Abundance
Around the globe, more than 690 million people go hungry every day, and yet we grow enough food to meet the needs of every man, woman and child in the world. There exists an abundance of food, but a paucity of the will to change this equation. We are the feeding of the 5,000 in reverse – we have baskets full of food, but it goes to a small number of people.
The prophet Isaiah laments, “Why spend your money on what is not bread; your wages for what does not satisfy?” (Isaiah 55:2 NIV) As a culture, our wealth is spent on so many things that are not bread: gambling, sporting events, alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, fancy clothes and cars, the latest gadgets, smartwear, home décor… the list goes on. God has blessed this world with an abundance and invites us, like Jesus to his apostles, to give of what we have to others. Yet we parcel out in small doses and hoard in great amounts.
Some writers who struggle with the concept of miracles attempt to explain Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 (Mark 6:30-44, Matthew 13:13-21, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-15) as a simple re-direction of resources: encouraging those who had much food to share it with those around them. But that ignores the plain facts presented in all four Gospels. It is no accident that this is the only public miracle described in all of the Gospels – it had an enduring and undeniable impact on the thousands who were present to witness it.
What Jesus promises through this miracle is that if we turn over our talents, our treasure, our lives, even our very weaknesses to him, he will make an abundance out of the least of what we can offer.
The human race for centuries has attempted to solve the problems of the world -- poverty, hunger, crime, war -- through its own means. We pass laws, spend money, make speeches, and yet the problems remain. Jesus invites us to place our needs in his hands. To let him use us as the instruments of his grace. To trust in the abundant love of the Father and to seek what truly satisfies, what satiates every hunger: God’s grace.
Ultimately, today’s Gospel is about hunger. It is about being fed. But not simply physical hunger -- spiritual hunger. It’s not about simply providing those in need with a hot meal. It’s about providing them with the bread of life. About providing them Jesus.
Each and every person hungers for God. To be in relationship with God. To know him, love him and be loved by him. It’s just that not everyone knows it. At the very core of our beings, we hunger to be overwhelmed, enveloped, lavished in the presence of the divine, in the presence of God, in the presence of Jesus Christ.
If we would humbly present our meagre selves to Christ, come before him in our poverty, in our thirst, in our hunger and in our smallness and weakness and fully empty ourselves before him, he will fill us up to overflowing with his grace, pour out God’s blessings upon us, and then through us -- his disciples sent out into the world -- feed all those who come to his table hungering and thirsting for a new way of life.