” does not feel adequate. He is so good that he inspires us to speak in metaphors that flow from our hearts instead of our heads. I am reminded of Psalm 119:103 where David sings, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” I think that was David’s way of saying that God is The Mac ‘N’ Cheese.
As we disciple young people, we should do our best to cultivate the “inexpressible and glorious joy” (1 Peter 1:8) that comes with being loved by God. We can accomplish this in two ways: by cultivating gratitude and by our example. As often as we can, we should point out the ways in which God blesses us every moment of every day. One way to do this is to encourage our young people to keep a gratitude journal — to daily or weekly write down the ways in which God is blessing them. As we take note of the ways God shows up in our lives, we will soon realize that he is “sweeter than honey.” Also, we should feel free to express our own “inexpressible and glorious joy.” Sometimes when I was leading a conversation with my young people, I stopped my prepared comments to have a moment of spontaneous worship and prayer. I would explain to my young people that I was too overcome with joy to continue with my prepared message. I had to take a moment to respond to his love and grace. This may not be the right fit for you. However, we should find ways to show that God is greater than words can say.
I pray that God becomes the equivalent of The Mac ‘N’ Cheese for all our young people. May our children find him the most delicious of the delicious foods.
