9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” John 6:9
In our previous post, Rev. Jennifer Watley Maxell, used the phrase ‘shared consumption’ as a form of collaboration. It stuck with me. For the last few days, as I’ve reflected on these words, I was reminded of the miraculous feeding that occurred when one boy sacrificed his lunch of barley loaves and fish.
A multitude was present and in need of a meal. The disciples balked at the cost of feeding such a crowd. But Jesus, being insistently compassionate, took what seemed like less than enough, divided it, and then multiplied it. How do we recreate this type of miraculous display?
Very few of us have ever witnessed this type of occurrence, but we can. And I submit to you that, all that is required is the we bring the little we have (whether it be talent, time, or treasure) to the table and then allow Jesus to do the dividing and multiplying.
Too many of us are so busy trying to be Jesus and failing miserably, that we miss the act of this boy with his barley loaves and fish. We are attempting to meet every need, feed everybody, have our church to become ‘the Church’ – that is to be all things to all people, we miss the simple access we already have to participate in God’s miraculous provision.
While we absolutely cannot ‘do’ what Jesus did the way that He did it (let’s be real folks), we can certainly participate in His redemptive work by embracing the spirit of collaboration and shared consumption!
If we all bring our ‘little’ to the table, we will find that we already possess more than enough to meet the pressing needs of those whom we are so desperately trying to reach and serve.
Should we risk such an effort? I think so… and, there’s a little boy with a fish sandwich who agrees!
Article Written By:
Rev. Adam Mixon, Pastor, Zion Spring Baptist Church & Content Curator for The Ministry Collaborative, a Project of the Macedonian Ministry Foundation.
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