John 6:5-13
“When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place, so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.”
Today we meet Jesus, Jesus’ disciples, and a large, hungry crowd. One of the members of the crowd is a teenage boy who just so happens to have a small bit of food, probably packed for him carefully by his mom. As we thought about what it would have been like to be there, we noticed that there would have been even more than 5,000 people since women and children would not have been counted. We could smell the fresh bread, and we wondered if they ate the fish raw or if there were fires going to cook the fish. We smelled the salty sea air, and we heard the sounds of the crowd in awe at the miracle they had just witnessed. We heard Jesus giving thanks for the food that was about to be eaten and the sounds of people eating and talking together.
Throughout our conversation, we could not get over this teenage boy who willingly gave up his small amount of food to share with a crowd of more than 5000 people. If you have not met a teenager recently or been a teenager recently, we are not known for our small appetites, just ask how many Pop-Tarts we go through for Sunday mornings alone. Because of this, we are surprised by the willingness of the teenager. Without any worry (or not enough for the writers to tell us), he shares the food he was intending to eat. He does not worry if there will be enough for him to eat. The teenager’s faith in Jesus shows us that generosity begins by boldly dreaming with God.
We are not just dreaming about who God is, but we are dreaming about how God shows up in the world. When we think about what it means for Jesus to have been present on Earth with us, we see that God’s dream for God’s people is generosity. When we think about the faith of the teenager, we are called into a world where we can give without the fear of not having enough. We can trust that God loves us and cares for us. God has given us family and friends to love, food to nourish us, homes to shelter us, and even joys like football, soccer, and music.
After hearing this story, we felt called to dream with God about becoming more generous by trusting that the little we can give is enough to multiply to our neighbors. We do not have to hold on so tightly to what we have. When we dream with God, we are called to say “thank you” for what we have, and then place it in God’s hands to see what God can multiply with our gifts.