Will there be enough to go ’round? Members of a large family, we fear scarcity of the essence of what gives us life. Does the last one in line at the buffet have to settle for crumbs? Have Mom & Dad spent all their love on the older siblings? When the farm is sold, will there be anything left but the woods and rocks of the back forty? Without ranting about greed, I still remember the cemetery sign which advised, “Get Lots While You’re Young!” Readings for this coming weekend involve being miraculously satisfied!
From the Old Testament come three verses, II Kings 4:42-44: the name of the town, Baal-shalishah, is important because it lay in the heart of fertility-worship. In a time of scarcity, this unnamed fellow came to the Man of God instead of sucking up to the Baal! His gift, 20 loaves and some grain, wouldn’t go far in feeding Elisha’s entourage–but “they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.” “The prophet looks at the same small offering and at the large crowd and sees not scarcity but an opportunity to bear witness to the reality and power of God’s presence among them. God is present with God’s people in ways not immediately obvious from a human perspective.” (Karen C. Sapio, in FEASTING ON THE WORD, B,3:271)
Paul gives the Ephesian congregation (and us, their successors) words to testify that God is already at work forming and filling the community of faith. (Ephesians 3:14-21) His prayer and expectation involve an outpouring of spiritual power, plus the presence of Christ which roots the believers in love. This involves an accentuated perception which allows for an expanded dimension of God’s Work: “so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (v.19) This extreme power is present despite our faltering attempts!
St. John’s Gospel always finds a foil to ask the silly questions on our behalf. So it is in this remembrance of the feeding of the multitudes, 6:1-15: Philip, paragon of practicality, opines, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” Well, yeah, that’s my guess too. But you know the story: Jesus manages to give them enough–with twelve baskets (one for each tribe of Israel) to distribute to the World! DON’T dilute the miracle by suggesting that others shared their own secreted lunches: what this occasion teaches is that with God, there is no scarcity!
God’s will for us is to have Abundance. Sometimes, we don’t recognize our blessings, and we’re tempted to worship in the Palace of Mammon whose priests are Grab and Exploit. What we celebrate today is a gracious Providence in all generations, especially our own.
God Bless Us, Every One. Horace Brown King
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