An interesting thing happened at church last weekend. After the Christmas Cantata, the congregation was invited to participate in a cookie bake sale to help fund programming for the high school and college students. Prior sales have been widely supported and the question for the staff became, “How do we ramp this up another notch?” Our daughter, Kristin, who is in charge of the youth and young adults, thought it would be nice to offer an option to purchase cookies to take home, rather than eat everything on site.
So, in the spirit of raising additional funds, take home packaging was offered for $10 each. Well, much to the surprise of everyone, the 48 containers that were available for purchase were gone in 5 minutes! What to do now? The sale was still on and the lines were getting longer…
Kristin looked for additional containers and much to her dismay, the only thing available was a package of Ziplock bags. She looked for decals or decorations to make the bags more appealing to the congregation, but there were none to be found. Then, Kristin remembered that they had a number of small, Squishy Jesus “dolls”, similar to something that would fit on the eraser end of a pencil and she came up with the idea to give a Squishy Jesus figure away with the purchase of a $10 Ziplock bag to support the ministry.
Apparently, it was a great idea. Of course, I told her that she couldn’t charge for “Jesus” as salvation is “free” so Jesus had to be freely given to anyone, but she could charge for the bags. To cut to the end of the event, they raised a great amount for the ministry and sold out of cookies and, apparently, bags with Squishy Jesus figures.
I marveled at her creativity but that’s our Kristin. She is quick to think of unconventional ways of engaging kids and families in her ministry. Of course, this last sale was a resounding success as well. While they may make changes for next year’s event, it’s safe to say that Squishy Jesus was a huge success. I was so curious about how this was so successful that Kristin gave me one of the Squishy Jesus figures. I have to admit, He was difficult to put down. This isn’t some hard, wooden, or plastic figure. This was some material that you could squeeze, play and engage with; and it was clear that people loved “Jesus” as much as I did.
I was amazed that people loved the fact that Jesus was soft and squeezable. It gave people a sense of Jesus being approachable and it was clear that this was the sort of thing that people could carry with them and to remind them of the love of Jesus. It was obvious that “Jesus” put the whole event over the top!
Isn’t that the way that it should always be with Jesus? He should be the center of attention, not only during the church service, but even in the gathering space where cookies are being sold and assisting those who were raising money for their ministry area. He should be first all the time. And the comments at the bake sale confirmed that people loved the idea.
Our verse for tonight highlights the fact that Jesus is approachable and is always with us. Regardless of where you are in your life, Jesus invites you into His space to share your load – or to celebrate with you! Matthew, in his Gospel, gives us the words of Jesus and His invitation. Matthew recounts to us, in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Who wouldn’t want to accept that invitation?
My encouragement this evening is that Jesus is approachable and invites us unconditionally into His world. My prayer is that all of us will always remember that Jesus is there for us. And if you need a constant reminder that Jesus is for us, and approachable, you may want to pick up a Squishy Jesus. In fact, if you wish, you can get your own Squishy Jesus on Amazon. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…