The Forward, Day by Day reading for Wednesday, October 17 (Luke 9:1-17), about the feeding of the five thousand, coupled with conversation in a Vestry meeting, inspired this meditation.
During the Vestry meditation (on Luke 3:11), that evening, the point made was that the Biblical standard of giving might actually be greater than the long accepted standard of ten percent. Perhaps the standard is equivalent to one day’s pay or about one sixth (1 Corinthians 16:2). It could be, as was mentioned in the Vestry discussion, as high as fifty percent (Luke 3:11) or one hundred percent (Mark 12:42-44).
So this got me thinking about the “boy here” in John’s story of the feeding of the five thousand. (Although the story appears in all four Gospels, only John mentions from whence the five loaves and two fish came.) Consider what he gave. Imagine the stewardship gift of the boy with the loaves and fishes.
It has been suggested that there was plenty of food at that gathering. Wise adults carried rations in case of just such a circumstance as being both hungry and far from a source of food. But would you, in those circumstances, reveal to Andrew or some other scruffy follower of an itinerant preacher, “Sure, I’ve got three granola bars and a flask of new wine” if you were asked for food? My inclination would be to think, “The food I’m packing will just barely feed me and my family. I sure don’t want to share it with four thousand, ninety-nine other guys and their families.”
But, with the innocence of a child, this young boy says, “Sure mister. But all I have is these five small loves and a couple of small fish I caught this morning.” What a gift.
A Jewish Midrash suggests that, although Moses did his part at the Red Sea, it took the faith of one man to walk into the water chest deep before God actually rolled the water back.
My theory – which may be heretical to some – is that the miracle was in this boy’s faith and his willingness to trust Jesus and his disciples enough to give them all his food. With his trust he provided the catalyst that motivated the others to share their food producing the abundance that allowed baskets of leftovers to be collected after all had eaten their fill.
During the Vestry meeting there was also a discussion of the financial situation at St. Clare’s. We are faced with a major cost increase for health insurance for our employees. To meet this increase we need a record stewardship pledge, and that is just to maintain our current level of services. Do we have the faith to step out, trusting in God, and give from our substance to make this miracle happen? Can we not only meet the health care requirements of The Episcopal Church for our wonderful staff, but also provide appropriate salary increases?
Who is willing to walk into the water, chest deep, with me?
Pete Ross
Stewards in the Hands of a Loving God 