Take a Look
| I got nothin’. In a good way, I think. Silence. Waking up with a quiet mind. Unburdened and empty. Sleep has done its work. Resolved, temporarily, the conundrums of the previous day. But what will I write? What words do I have to share? When the disciples noticed that people were hungry, their answer was to send them away. Tell them to go buy something to eat. Everyone fend for themselves. Self-sufficient and logical. He replied, “You give them something to eat.” But they said to him, “Should we go off and buy bread worth almost eight months’ pay and give it to them to eat?” Mark 6:37 (CEB) Usually we only see two options. You pay or I pay. Eat or starve. The challenge seems impossible. Who has the resources for that? When faced with a need, we imagine how others should fix their lives. Provide for themselves. We don’t have enough to give. He said to them, “How much bread do you have? Take a look.” Mark 6:38a (CEB) The disciples didn’t actually know what they had. They just assumed it wasn’t enough. Why bother counting it? But Jesus prompts us to look at what we have. Small though they may be; find our gifts and offer them. After checking, they said, “Five loaves of bread and two fish.” Mark 6:38b (CEB) I love that they rummaged around and counted it up. Exactly. I have two hours on Saturday morning. I can make muffins once a month. I can fix your railing. I can take a teenager to lunch. A discrete amount. “I’m hungry, Wuhnée!” Yup. I gotcha. Turns out, I can make a pancake for a 3 year old. When I checked, I realized that I had an available bedroom. And when I counted up my resources and laid them before Jesus, he multiplied them. Into patience. And time. Advocacy. The ability to get up early and make breakfast. He directed the disciples to seat all the people in groups as though they were having a banquet on the green grass. Mark 6:39 (CEB) Then he blessed the food, divided the small amount into smaller pieces, and had the disciples distribute it. The banquet is turning a pancake into a Nutella sandwich. Breaking it into pieces to feed a child. I didn’t know that was what I had. But it turns out to be just what was needed. Jesus prompts us. Look and see what you have. Count it up and offer it to me. Let me multiply it into a banquet. The quiet mind of the morning fills up with thoughts and ideas. Things to say and to give. People and pets to be fed. And there is more than enough. Everyone ate until they were full. They filled twelve baskets with the leftover pieces of bread and fish. Mark 6:42-43 (CEB) Abundance. Compassion. Being taught and being fed. Lord, we know we don’t have enough to meet the needs we see. But we offer what we have to you. Please bless it and multiply it. Break it and send us to distribute it. Fill us until we are full, as you did the crowd long ago. -Renée Bulletin: 12/29 Order of Service: 12/29 Sermon: Risking Real Newness |