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13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” 16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” 17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. 18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. (Matthew 14:13-21 NIV Bible)
To my teacher and student readers, dare I say, Welcome Back to School!? Yes, though my school days are long behind me, I still remember the lament I would share when July ended and August rolled in much too fast... But soon I realized the importance of school and the education I was getting. May the Lord bless and protect you all is my prayer!
I remember school lunch period very well. Mostly my high school years. We were already in Houston and I attended, and graduate from, James Madison High School. (GO MARLINS!). My favorite lunch was always a baloney and cheese sandwich on white bread with mayonnaise. We had an assortment of chips in those days, but NOT compared to today's chips that cater to all people, including Pumpkin Spice Potato chips. Okay, that's a joke. Maybe. But, I will never forget the day we had no baloney in the house. I didn't know when I woke up, but the smell of Mom's fried chicken should have been a giveaway. I went to the kitchen and Mom said, "We have no baloney, so you're taking chicken for lunch." Uh? I miss my Mom but that day I had mixed feelings. I LOVED her fried chicken, and I shared on FaceBook how that was her super power. She and my grandma could get out of our car after church and by the time I walked to the back of our very short driveway to fetch the 55 lb. Sunday paper, she and my "Momo" were in housecoats and two skillets filled with frying chicken were in the works. But on that day when I got to school, Mom had put a drumstick between two bread slices. I chuckled as I wondered how in the world do I eat this?
I began to think about the household where a little boy, let's call him Nathaniel, is getting his lunch prepared by his mother and he's excited because the traveling preacher named Jesus was coming near his home. His lunch was typical of a seaside village, two fish, and five loaves of barley bread. "Where's the Twinkies, Ma?!" These were wrapped with cloth and placed in a basket, and off went Nate to the event.
The sermon was awesome as it followed a series of miracles of Jesus healing the sick, and it being late, was time for lunch. This being a remote place and places like restaurants did not yet exist and so the disciples are anxious about the people might eat. And they suggest the crowd go into town and just buy food. This was years before pot lucks and covered dishes! Jesus responds that they should give them something to eat. Right here I would say the disciples were operating from a scarcity mentality, I.e. "There's no way" or "There's not enough out here." But Jesus throws it back to them as He says, "You do it." He wanted them to see that when there seems not to be enough, trust God and God will provide, but do take the step towards an abundance mentality. Many of the churches I served wanted a fact-based budget, meaning that once we had a stewardship campaign and based on what people had promised, that would help us make a budget. I've always believed in faith-based budgets; God will provide if we trust Him and do our part in preaching about the spiritual nature behind stewardship. This event was a stewardship moment for Our Lord, Who spoke more on money and possession than prayer. The question becomes, what do we have? In this case, it was little Nathaniel who was there with his Momma-packed lunch. We don't know if the disciples asked who had food, or after hearing there was a need, Nate spoke up, but he offered ALL he had, which most would have said, "That's not much, or not enough!" But these were taken to Jesus; two fish and five barley loaves. Some would say, "Even if we cut these up into tiny pieces, how could a large crowd as this eat?"
Jesus graciously receives this love offering of a little boy. We notice that Jesus does not say with anger, "What is this?? How dare you offer these crumbs to God's work?" No, Jesus received with gratitude the faith of this little boy. Notice what Jesus does first. He looks up toward Heaven and give thanks, and broke the loaves. Then Jesus hands them to the disciples and they to the people, and everyone there ate, and the Bible says, "They were satisfied." All from one little boy's lunch, no, make that, one little boy's faith to share. This was a miracle! Five thousand men, not counting the women and children, ate from this little lunch and the leftovers fit into twelve baskets of the broken pieces of the fish and bread.
We can only imagine what little Nate said to Mom when he got home. Did she believe him? Of course, she's the mom and has to believe her son. Did Nate's friends believe him? It didn't matter. Nate lived it. Nate saw it happen. And in a very real way, his life was never the same. And neither were the people who ate this food from God. Their faith was blessed in ways they never thought possible, and this Jesus, the traveling preacher, was someone unlike any other they had even seen or heard. All that God has shared or done for us, should also make us realize our lives will never be the same again either.
PRAYER: Loving God, for what You have done, we are thankful. Help us move away from a mentality of scarcity into Your realm of abundance in all things; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Live a life that shows off the abundance you have found in God.
Receive my blessings of joy and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
