Yesterday we discussed how Jesus responded to the disciples asking him to send the crowds away by saying, 'YOU feed them.'
I am going to allow my imagination to go into override again as I picture their reaction to this challenge.
'Now wait a minute Lord,' the disciples may have said. 'Wait just one cotton picking moment. We have with us just 5 loaves and 2 fish! And yet there are 5000 people! There's just not enough for everyone.'
How many times have we reacted in a similar way to God's challenge?
'God, I do not have enough love to do what you ask me to do.' Or 'I do not have enough faith. I don't have enough gifts, or talent, or confidence, or vision, or hope, or courage. I'm too old, too young, too poor and too insignificant. There is so much need out there God that I am overwhelmed by it before I even begin and quite frankly, I have so little to begin with and certainly not enough to share with others!'
God does not remain silent in the face of such protests. God's compassion covers even our inadequacies!
'Bring it here,' Jesus said to the disciples, 'bring your 5 loaves and 2 fish.'
Bring it here God tells us. Bring your little bits of love, bring your small faith, bring your inadequacies and fears, bring your little bits of money and carefully hoarded possessions, bring whatever you lack but just make sure you bring ALL of you.
We have been through a progression with this story in that I first asked you to see yourself as one of the crowds before Jesus - loved! Then I asked you to see yourself as one of Jesus' disciples - challenged! Now I would ask you to see yourself as what Oswald Chamber's describes as 'broken up bread and poured out wine'. To be given in self-sacrificing service to the world.
This is part of our overall destiny. To be given as part of God's amazing love for all. And unless we give our lives in this way, we will find that we will always in fact 'lack' in some way.
There will be something missing from our lives and there will always be a 'smallness' about us.
For we have been created in love, by love and for love and so unless we learn to love then we will always lack. And we will always be searching for our meaning, purpose and significance in life.
But the Good News is that in the hands of Jesus, even our scarcity will prove to be enough. There is in fact more than enough for us, more than enough for our friends, and more than enough even for crowds of strangers. Even enough as 12 baskets left over! For we are all part of God's abundant life and love. And there is MORE THAN ENOUGH of that for all!
PRAY AS YOU GO
Abundantly loving God, we bring to you our scarcity, our lack of love and faith, and we give thanks to you for the way you can multiply these things into abundance. Because of your generosity there is in fact more than enough for all and so teach us to trust in you and to give ourselves to you unselfishly. In Jesus name. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Matthew 14. 17-21 (NIV)
"We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered.
"Bring them here to me," he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
