I’m sure glad our old friend Todd wasn’t there the day Jesus passed out the fishes and the loaves. Now there was a kid who could consume vast quantities of food in little or no time at all. Once, on a cold winter day, my wife and I invited Todd and his family over to our house to have some hot soup. We’d bought a nice long loaf of Italian bread, and thought we’d have a warm and hearty meal before getting back to the job of shoveling snow. So we sat down at the table and had grace. Then Sandy ladled out the soup. And we began to eat.
“Honey, did you forget to put out the Italian bread?” I asked.
My wife looked puzzled. “I thought I put it out on the table.”
Just then, Todd’s father glanced at his son with one of those knowing looks. “Todd,” he sternly said, “do you know anything about the bread?”
A guilty look spread across Todd’s face.
“I ate it,” he said.
And he had.
The whole loaf!
So we had…soup!
I wonder how today’s Scripture story would work if Todd had been there the day Jesus multiplied the fishes and the loaves. No way could he have made enough bread to get past Todd. No way would twelve baskets come back full! People would have gone home hungry. And Jesus probably would have been chased out of town.
History would have been rewritten if Todd was there that day. That’s why we affectionately called Todd, “Hoover” – for his tremendous ability to vacuum down every morsel that came his way!
Well, even without Todd, it’s a great story, isn’t it? Jesus and the disciples are out in a remote area. A large crowd of people find them, pressing in on them for help and healing. The day grows long, and the people become hungry. Five thousand men, not including women and children! Have you ever wondered why the crowd estimate came out that way? Was it simply because only men counted? Or is it deeper than that? I’ll try to answer that question later.
You know how the story goes. Jesus tells the disciples to give the people something to eat. They are appalled at the suggestion because all they’ve got are five loaves of Italian bread and two fish. Sometimes I wonder what kind of fish they were. I mean, were they something on the order of catfish? Or were they yellow tail tuna? Or Lake Michigan perch? The Bible doesn’t tell us, nor does it explain how those fish held up under the sweltering sun of the desert.
But all these questions and apparent absurdities are important to the story. You see, the early Christians passed this story on to us to teach us that following Christ often requires us to jump outside the borders of our own reason and conventional wisdom. Can you feed five thousand people with five loaves and two fishes? Of course not! Can you feed them enough so they are fully satisfied? Of course not! Can you still have twelve basketfuls left over? Of course not!
And yet, when given over to God, even the smallest, scarcest, most insignificant human things have the power to become more than what we could have believed.
There is a wonderful story involving Edward Bennett Williams who you’ll remember as a well known trial attorney, and the man for whom Georgetown University named its law library. Williams was a famous philanthropist and contributed nearly four million dollars to Georgetown. And Edward Bennett Williams and his family also gave to many other causes. In fact, Williams and a friend were in charge of one of America’s most prestigious charitable foundations when they ran into a pint-sized little woman named Mother Teresa.
Mother Teresa was building a hospital for people suffering from AIDS. She needed money. So she made an appointment to see Edward Bennett Williams and his colleague to request a donation from their charitable trust. Now AIDS was not one of Williams’ favorite diseases, and this was at a time when we all sort of had the attitude that all we had to do was to blame certain groups of people for causing the problem, bury our heads in the sand, and it would all go away. This is one of the reasons AIDS became a raging epidemic in our world. Well, Edward Bennett Williams and the other members of the charitable foundation had already made up their minds that they would listen politely to Mother Teresa, let her have her say, and then send her on her way with a polite “No”.
Well, Mother Teresa explained to them why she’d come. She told them all about the work, all about the need, all about the ministry. Then she asked them for money. The men expressed great appreciation for her coming, and sympathized with her cause, but they said “We’re sorry, we can’t support your project.”
Mother Teresa thanked them for listening. “But before I go,” she said, “let us pray together.” She bowed her head and folded her hands and prayed for God’s mercy upon those suffering from AIDS. And then, when she was done praying, Mother Teresa told them all over again about the work, about the need, about the ministry.
And again she asked for the money.
Edward Bennett Williams’ partner quickly blurted, “Well the trust investments have not done well this year and all the available money is spoken for.”
Whereupon Mother Teresa said, “Let us pray.”
And she bowed her head and folded her hands and prayed for God’s mercy on those with AIDS. Then when she was done, she told them once more about the work, about the need, and about the ministry. And again she asked them for the money.
