Be gentle
When you touch bread
Let it not lie
Uncared for, unwanted
So often
Bread is taken for granted
There is such beauty in bread:
Beauty of sun and soil
Beauty of patient toil
Wind and sun have caressed it
Christ often blessed it
Be gentle when you touch bread
Despite the fact that flour seems to be the one thing that persists in being out of stock we will persevere in faith that on Maundy Thursday 9th April we will be able to do Bread Church at Home, so here are the instructions to help you prepare / follow along. For safeguarding reasons you'll need to be a member of our church community to participate live but if you're not, there is enough here that you can do it alone,or with others in your own context.
Edited to add: much grateful thanks to Dorienke who wrote the reflections. I added to some and lightly edited others but would never have been able to produce anything this wonderful myself. It was only after the service that I found out they were hers! All credit to her; mistakes (theological, liturgical or aesthetic) are all mine.
Instructions in bold throughout.
You will need:
To read through the whole blog post so you know what’s coming!
A clean surface area on which to knead the dough
A large bowl, measuring spoons, scales
500g strong bread flour, or 250g plain flour and 250g bread flour (can be white or seeded or wholemeal as you like), plus extra to hand for flouring the surface and hands
1 sachet of dried yeast (make sure it’s within its best before date)
Table salt
Runny honey or sugar
Oil – the stronger the flavour, the more it’s going to influence the flavour of the bread so choose wisely for your preferred taste
A measuring jug with about 350ml of warm (but not hot) water in it
A clean tea towel to cover the dough
A tub with water, soap and a towel if you would like to wash your hands that way instead of at the sink.
Have all the ingredients ready and the Zoom meeting open, video on or off as you prefer, mic off (for now).
We'll start with a short confession and then wash each other's hands.
Water
Who shall stand in the LORD’s holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts… (Psalm 24,3b-4a).
We have washed and dried our hands to make sure they are clean before we start our work. It is a physical reminder of the need for spiritual cleansing. This spiritual cleansing is not something we can do to ourselves. We need each other, and above all we need God; we thank God for his grace! But by washing our hands we show that we are aware of God’s holiness, and willing to be cleansed thoroughly by his blood and by his spirit, to be fit to stand before the LORD.
We are now going to make our dough. As we add each ingredient to the bowl we’ll read a short bit of the Bible and take a moment to think about it. Feel free to discuss the questions as you work.
Flour
The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre (…) And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said: ‘Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour…’ (Genesis 18,1a and 6a).
The finest flour for the finest bread. In the Middle East only the best is good enough for your guests. And Abraham didn’t even know yet who his visitors were. When we measure our own finest flour, it is not for a meal where the LORD will be our guest. He has become our host. It is he who has taken all the effort to provide us with the finest bread. Only the best is good enough for the meal where we are his guests. He has honoured us by giving us the very best of himself, his life, his love, his presence, so that we might be fed and live.
This evening we remember the time when Jesus had a meal with his special friends: what we now call the Last Supper. During that meal he took the bread that was on the table, he said thank you to God for it, he broke it, and shared it with his disciples. He told them to keep doing that in order to remember him. As we make this bread this afternoon let’s ‘remember’ Jesus.
Measure 500g of flour into the bowl.
I wonder what stories you can remember from Jesus’ life… the things he said… I wonder, when you think of Jesus, what comes to mind… I wonder what Good Friday and Easter Sunday mean to you…
Salt
You are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5,13).
Tiny little grains of salt. They disappear in the mixture, dissolving completely. No one will think about them. They are only noticed if they are not there. Because they are not meant to make the bread taste salty, but to make it taste like bread. May we be the salt of the earth, that will make the earth taste like the kingdom of God that it is supposed and destined to be.
Add 1tsp of salt to the bread – too little, and the bread won’t taste like bread, too much, and it will kill the yeast.
Yeast
The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened (Matthew 13:33).
As soon as the yeast has been added to the mixture, there is no turning back: you cannot take it out again, the process will run its course, and will be unstoppable. In the same way, the kingdom of God will keep growing and spreading until the whole earth is leavened with love, justice and peace. As we add the yeast to our mixture, let us pray for the coming of God’s kingdom.
Add 1 sachet of yeast to the bowl.
I wonder what you imagine it will look like when God reigns completely on earth… I wonder what God’s kingdom looks like… I wonder whether you have ever felt it in your life or seen it in the world around…
Honey/sugar
Come, taste and see that the LORD is good (Psalm 34,8a).
The honey/sugar gives the bread a sweet and pleasant taste and it helps to feed the yeast. Honey/sugar quickly restores our energy levels, which makes the world look brighter. We need to taste the goodness of the LORD, physically taste it with our taste buds to realize that his goodness is as real as that. May the honey/sugar we add to the mixture help us and the ones we share this bread with to experience the goodness of the LORD.
Add 2 tblsp of honey or sugar to the bowl.
Oil
How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! It is like the precious oil… (Psalm 133:1,2a).
The oil makes the dough supple and soft, and it serves to hold all the ingredients together. In the same way the Holy Spirit holds us together, binding us together in love. It is also the oil that makes it possible to knead the bread, and to form it in whatever shape the baker has in mind. May we, as children of God, be one in love, and be willing to be kneaded into the shape that God has in mind for us.
Add about 2-3 tblsp of oil (the good news about bread is that it’s not very precise as long as you don’t use too much salt!)
I wonder how God has been shaping you in the last year… I wonder what you have learned about following Jesus that has helped you…
Water
Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ (John 4.13-14).
Jesus promises he will give living water – the Holy Spirit – in such abundance that it will gush. It’s not a stingy trickle of the Spirit but so much that it will overflow from our lives into the world around: our families and friends, but also anyone we meet, if we let God work that way. As we add the water, let’s ask God to fill us with his Spirit again and to help us to let it flow out of us in abundance.
Add a bit less than 350ml of water to the bowl.
Now you can either use a mixer with dough hooks if you have one, or just get your hands right in there to mix it all up and bring it together into a sticky dough.
As you do, ask God to fill you again with the Holy Spirit.
Now put some flour on the clean work surface. Gently tip the dough onto the flour. Put some flour on your hands and start to knead the dough.
We’ll need to knead for a while so everyone can have a turn. Just add more flour to your hands or the surface as you need to stop everything sticking. It will become less sticky the more it’s worked. You should feel the dough becoming elastic and smooth. It’s a living thing: be firm but gentle with it!
When the dough is ready, put a little oil in the bottom of your bowl. Carefully put the ball of dough back in the bowl and roll it round so it’s all covered in oil. Cover with a tea towel and place it in a warm place to rise.
We gather for a closing prayer
Christ is our peace.
He has reconciled us to God
in one body by the cross.
We meet in his name and share his peace.
Take a moment to share Christ’s peace with those around you.
We say together the Lord’s Prayer.
We say the Grace.
Now we can turn mics and cameras on and meet from our kitchens. Some additional instructions for the bread follow.
It will need to rise for at least an hour, maybe 2, until it is doubled in size. When it’s ready, poke it with your fingers to ‘knock it back’. You can now shape it into little rolls (lemon-sized works well) or put it in a tin to make a loaf. You can get away with putting it straight in the oven but it is better to put it back in a warm place for another 30 mins or so. Then you can bake it!
Baking times will depend on your oven but a rough guide:
Bread rolls: 200˚C – 15-17mins
Loaf: 180˚C – 30-40mins
If you knock the bottom of the bread it will sound hollow when it’s done.
Before you eat, give thanks for this daily bread and for Jesus, the Bread of Life.
Image by fancycrave1 from Pixabay