Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. John 6: 11-13 [NRSV]
In this month of giving thanks, our thoughts turn to the gifts of the harvest and the blessing of food security. While most of us have few worries about where our next meal will come from, this isn’t true for everyone. Food insecurity here on the shore isn’t driven by third-world issues like climate change or political instability. Instead, it’s the byproduct of the economic systems we create.
All four gospels share the story of Jesus feeding a hungry crowd with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. In John’s gospel, we are reminded that just down the shore from where Jesus feeds this hungry crowd is the gentile city of Tiberias, the fastest growing community in Galilee and the capital of Herod’s Galilean rule. Historical writings reveal that Herod’s economic policies caused those living in the surrounding rural areas to become poorer, hungrier, and more desperate as the city flourished off of their labor.
In response, John invites his readers to witness how the kingdoms of this world exploit food scarcity, while the kingdom of God proclaims the abundance of God’s compassion for all people.
As John tells it, the act of feeding the crowd on that hillside begins with this world’s attitude of scarcity. “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they among so many people?” Jesus takes this unfaithful attitude and turns it upside down. He gives thanks and then, at least according to this gospel, he personally distributes the meal to the crowd. Perhaps it is here that this text speaks most directly to us. In following Jesus’ example, we are invited to leave our narrow world-view behind; our almost reflexive attitude of scarcity, in order to embrace Jesus’ vision of abundance.
The very act of transitioning from a social, political and religious world-view defined by scarcity, to a world-view that envisions what an abundant life centered in Christ can look like is in itself a bit of a miracle. We could debate just how those two fish and five loaves of bread fed such a large crowd, but we’d be missing the point of the good news being shared here.
The miracle is found in having faith that in God’s kingdom all are nourished and that we are the ones called to serve so that others can partake alongside us.
I invite you to visualize the many ways this is already happening in our little corner of Minnesota. When we gift our resources to help women and children escape abuse, the miracle of abundance is made real to them. When we fund shelters for the homeless in Duluth, Jesus’ work on that hillside is made tangible. When we support our local food shelf, we are the hands of distributing God’s abundance among our neighbors.
When we demand that food no longer be used as a means of wielding power over the powerless, we are sharing in the meal that Jesus shared with rural folk who were disregarded as having no value.
During this month of Thanksgiving, I pray that we will ask ourselves, “what greater miracles might we accomplish if we proclaim that the true place of abundance is right here in Cook County?” As we ponder this question, let’s remember that sometimes a miracle is nothing more than a hug for someone who has never been hugged before, a warm meal and a safe place to sleep on a bitterly cold night, a hand to hold while huddled outside an emergency room door, the invitation into a place of worship, or the assurance of asylum after fleeing unspeakable violence.
Perhaps the most important miracles are simply our words of acceptance and welcome to those who have been kicked to the margins of our community, the assurance that God loves all God’s children, and the invitation to share in the blessings that have already been shared with us.
When Jesus fed that hungry crowd, he reminded them that the abundance of God’s love for this world subverts the religious, social and political systems that we create. We are invited to live into this kingdom by shaping our prayers into acts of generosity toward others, so that all may experience the beautiful resurrection life we share in.
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month’s contributor is Tom Murray of the Lutsen Lutheran Church and Baptism River Community Church of Finland.
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