“Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled.” -Mk. 6:41-42
Jesus radically disrupts how the world was thought to be. The wilderness, the “deserted place” in the story, was where there was no viable life-support system. He thought he was going there to rest, but he was met by a big crowd of those who were drawn to him. They believed he would indeed disrupt their failed world, though they knew not how.
Jesus did not disappoint them. He was moved with great compassion when he saw the hungry crowd. He had his stomach turned by their need. He engaged their hunger, because they lived in a false world without resources.
His disciples accepted the barren wilderness without resources as a given; they wanted the crowd dispersed.
They tried to protect Jesus from the need of the world.
But Jesus scolded them and told them to feed the crowd.
But they were without resources.
They said, “We do not have resources to do that,” only puny supplies of bread and fish.
They accepted the scarcity and force of the wilderness.
The crowd may have expected food, but his disciples have no such hope.
They have no such hope, even though they have traveled with Jesus and watched him work.
Most of the time, like the disciples, we operate through the lens of scarcity.
I’m afraid of not having enough time or resources.
Will I have enough time to do what I desire?
Will I have enough money to provide for my family?
But The story we tell about scarcity is a fantasy, a temptation, an invitation into bondage.
It is not a true story.
It is a story invented by those who have too much to justify getting more.
It is a story accepted by those who have nothing in order to explain why they nothing.
That story is not true; because the world belongs to God and God is the creator of the abundant life.
All of us are invited to be children and practitioners of this other story.
We act it out in ways that disrupt our society, even as Jesus continues to disrupt our world of scarcity with his abundance.- from Walter Brueggemann, A Way Other than Our Own.
Jesus says: “Put the resources in my hand and see what I can do with it.”
Scarcity becomes abundance.
The disciples transition to this insight.
And so should we!
We fail to remember what God has done and therefore what he is capable of doing presently. It is important to remind ourselves over and over how God has provided in the past. That could be why “remember” is one of the overarching themes of Scripture, occurring some 269 times because God knows how easily we forget. Our definition and understanding of whatever “scarcity” and “abundance” means is shaped by remembering who God is, what God cares about, and how God does things. And that shapes our trust and confidence.
Prayer: Jehovah Jireh, give us eyes to see that we are constricted by our lens of scarcity. Break through these false tales with the surprising truth of your abundance. May we bask in your shalom and then reform your story of generosity over and over again in our lives until we know it completely in both body and soul. Amen
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