Hot Pot

“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.” (Romans 12:6)

Last month, I was invited to a Chinese hot pot dinner at a friend’s home. The centerpiece of this communal meal is a large pot of simmering broth over a fire. My friend had a portable electric burner in the middle of her dining table surrounded by all the ingredients.  Meat, vegetables, noodles, etc., are added to the broth by each diner. After a few minutes of cooking in the hot broth, the food is ready to be scooped out and eaten. A lukewarm broth cannot cook the food and, thus, is useless. Therefore the fire under the pot must always keep the broth boiling. The items you placed in the pot are not always what you end up taking out. Give and take is the essence of this communal meal.

While I was sitting around this wonderful dinner with my good friends, I was reminded of God’s generosity. In his grace, God gave each of us different gifts for doing certain things well. He also gave us the fire of the Holy Spirit which keeps our own souls simmering. Contact with the fire is imperative; a lukewarm spirit is of no use. Each of us is meant to take the gifts we have been given and place them in the hot broth in order to make them usable. There is no place for possessiveness, greed, or showing off. We give what we have and take what we need. This is the essence of a community of faith.