Loaves Abound!
When was the last time that you went to the store? Was it because you were out of something that you desperately needed? Or did you go to pick up something that you thought might be nice to have? Or did you, in fact, buy something that you later discovered you already had at home… and now you have a duplicate of it? Had you really run out of something… or did you think that, perhaps, you should get more of that item now… just in case they did not have it the next time you went looking for it? I sometimes wonder what we would do if all of the stores in town closed for one week… all at the same time. Would we go hungry? I doubt it. Would we have nothing to wear? I doubt it. Would we be unable to get our work done? I doubt it. You see, I think that we have so much abundance that we could go an entire week without going to any store and still have food left in the fridge… clothes hanging in our closets… and plenty of odds and ends lying around for the work that needs to be done.
Most of us have so many possessions that we are contemplating having a garage sale … not just this summer, but every summer… and, perhaps, even once a month. And, even after we have our garage sale, there is still so much stuff that we wonder where to put it all. I have just shipped a couch… a love seat… a desk… a chair… two chests of drawers… a bookcase… and an untold number of boxes to Julian this week… and I still have a house full of furniture and more boxes than I can count. Do they multiply at night when I am not looking?
The story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 is a story of scarcity and abundance… and a story of faith. The question is this: What is it that we believe… about what we have… about what we do not have… about what we need… and about how we will obtain what we need? What I love most about this story… besides the stunned looks on the disciples’ faces when Jesus turns to them and says, “You feed them!”… is that not one of the gospels goes into any detail about how these people were fed. They don’t tell you that Jesus had the disciples fill baskets with stones and then turned the stones into bread… as he had the people at the wedding in Cana fill the jars full of water before turning the water into wine. They don’t tell you that the bread rained down from the sky… like the morning dew that turned to manna for the children of Israel in the desert. They don’t tell you that as the disciples handed out the loaves that they had, more bread magically appeared… like the never-failing jar of oil in the house of the woman that Elijah visited. So, we are left to speculate.
Did Jesus multiply the loaves and fish… or did the people realize that they already had what they needed… or were the people satisfied with what little they received, whether from a neighbor in the crowd or from one of the disciples… or did the people realize that they really did not need what they thought they needed? Was the miracle that the people were so moved by Jesus’ demonstration of love and compassion that they all shared whatever they had with their neighbors… and there was plenty for everyone? Was the miracle the fact that many who thought they were hungry remembered that they had already eaten once that day and would eat again when they got home, so they could miss a meal… or that one or two bites would satisfy them? All we know is that the story tells us that they all ate and were filled … and that the disciples collected twelve baskets full of leftover pieces. It never tells us how all these people were fed.
This was one of Jesus’ very human days. He had just received the news that his cousin John… his childhood playmate and friend… was dead… killed by the authorities to please the people. Jesus went off in a boat to a deserted place to be alone, but the crowds followed him… on foot… and caught up with him. At this point in his life, his celebrity was such that privacy and solitude were things of the past. Even though he might wish that they would all disappear, the people surrounded him. On this day, the text says, he did not teach them. Maybe he was too tired… too discouraged… or in too much personal pain to preach. In spite of that, he looked at the people who surrounded him that day and had compassion on them… and he healed their sick. It doesn’t say that the disciples helped him in any way… though they were certainly there, because they came to him at evening and told him to send the crowd away to get food. That is when Jesus turns to them and commands them to feed the crowd. Jesus was tired… and he knew that they could do it… if they would only believe that they could. Wouldn’t that be a small miracle compared to all the healing of the sick that Jesus had been doing all day long? Still, the disciples must have been stunned by his command. Small miracle or not, they didn’t believe they could do it. They were too overwhelmed by the facts: five thousand hungry people… and all they had were five loaves and two small fish.
Still, they brought what they had to Jesus… fully believing… knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could do it… and… sure enough… it happened. Somehow, everyone had something to eat… everyone was filled… and there were twelve baskets of pieces left over. How? Simple faith… simple trust… an offering of all that we have… a blessing… and a little hard work… and all is accomplished. How often are we too overwhelmed by the facts… and think that we cannot do this thing that God has asked us to do? We think… like the disciples… that there is a lack of bread. When will we begin to understand: There is plenty of bread… loaves abound… it is our faith that is lacking! What could we do if we truly believed?
Research shows that Americans spend between twenty and forty-five dollars on each trip they make to the store. Would we be willing to give up one trip to the store and give that money to someone who needs it? Yes, we would all love to have pizza or steak to eat for dinner, but would we be satisfied with a can of baked beans and some hot dogs once a week, if we knew that the money we saved would benefit someone who needed it? The Tony Blair Faith Foundation has initiated a drive to end the threat of malaria in our lifetime. They want to do it through the distribution of mosquito nets. The cost for a net and distribution is ten dollars. Giving up one trip to the store would buy two or more nets. Or, for something closer to home: Time after time, our hard-of-hearing folks have said that they cannot hear the announcements that are made by those who sit in the pews. A simple wireless microphone that we could pass from pew to pew would solve that dilemma. Would ten people give up one trip to the store this week so that all of our folks can hear those announcements in the future? What a simple thing it is… and yet, loaves abound… it is our faith that is lacking!
Whether Jesus’ miracle was multiplying loaves of bread for hungry souls… or convincing those who thought they were hungry to be content with less… or convincing those with extra bread to share from their abundance with others… it was still a miracle. Our task, as disciples, is to bring what we have… to ask for God’s blessing on what we do… and to have faith that our God will do the rest. As we come to the table today to share the feast that God has prepared, let this small gift of bread and wine remind us of all that we have received from God and all that we can share with others. Amen.
Matthew 14:13-21; Exodus 16:2-3, 11-15