Our Gospel story today is that well known tale of the feeding of the multitudes, that time when Jesus took five loaves of bread and two fish, and was able to feed thousands of people. I would say that based on the conversations I have had with people over the years about this story, the primary interest, focus, attention, is on that miracle and how it was achieved. How was that possible? The Gospel doesn't actually say. It just says that the people were fed, and there was enough for everybody. Everyone was satisfied, and there were leftovers. But it doesn't say how this was achieved. I have heard all kinds of explanations from people over the years ranging from the supernatural to the natural. On the supernatural end there is the idea that God came in directly, Jesus was the Incarnation of God after all, and through Jesus turned five loaves into five thousand, or something like that. He turned two fish into two thousand fish, enough for all the people there. That is the supernatural explanation of this miracle that I have heard over the years.
The more natural explanation I have heard is the idea that the boy who was there with the loaves and the fish was probably not the only one there with food. Other people, when they left their houses, thought I'm not sure when I will have access to food again so I'll take a little extra with me, just like the boy who took five loaves and two fish. It is possible that other people had food also, so when they saw the generosity of the boy, or saw the faith of Jesus in the Disciples that it would be enough, they were moved by that to share as well. So all those with need took, and all those who had gave. In the end everyone was fed, they were satisfied, and there were leftovers in abundance. The food was already there among the people, it just had to be shared. The miracle is the miracle of generosity, the miracle of hearts changed, the miracle of people who were not afraid they would run out of food, but if they shared their food there would be enough.
This story of the five thousand, this miracle, whether a supernatural or natural explanation, is unique in the sense that it is the only miracle other than the Resurrection that shows up in all four Gospels. The authors of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John thought that this miracle was important enough that it needed to be included in their Gospel.
Their tellings of the story are remarkably similar, and yet there are a few differences. We see one of those differences in the version we heard today, which is John's telling of the story. The author of this Gospel has a little aside. After Jesus asks where are we going to get food for these folks, John says that Jesus already knew the answer, but he was doing it to test the Disciples. I think this is important for us to pay attention to because I think John is getting us to expand our understanding of this Gospel story. The miracle is important. It is very clear the miracle is important. But John is saying there is more for us to pay attention to. We need to pay attention to the Disciples and how they are acting. What is the lesson that Jesus wants to teach? What are the Disciples lacking, or what are they feeling that needs to be changed?
I think what we see in the Disciples is that all too human tendency that so many of us have: to be afraid, to be anxious, to be worried, to be nervous, to be concerned, wondering about if we have enough. So many of us fall into a zero sum thinking. There is not enough for everyone, and if I gain someone else loses; if someone else gains then I lose. What Jesus is saying in this story to the Disciples, what he is showing to the Disciples, is that this is not the way the world works. It is not how God has made this world. God has made this world so that there is enough. There is enough for everybody and even some leftovers, if we would but trust. This is the lesson that Jesus is trying to teach the Disciples, and most of us here today as well. It is the same lesson that God is trying to teach the Israelites in the wilderness after they left Egypt, when every day he said go collect enough manna for today and today alone. Some of the people got anxious and said I don't know about that. Let me get a little extra for me for tomorrow just in case it doesn’t show up. And God says, no. I will provide. I am trying to teach you that I will give you enough.
Jesus teaches this in the feeding of the multitude, that God will provide, whether supernaturally or through all of us realizing we already have all the resources we need, we just need to share it. God will provide for us.
Providing our needs is not the same thing as providing our wants. Jesus did not serve them a five course meal. There is no dessert, no ice cream at the end of this meal. But Jesus does give them the carbohydrates and the protein that they need in this moment. There might not be enough for everyone to get what they want, but there is enough for everyone to get what they need. We have all the resources, all the gifts that we need to survive, to do what God wants us to do in this world.
So my friends in Christ, take some time this week to think about this story. Think about the Disciples and their fears of scarcity. Think about your own life. What ways are you like them? What ways are you afraid that you don't have enough? What ways, like the Disciples discovered, does God provide us with everything we need? God does provide if we would but trust in God: not always our wants, but always our needs, and a little bit extra, some leftovers.
AMEN
