Luke 9:10-17 “More
than Enough”
Thanksgiving is just around
the corner.
Somebody told me this week
that Thanksgiving was her favorite holiday
because there are absolutely
no expectations.
No gifts to buy, no lists of
things to do, just eat, spend time with family and friends,
and give thanks for our
blessings.
I remember when I was a young
girl we would have these Thanksgiving feasts
with a dozen people and at
least that many dishes.
A few times we had 20 or 30
relatives over for the holiday.
Talk about a feast!
Anyone who has ever organized
a big dinner like Thanksgiving
always has one very important
question: “Will there be enough?”
The folks who have worked on
organizing our Thanksgiving potluck today
have asked the same
question.
But have you ever noticed how
there is always enough at church potlucks?
No matter who brings what
dishes or how many people come.
Today’s scripture reading is
about one of the most famous feasts in the Bible.
It is so well-known, possibly
because this story of the loaves and fishes
occurs in all four
gospels.
Not only that but it occurs
in the gospels of Mark and Matthew twice –
in one of the stories in
these gospels, it’s a feeding of the 4000,
and in the other story, it’s
a feeding of the 5000. [1]
The numbers are not the point
in these stories.
The point is that God’s love
has always been symbolized by the provision of daily bread,
ever since God provided manna
to the Israelites in the wilderness.
In another story in the Old
Testament, Elijah comes to the town of
and asks a starving woman to
share the little bit of oil and flour she has left.
When she does, she is blessed
with an endless supply
because she trusts in God to
provide.
The story of the loaves of
fishes which we heard today teaches us that God promises
not just enough, but more than enough, to those who trust in God’s provision.
These stories of God’s
abundance speak to us on a deep level because
we humans tend to be scarcity
thinkers.
We worry about whether there
is enough.
Enough food, money, and
things.
Enough water here in
Enough time.
Enough for families, our
friends, our relationships.
The question “Is there
enough?” becomes the driving force of our lives.
Do you remember that old
story, Stone Soup?
It seems that there was once
a land where there just wasn’t enough to eat.
There had been a drought, and
there wasn’t enough food to go around.
One day, a stranger wandered
into a village in this land.
He stopped at the first house
he saw and asked if they might have a bit of food to share. “We have no food,” they replied. “There’s not
enough for anyone.”
He went on to the next house,
and the next, and at every one, he heard the same answer.
Finally, as the stranger reached the fourth or fifth
house, he asked for something else - an
iron pot and water to fill it. Taking it
out to the village square, he built a big fire under the pot. People began to gather around. “What are you doing?” they asked.
The stranger replied, “I have asked you for food, and
you have none. So I will just have to
make stone soup.”
With that, he drew an ordinary looking stone from a small velvet
bag and dropped it into the water.
“Any soup needs salt and pepper,” he said, and
quickly, several children ran to fetch salt and pepper.
“Stones make a good soup, but carrots make it so much
better,” he explained to the group
gathered around the pot. One woman said,
“I may have an old carrot, somewhere,” and she ran to get carrots.
“A good stone soup should have cabbage,” the stranger
commented a little later. Within a few minutes, a couple of the villagers
brought back several cabbages.
On and on it went like this, as the stranger asked
about potatoes, and onions, a bit of beef, then barley.
Finally, a rich, thick soup was ready, a soup that was fit for a king’s
table. That evening, everyone feasted, on more than enough. The next morning,
as the stranger prepared to go, the
people gathered around him in the town square and said, “Many thanks to
you. For we shall never go hungry
again now that you have taught us how to
make soup from stones!” [2]
Of course we
know that they had the makings of the soup all along. It just took a little encouragement for the
townspeople to learn to make it. There is a similar lesson in today’s scripture
reading.
The details of the story are important, but not
because we are trying to figure out
just how five loaves and 2 fish could feed thousands.
This isn’t a science
lesson. This is a theology lesson.
The apostles have just
returned from what you might call a successful ministry event. They had been sent out by Jesus to proclaim
the good news,
cast out demons, cure
diseases. Things had been going
well.
When they come back, Jesus
takes them to a place where they can be alone -
for rest, maybe, or
renewal.
