The story of stone soup has a few variations. Some play toward a slant of trickery or selfishness where others find it to be about inspiration and encouragement.
Since we about ministry we'll choose the appropriate variation to work with.
(That is the appropriate variation in terms of ministry...right?)
A fire, a cauldron, water and a stone don't make soup, but where there are hungry people: it can cause soup to happen.
Someone who is hungry and has some cabbage will soon have cabbage soup if somebody else just gets the process going.
Hot water with a stone isn't the goal. Nutritional, filling food isn't really even the goal. A shared meal is the goal.
We often rush to provide the food. We often feel irrelevant or ineffective unless we provide the fire, the water, the stone, the ingredients, the bowls, the paper goods and the understanding of why we are providing the food. The value of the meal is then determined by how many people came to eat.
So metaphor breakdown:
What is our fire, pot, water and cauldron and what is our meal?
For a habitat for humanity build for example:
The house is really a stone.
The bulletin article is just some water.
The sponsorship fee is a fire.
The abilities of the congregation is a pot.
Your job description as director of missions is some flint.
What is the shared meal?
"Wow, I never knew I liked this sense of connection. I guess I've never had it prepared this way before."
"Man, you gotta try this. I helped make it."
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