More Than Enough: Trusting God With What We Share
“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?””
I love pie (certain flavors that is, especially sweet potato, cherry, coconut cream, and apple). Any of you who have seen me during our fish fries can testify to that. It’s funny how pie has made its way into our understanding of things beyond the taste of a great dessert. For example, “everybody wants their piece of the pie” is a popular saying. This one helps us express our frustration at the reality that when one has a pie, too many people seem to want access to it. This thinking implies that I, as the owner of the pie—the one it was intended for—will end up enjoying less of it.
This perspective also reflects how some people view stewardship and generosity in the church. The church feels like one more set of hands reducing how much of the pie they get to enjoy. Two things happen when you contrast that thinking with the lessons of Jesus, however.
The scripture passage above comes from John’s account of the feeding of the five thousand. The disciples identify a problem and feel compelled to take action. The problem is that they don’t think they have enough to address the situation. They are embracing a scarcity mindset, thinking, “This is all we have. How far will this go?” In other words, we are lacking what we need.
In John’s account of this miracle, the five loaves and two fish come from a boy at the scene. The boy and the disciples give what they have to Jesus, who turns it into something they couldn’t have imagined. Consider the alternative: what if the boy said, “This is mine! I’ll go hungry, and it won’t solve your problem anyway!” That makes sense, looking at the situation with human eyes. However, we have to remember that it is God who makes extraordinary things happen. Trusting God with what we have to give can lead to amazing outcomes if we have the courage and the faith to share.
This month, we are embarking on a stewardship campaign. We’ll be talking about being Change Makers. Our focus is on how we can use what God has given us to be a blessing to God and others. Our financial reality is clear. The church has specific building maintenance and repair needs that we must address. We are also seeing less giving than we have in past years. Everyone is feeling the effects of higher prices. These are facts, but we must ask what our mindset is. Do we look at “all we have” from scarcity, focusing on what we feel is missing or what we think we stand to lose by sharing? The alternative is to trust in God’s power to do than we can see. Are we willing to listen to the Spirit and share what we have so that Christ can do great works with it that we never anticipated?
We will not make a positive difference in our world by clinging tightly to our time, talent, energy, or treasures. This is not like a pie that is divided and eventually gone. All we have and all we are flows from God. Our God is a God of infinite abundance, and God is capable of using what we share for great things if we love God enough to trust God with it. Let’s see what good our gifts can do if we share with God generously.
Pastor Scott