Or maybe to avoid the
temptations that always come with success.
In any case, they were
followed by crowds of people.
Jesus’ response to these
people was simple: he welcomed
them.
He didn’t say “Sorry we’re
off duty now.”
Or “We’ve already put in our
time this week.”
Or “Can you come back another
day?”
He simply welcomed them,
cured them, and spoke to them of the
So here they are - Jesus, the
apostles, 5000 men, plus women and children,
which although Luke doesn’t
mention, the gospel of Matthew adds to this story.
Thousands and thousands of
people. And they’re hungry.
The apostles tell Jesus to
send them away. There’s not enough food
for all these people.
Now Jesus didn’t say, “You’re
right. We don’t have enough money.
Look at all these people and
all their needs. We’re too small to make
a difference.
We don’t have enough of you
disciples to do what needs to be done.”
He also didn’t say, “Okay,
guys, I’ll handle it. Let me call in a miracle to God.”
No, Jesus says something very
different. He says, “You give them
something to eat.”
“You give them something to
eat,” he says.
As if they really were the ones to extend God’s loving
provision to others.
What? How can we?
We only have five loaves and two fishes.
We have to wonder what Jesus
thought when he heard that.
Did he think, “Will you guys
ever get it?”
Does he wonder why their
memories were so short -
they had just returned from
healing and curing all sorts of people!
Now it’s easy for us to be
hard on the disciples.
But just so you can get a
clear picture of just what Jesus was asking when he said
“You give them something to
eat,” I brought along the 5 loaves and 2 fish.
What if Jesus stood right
here among us with these 5 loaves and 2 fish and said,
“You give them something to eat.” But not just the 60 or so people here.
Have you ever been to the
with all those people spread
out on the lawn?
Imagine these 5 loaves and 2
fish for all of them.
Or think of a college
basketball arena.
It’s easy to see why the
disciples might be a bit skeptical.
But still, they do what Jesus
tells them to do.
They have everyone sit down
in groups.
Jesus takes the bread,
blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to the disciples.
And as they set it before the
crowds, there is enough.
In fact, there is more than
enough - 12 baskets of leftovers.
Stories like this teach us that there is more than
enough.
Not just for us, but enough to share.
For you see, Jesus IS still
telling us: “You give them something to
eat.”
As if we really are the ones who are to extend God’s
loving provision to others.
What? How can we?
We’re just a small church, only 60 or 70 or so in worship.
We have less than 100
members. Our budget is so small.
And there are so many
needs. How are we to provide for all
these people?
There is more than enough!
But to see what is right here
in this church,
to see the resources we are
blessed with here in this church -
the people, this building,
the commitments, the skills, the faith, the
hope -
requires us to have a
God-sized vision.
Too often our vision comes
out of scarcity thinking.
God’s vision is so much
bigger than that.
With God’s vision, we see 5
loaves and 2 fishes and know that it’s more than enough.
“You give them something to
eat,” Jesus is telling us.
The good news of the Gospel depends on the sending out of the
disciples - that’s us -
just like Jesus sent out his
disciples to proclaim, to heal, and to feed others in his name.
It’s never enough to only take care of ourselves.
The only way we will fulfill our calling as Christians
is when we extend God’s grace and care to others.
That’s what it means to be the church.
And this week I’ve discovered
that people here really are thinking about this.
As part of my sermon research
this week, I talked to a number of people
in the congregation and asked
them just one question:
“If we had enough (however you define that) here
at Peachtree Corners Christian Church,
what ministry would you love
to see us do?”
Here are some of the answers
I got:
These are just some of the
ideas your fellow disciples are thinking about.
There is no shortage of needs
in this community.
Any of these ideas could be
part of a God-sized vision here at PCCC.
A vision which helps us
extend God’s grace and care to others.
“You give them something to eat,” Jesus is
telling us.
We have enough to do
that.
Enough people, enough talent,
enough commitment,
enough money, enough time,
enough faith, enough hope,
enough of everything we need
to change people’s lives.
We have enough to do
that.
We have more than
enough! Praise be to God from whom all
blessings flow!