"When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. 'This is a remote place,' they said, 'and it's already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.' But he answered, 'You give them something to eat.'" (Mark 6:34-37)It is common for believers to say, "Christ does it all" or "There's nothing we can do--God does it all for us." In one sense, this is quite true. Without God, we are nothing, and without Christ's direction, nothing will come of our endeavors. In many other senses, this is completely false. Christ is constantly encouraging, commanding, and showing his disciples and followers how to do good deeds. This shows an expectation that we will learn to imitate Christ and do the things He has taught us to do. One of the most interesting things about the miracle of the loaves and the fish is that Christ teaches us to think about our spiritual work in a radically different way. The disciples only see minuses. They see what they do not have. Christ wants them to see what they already have, and then He miraculously builds upon that. It often happens in churches that believers will look to their preachers, elders and deacons and expect them to do everything. They must preach, teach, plant, water, sow, build, reach out, heal, help, forgive. Somehow rebuke, correct, request or direct often fail to fall into this category, our human nature being what it is. Perhaps the last thing we expect our teachers to say is: "Have some faith. You work out this problem. You find a solution. Get to work!" And yet, that is precisely what Jesus is saying to the disciples. It's not that Jesus is unwilling to do anything or that he cannot do anything--but if we are to be like him, then we have to be willing to reach out to the lost and the hungry, even when we do not have enough to help them, whether enough means money, programs, organization, skill, or resources. Jesus was among the poor--of course he didn't expect them to have enough! What he expected was that his followers would do more than just point out what was wrong. Unless we are willing to go find answers, it is poor manners to point out problems.
Jesus wants us to care, and he wants us to hope. It would have been easy to send the people away. Or, it would have been easier if Jesus had a financial advisor or some rich friends with caterers to accompany him on every trip into the countryside. Logically, it was the correct thing to do. Five loaves and two fish do not feed 5000 people. Then again, maybe God has had enough of our logic, and is waiting for our spiritual renewal, and maybe that begins with a faith that gets to work and finds a starting point. When the disciples actually find the five loaves and two fish, then Jesus is ready to show them something miraculous, something nobody expected--that five loaves and two fish can feed 5000, with 12 basketfuls left over.
Recent events in the world economy and in our churches can challenge us in two ways. We can continue to worry about our wages and how things will work out, or we can bring our five loaves and two fish to Jesus and ask him to provide. If we are not willing to carry baskets, though, we might not see the miracles we long to see. Miracles are not for the slothful, the apathetic, or the absent. We need to be close to Christ, and close to his concerns--those spiritually starved people we pass by on the street and in the mall every day.
May God bless you as you bring your five loaves and two fish to Him.
