A number of years ago when I was serving another
parish, the local ministerial association decided to enter into a program
called “NeighbourLink.” Developed by World Vision, the program is basically a
volunteer-pooling scheme that aims at helping people who are falling through
the cracks—needing help, but unable to obtain it through family or friends, or
community or government programs. After some debate, the parish vestry decided
to sign on, and we began talking it up around the congregation.
Churches participating in NeighbourLink were asked
to provide three things:
1.
Financial support of at least $200/year.
2.
A parish coordinator.
3.
A roster of volunteers with the skills they could share.
The program was quite simple. A person could call
the NeighbourLink number to request help. The manager identified someone on the
volunteer list who could assist in the required way, and then contacted the
parish coordinator, whose job it was to pass on the request to the volunteer.
Very shortly after the parish decided to join the
program, a person came forward offering to be our coordinator. After some
discussion, she and I agreed that we would put out a blanket call for
volunteers, and aiming to commission them on a designated Sunday. The call went
out—by newsletter, at announcements for several weeks, and in the bulletins.
Three weeks before the scheduled commissioning, the coordinator came to me and
said, “We’ll have to call it off. We have only three volunteers. It will never
work.”
Something like the same thing happened in today’s
Gospel story. The disciples saw that the crowds were hungry, and went to Jesus,
suggesting that he break up the meeting, and send people away to buy food.
Jesus said:
…you give them something to eat.
Heads go together, bags are opened, what they have
is counted up. What they say in modern management language would be something
like.
After a due assessment of available resources, we have determined that they
are not sufficient to meet the need as presented.
In other words:
We can’t do it, Jesus! Five barley loaves and two fish just won’t feed
all of these people.
Jesus’ response? He took the loaves and fish, looked
up to heaven, blessed the loaves and fish (gave thanks), broke the loaves, and
gave them to the disciples to distribute to the crowds.
And what happened? Five thousand and more people
were fed, and twelve baskets full were left over. A miracle? Yes indeed—but
what does that mean? We tend to associate the word with God doing something beyond
what we would consider possible. God indeed acted here, but the text doesn’t
tell us exactly how God fed all those people—simply that
…all ate and were filled.
Worrying about how it happened will lead us nowhere
except to miss the point of the story. It is a miracle, but every miracle is
like a sacrament, with both a physical and a spiritual reality. We need to
focus on the spiritual reality to see what the real miracle is: the creation of
faith through the perception of God at work, finding a way to feed five thousand.
God finds a way to do what we are sure can not be
done, not to dazzle us with magic tricks, but to show us that God is indeed
God, and to build our faith in him. Jesus’ response is not to listen to the
disciples’ all-too-human complaints of shortage, but to take what God has
provided, give thanks, and work with it. And then God does the rest—showing us
that God is indeed good and loving and merciful and kind. God finds a way!
It sometimes seems that complaints of shortages run
the world. Such concerns get into all of our existence. We hear them from
governments and businesses and individuals and organizations. We even hear them
in the church. I’m as much to blame as anyone in this respect around here—almost
every day I am presented with something that would be wonderful to do, and then
find myself thinking,
“But we don’t have enough money…”
This is not how Jesus responded. He took what God
had given him, he gave thanks for it, and he worked with it. And just look what
happened! We need to hear this miracle over and over again, and know that the
same power to feed multitudes—to do whatever is needed at various times—lies
within our own community of faith.
We accept what God has given us. We give thanks for
God’s gifts. We get to work in God’s name. And then we let God work the miracle
of building a people of faith.
Which brings me back to the story about
NeighbourLink. My response to the coordinator was “Three volunteers? That’s
three more than a month ago. Let’s thank God for that, and press on. Who knows
what might happen?”
Three weeks later I commissioned twelve enthusiastic
volunteers to go forth and be God’s hands and feet in the community.
So let us never say, “We can’t do anything. We don’t
have enough.”
Let us instead say, “Thanks be to God for his gifts
to us. God, help us to make the best of what we have.”
Then let’s get to work—and watch the miracles
unfold!
God finds a way!
Thanks be to God.
