Loaves and Fishes

A friend tells a story of being a little boy and having an ice cream cone in the back of the old family Cadillac on a hot summer day. His big brother asked for a bite, and he said no way. His dad promptly took the ice cream cone, and one purposeful, exaggerated bite at a time, he ate it in front of my friend. The message was something along the lines of, “Share what you have. We can get more.” 

Then this week in lower school chapel, we read the story of the miracle of loaves and fishes. How many times have I heard of feeding the multitudes?  And yet, I heard a completely different version of the story that day. It just “hit different,” as my 13-year-old says.

Rather than a story of trusting Jesus to fill our needs, and yes, we should trust Jesus, I heard it as a story of self-determination and generosity. An opportunity to choose what seemed like limited love (give the little we have) over embarrassing fear based on scarcity. Matthew West has a song called “Do Something,” and in that song, he says, 

I woke up this morning
Saw a world full of trouble now, thought
How’d we ever get so far down, and
How’s it ever gonna turn around
So I turned my eyes to Heaven
I thought, ‘God, why don’t You do something?’
Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of
People living in poverty
Children sold into slavery
The thought disgusted me
So, I shook my fist at Heaven
Said, ‘God, why don’t You do something?’
He said, ‘I did, yeah, I created you.’

In the loaves and fishes story, Jesus told the disciples he had compassion on the people and to give what they have, to do something, and they wouldn’t run out. That seemed impossible, illogical, incomprehensible. And sure enough, when they faithfully shared what they have, what felt so limited, they found abundance. 

And life-giving abundance comes in many forms. Why not give more?

How do we remind ourselves to choose the generous, compassionate option as adults? The opportunities for this are myriad, and as always, our kids notice.

• One more bedtime story
• Giving at the offertory at church
• Sharing food with local food pantries or those experiencing homelessness on our roads
• Volunteering in our communities or in our students’ schools
• Opening the door for a stranger
• Letting someone in front of us in traffic
• The giving of our time to research candidates in an election

As we stumble into an election season, possibly bruised and exhausted from coverage that offers very little hope, we can vote generously, too. The candidates we choose (and the gift of time necessary to research them) is an extension of our generosity in terms of policies we support and the tax monies we share with local educators and state and local infrastructure. And the generosity of tax money does matter. Here’s an example of a district suffering from tax cut after tax cut after tax cut in Texas. 

Our kindness and generosity is contagious. With each kind and cheerful gesture, more evolves and spreads. Just like the loaves and fishes, we will find that as we focus on love over scarcity, there is more to give. An abundance that overflows. 

And perhaps it takes a more aggressive generosity too. Go beyond the comfortable, easy moments, and notice when we are up against that feeling of fear. That “what if I’m wrong,” or “what if we run out?” Mr. West continues:

If not us, then who
If not me and you
Right now, it’s time for us to do something, yes it is, come on
If not now, then when
Will we see an end
To all this pain
Oh oh, it’s not enough to do nothing
It’s time for us to do something

What’s a different something we can do to love and share abundance this Lent? How do we talk with our children about openness and perseverance to try something different and beyond their comfort zones? Including a different friend? Having empathy for a substitute teacher?  Sharing their kindness beyond the norm?

As parents, if we find quiet moments in this more disciplined and focused season ahead of Easter, what might God tell us about how we use our resources? What opportunities are there for us to make a change or a difference? And if you’re convinced that you don’t have enough – time, talent, treasure – lead with love and share. Our ability to nourish others with generosity will feed us too. Jesus reminds us, “Have courage. Do not be afraid.”