My pastor, now with the LORD taught me a lesson I have never forgotten. When we began raising money for our mission’s support, he told me, “Never refuse an offering, no matter how small it is or how poor the person may be.” At first I was puzzled at this statement. Then he explained, “When you refuse their offering, you rob them of a blessing from the LORD.” I was reminded of that this week as I studied the feeding of the 5000 from only five loaves and two fishes. This miracle must have impressed the disciples because it is recorded in all four of the Gospels. However, John includes a detail the other three don’t. He gives the source of the loaves and the fish—a lad or little boy.
When Jesus asked Philip, who was from this region, how they were going to fed the multitude; he immediately began bemoaning the cost. “Should we go and buy 200 denarii [$20,000 today] worth of bread and give them something to eat?” Adding, even that would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little. John says that Jesus was actually testing him, already knowing what He was going to do. So since their finances were insufficient, He commanded the disciples to go see how many loaves they could find. It appears they walked through this crowd of 10,000 plus people asking if anyone had bread they would share—but their offering baskets came back empty. Only Andrew found “a lad . . . who had five barley loaves and two fish” willing to share his supper. But like Philip’s analysis of the finances, Andrew from his human perspective deemed these biscuit sized pieces of bread and sardine like fish were inadequate for so many people?
Note Jesus’ response. He didn’t bemoan the insufficient funds or deem the offering too small for such a great need. After taking it, He gave thanks—He thanked the Father for what they did have. What a lesson for us. Instead of bemoaning our limitations and deeming our resources too little, in faith we should put aside our human perception and give thanks to God for what we do have. Last week I gave Paul’s solution to worry—in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (Phil 4:6). The word here for thanksgiving is the same word Jesus used when He gave thanks for the five loaves and two fish. Giving thanks opens the door for the LORD to display His ability in our inability.
I have never been able to envision that this little boy, probably under age seven, was the only person in this multitude who had something stored away to eat. Instead, he was the only one willing to share and to go hungry. Maybe he thought that at least Jesus could eat. Andrew could have told the little boy to keep his supper, thinking it wouldn’t be right to takes this child’s only food. He also would have known the boy was poor because barley was normally animal food and only used by the poorest people for bread. But Andrew would have denied the lad of a blessing. I’m sure the boy had all intentions of not eating until he returned home. However, he was about to receive a blessing of more than he could eat. After Jesus gave thanks, He broke the loaves and fish into smaller pieces which the disciples distributed. They all ate and were satisfied and the disciples still picked up 12 lunch baskets of leftovers (the disciples supper). ‘All’ included the little boy. Instead of going home hungry, he ate all he wanted until he was full.
Whether it’s your time, your talent/s, or your resources, no offering is too small for God to receive and to bring about a superabundant blessing to you and to others.
Sustaining Word for the Week:
Instead of bemoaning your limitations and deeming your resources too small, give thanks to God for what you do have.