The other lawyer started to object when all of a sudden, Edward Bennett Williams threw his hands in the air and shouted, “All right! All right! Just give me the checkbook!”
And Mother Teresa got the money.
Now, what did Mother Teresa possess to make that miracle happen? No stature, that’s for sure. No power. No strength of any visible sort. But she had some guts. And a little bit of nerve. And compassion for people with AIDS. And some perseverance.
And – most importantly – she had a God who loves little things!
When given over to God, even the smallest, scarcest, most insignificant gifts have the power to become more than what we could have believed.
Look at all the little things in this passage! You know Jesus is at a low point here. He has just lost his best friend, John the Baptist. John had been murdered by Herod. Jesus was in mourning, in fact that’s why he went away to this lonely place. You know how it is. Sometimes a situation comes into your life that leaves you drained and hurting and needing to spend some time by yourself licking your own wounds and maybe even feeling a little sorry for yourself. Jesus’ gas tank was on empty that day. But then the crowd showed up. With their sick children. And their illnesses. And their poverty. And their hunger.
And Mark tells us something important. It’s just a little thing, but it’s so significant. Mark says, Jesus had compassion for them.
That’s all.
Compassion.
Among all the things Jesus didn’t have that day, he had a little compassion.
And that’s what initiated the miracle.
When given over to God, even the small gift of your compassion can become the launching pad for a major miracle.
And, of course, then there is the lack of food – the five loaves, and the two fish. That’s much too little food for a crowd like this, don’t you think?
You know, I once heard a sermon about this passage where the preacher took the tact of the liberal school of theology by trying to explain away the miracle and setting it into a context of reason. He said that those who offered the five loaves and two fishes probably inspired others in the crowd to reach into their lunchboxes, too. The generosity of some sparked the generosity of others. One act of generosity led to another, and soon everyone had plenty to eat. It is not a supernatural miracle of multiplying bread and fish, the preacher preached, but the ordinary result of multiplying human love.
That’s why I don’t like liberal theology. It takes all the fun out of the Bible! I like to say that, if you want to discover the power of the Bible, don’t listen to liberals on the one hand, or to fundamentalists on the other. Both parties have pretty much ruined the meaning of God’s Word for people like you and me.
So while the liberals and fundamentalists are arguing about whether this is a literal miracle or not, I wonder if you’ll sneak away with me for a moment to another place. Come with me to the heart of the passage in verse 18. There, Mark tells us what the story is all about
Looking up to heaven, Jesus did three things: he blessed the bread…he broke it…and then he gave it to the disciples.
Do you recognize the words? They are the words of Communion! Here at the Table, Jesus takes the bread. He blesses it. He breaks it. And then he gives it to us – his disciples.
This is a Communion story!
But a Communion story with a twist. Because, instead of giving us the bread and saying, “Take and eat,” Jesus says something else altogether.
Jesus says, “YOU give THEM something to eat.”
You see, in the days of the early Church – as in our own – Christians often gathered about the Communion table and missed the whole point. So often we receive the Bread simply to consume and to satisfy our own spiritual hunger. So often, we drink the Wine simply to assure us of our own forgiveness.
But today, God shows us that Communion is not a receiving, but a giving.
As we stand in the face of the crowd, Jesus says, “YOU give THEM something to eat!”
Now do you see why the crowd is numbered as five thousand men, not including women and children? It is to say that the crowd cannot be quantified. It is larger than our capacity to count. The description symbolizes ALL OF HUMANITY – the broken, the hungry, the lost, the poor, the sick, the lonely, the hurting. Everyone! Jesus gives us each some scraps of bread and says, “You disciples give THEM something to eat!”
And look what happened! Humanity was fed!
And each of the twelve disciples came back with a basketful that was more than what they started with!
I don’t know what it will take to heal the world of COVID, or feed all the hungry, or eradicate poverty, or eliminate injustice, or make all children safe, or end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, or bring peace to the world, or build a society that looks like the Kingdom of God.
But what I do know is that we have a God who can take the smallest, scarcest, most insignificant resources of our lives and transform them into more than we could ever believe!
Today, as we come to table, Jesus will hand you some broken bread.
And then he will say, “Go give THEM something to eat!”
May the Lord multiply your bread as you do!
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