Good morning…
“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest,” says Jesus as we pick up the story in Mark 6:30-44 (NIV). Ahhh. Sweet rest. After all of the chaotic comings and goings, Jesus invites his close friends to rest and rejuvenate.
So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
Jesus expected quiet, restful, a time away in solitude. Instead Jesus landed in crowded and chaotic, draining and demanding. What was his response to his own unmet expectations? His heart was filled with compassion for the aimlessly lost and his natural instinct was to teach, to shepherd, to feed hungry needs.
The exhausted disciples, on the other hand, are just like you and me. When they landed on the crowded shore, they looked impatiently at their watches, “…it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
They expected quiet, restful, a time away in solitude. Instead they landed in crowded and chaotic, draining and demanding. What was their response to their own unmet expectations? Take control. Clear the place. “Let these people take care of themselves.” To the disciples’ pissed off, practical plan Jesus calmly…answered, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” Angry. At the end of their rope. When Jesus patiently asks frustrated followers to feed the needs of hungry people, we know the God of the universe must kick in some power.
Following Jesus’ unconventional plan, the disciples scrounged up five bread loaves and two fish. Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
What do we learn from today’s scripture story?
1) When our own resources are depleted, God’s higher power kicks in.
2) Share freely the bread Jesus blesses, breaks open, and gives us today.
3) Distributing the gifts of God, the hungry on our hillside eat and are satisfied.
4) Gathering all leftovers, God performs miracles with our surrendered scraps.
When our expectations are exhausted, God’s miracle begins.
…Sue…
