More Than Enough

Something that bothers me as a pastor is for the prayer for the offering to include a request that God multiply what has been given.  The reason it bothers me is that it is an easy slide down a slippery slope to believing in a God that is magical, a God that grants our wishes, a God that can take a one dollar bill and make it a five.

But, God does take what we have and multiplies it, not through magic or wish-granting, but through us.  When we take what we have been given, give thanks for it, and break it for others, there is not only enough, but more than enough.  That is the message of the feeding of the five thousand.  This is the only miracle of Jesus that appears in all four Gospels, so we know that it was very important to the early church.

And, it is easy to get hung up on how the miracle occurred (some theologians suggest that perhaps the generosity of one led everyone there to share what they had even though no one had enough for everyone) or that in one of the accounts a boy shares his lunch, or that 5,000 seems to be the number of men and so the women and children also ate, but weren’t counted (and there are whole sermons on the importance of counting the women), but each one of these conversations will take us away from the message of the story, which is why each of the Gospel writers felt it was so important for us to know and remember this day in Jesus’ teaching ministry.

Certainly, the crowd gathered and all the Jewish followers of Jesus who heard the story would see two Old Testament parallels.  They would remember the story of the Exodus and the people’s reaction when they realized that yes, they were free from slavery, but they were now also separated from their full stew pot and plentiful bread.  And so they whined to Moses and Aaron, “You have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”  And God responds by feeding the people with bread in the dessert, “manna,” so that the people may know, as Exodus 16 says, “that I am the Lord your God.”  And now, in the wilderness, God’s Son feeds the multitude as they listen and seek to understand who he is.

They would also remember the story of the prophet Elisha.  The company of prophets were gathered around Elisha for instruction.  There was a famine in the land.  A man came from Baal-shalishah, a town southwest of Shechem, with an offering from the first fruits of his crop for Elisha because he was a man of God.  The man had twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain.

Elisha told him to give it to the 100 prophets gathered there to learn.  But it wasn’t enough for 100 people.  Elisha said, “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the Lord, “They shall eat and have some left.”  And, they ate, and had some left, just like the Lord had said.

And now, the crowd has followed Jesus into the wilderness seeking to learn from him.  They have not gone back home, even though the day is growing old, and they are growing hungry.  The disciples know that the crowd needs to disperse before they get desperate for food.  Jesus says, “Let them stay, just give them something to eat.”  There’s nothing here to eat.  There are 5000 men, plus women and children, and we have 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

Jesus has them all sit down on the grass.  He takes the five loaves and the two fish, blesses them, breaks them, and gives them to all.  Sound familiar – Jesus takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it.  We hear these same words at the last supper.  And the early church shared communion every day when they gathered.  So, this story reminded them of the faithfulness of God from the time of Moses and the Exodus, through the time of the prophets, to the time of Jesus’ life and ministry and in the present and into the future.

Because after Jesus took, and blessed and broke the bread, he gave it…and all ate their fill with 12 baskets left over.

The numbers in this story are important because 5,000 really just means a whole lot of people…like we would say there were a ton of people there…or a gazillion people.  It was a big crowd.  And 12 baskets left over is likely symbolic, too.  12 is the largest of the numbers that were “perfect” in the ancient world.  When there are 12 of something, God’s plan is working out.  So, a huge crowd gathered, and they were hungry, and Jesus took what was there, certainly not enough to satisfy them all, and he blessed it and broke it and gave it…and all were satisfied, and 12 baskets were left over.

Henri Nouwen was a pastor and author of the 20^th Century.  He wrote about what he called the miracle of multiplication.  “As fearful people, we are inclined to develop a mind-set that makes us say, “There’s not enough food for everyone, so I better be sure I save enough for myself in case of emergency,” or “There’s not enough knowledge for everyone to enjoy; so I’d better keep my knowledge to myself, so no one else will use it,” or “There’s not enough love to give to everybody, so I’d better keep my friends for myself to prevent others from taking them away from me.  This is a scarcity mentality….The opposite of a scarcity mentality is an abundancy mentality.  With an abundancy mentality we say, “There is enough for everyone, more than enough:  food, knowledge, love…everything.”  With this mind-set we give away whatever we have, to whomever we meet.  When we see hungry people we give them food.  When we meet ignorant people we share our knowledge; when we encounter people in need of love, we offer them friendship and affection and hospitality and introduce them to our family and friends.  When we live with this mind-set, we will see the miracle that what we give away multiplies:  food, knowledge, love…everything.  There will even be many leftovers.”

We have a choice.  Every day.  To have mind-set of scarcity or a mind-set of abundancy.  Because we are always in the desert.

The people of God have always been in the desert.  We have never been able to rely on our own resources.  As Rev. Dr. Tom Long, a great Presbyterian preacher said, “The church is hungry itself and is surrounded by a world of deep cravings, people who are lonely, disoriented, and poor in many different ways.”

But, God says, “I am the Lord your God.”  I satisfy your hunger so that you will know it.  You shall eat and have some left.  If only you will take what you have been given, and bless it, break it, and give it.

When we take what we have been given…whatever that might be – food, resources, our abilities, our money, our talent, our difficulties, our intellect, our passion, our love – and bless it.  Blessing something means we give thanks to God for it, we invite God to be present in and through it, and acknowledge that it is a gift from God, and then break it – open it up, let it pour forth, divide it for others…and give it.  There will be more than enough.  Every time….take, bless, break, and give…         It is our choice.  To live in fear that we might not have enough, to hold on to what we have with a scarcity mindset, or to choose a mind-set of abundance giving away whatever we have to whomever we meet.  When we give away what we have, we see the miracle of multiplication.  God doesn’t give us just enough.  God gives us more than enough….12 baskets of leftovers overflowing.