Nebraska Synod ELCA

It’s a story as old as there is. When faced with a question of need and possibility, people say, “We have nothing here but…” (Matthew 14:17, NRSVue). That’s how the disciples begin in their response to Jesus saying, “you give them something to eat” (14:16). The disciples might as well be saying, “We’ve never done things like that before.” Or “that’s not the way we do things here.” Might such a response sound familiar to you? If so, perhaps knowingly or unknowingly you have been living in a scarcity mindset, or even with a faith running dry because of scarcity. But Jesus offers another way.

In one of the few gospel stories that can be found in all four gospels, we hear about the time the crowds showed up and thousands were fed. This is the ultimate story of abundance made possible with God. It’s a story where God says, “hey, there’s another way. Want to see what’s possible?” It’s a story we might all know by heart, and which we will hear again from Matthew 14:13-21 in worship on Sunday August 2 nd , the 10 th Sunday after Pentecost (assuming your congregation is following the revised common lectionary). Even as well-known as it is, this story is so desperately needed today to be lived out and believed, just like it was when it happened when the crowd showed up at that deserted place.

When the disciples replied to Jesus, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish,” the stage is set for Jesus to show another way. To show that God provides, but also to show what can be possible when people collaborate, share, and use what God entrusts for the sake of their neighbors. Jesus does what he will do, saying, “Bring them here to me” (14:18), and we know the rest of the story. After blessing and breaking the loaves and distributing them through the disciples to the crowds,

“all ate and were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children” (14:20-21).

In Matthew’s version of the story, it’s really the story of the feeding of the 5,000+ then, isn’t it? Which makes it even more extraordinary than we might think.

How might this story challenge our assumptions? How might it encourage us in our call, gift, and responsibility as stewards? What stories might it bring to light of the multitude being fed and provided for here and now? Or stories of abundance made real in our own communities and daily lives?

Images of the feeding of tens, hundreds, and thousands that happens in the Nebraska Synod’s congregations through food pantries, community gardens, community meals, and more come to mind.

Abundance is made real daily through the ways that Iglesia Luterana San Andres walks with its neighbors through its food pantry ministry in South Omaha with the help of many community partners. The multitude are fed and cared for through the many ministries of Kountze Commons at Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church in Downtown Omaha. Creation is cared for, through the butterfly garden planted outside of First Lutheran Church in Nebraska City. And the hungry are fed year-round through the community garden made possible through St. John’s United Lutheran’s Greenhouse Ministry in Alliance. There are so many stories and images of abundance made real that can be told and seen of congregations going beyond themselves and learning something new about God’s work in their midst. Ideas, questions, and dreams surface of what God might be up to and inviting us to be a part of.

Where we think there might not be enough, or that we might not be enough, God says, “Come here,” or “bring what you have here.” To meet the needs of our neighbors, and to do God’s work, I deeply believe there is always enough and more than enough. For anything is possible with God. The question is, are we going to be faithful enough to step out in trust? To try something new? To not only see our neighbors, but to come alongside them and grow into relationship together? If so, then scarcity will never have the last word. Scarcity will be what it has always been, a lie and sin. And abundance will reign as God’s love intends. This is the heart of stewardship. May we all be broken open to imagine it, see it, sense it, believe it, know that it is true, and join in as God intends.