"There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many?"

 The apostle Andrew saw a big problem.  And he saw the limited resources available to tackle the problem.  What he did not see, until Jesus showed it to him, was how the power of God could transform those limited resources into a solution to the big problem.

 Jesus took the loaves and fishes and offered them up to his Father, thanking the Father for the limited resources he had provided.  And by the power of God those limited resources proved to be sufficient to solve the problem, with plenty left over.

 This is part of the wonderful good news:  if we offer up what we have, little though it may be, with prayer and thanksgiving to God, then God will reward us plenteously, and our little will be transformed into abundance.

 This is actually a recurring theme in Scripture.  Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians:  "God chose those who by human standards are fools, to confound the wise.  He chose those who by human standards are weak, to shame the strong.  He chose those who by human standards count for nothing, to reduce to nothing all those who do count for something."

 In the Magnificat, Saint Mary sang:  "He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek; he hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away."

 Again and again in Scripture and in Church history we see what God can do when the few, the poor, or the weak turn to God with prayer and thanksgiving.  The power of God transforms and strengthens and enriches them, so that they are able to meet the challenges they face.

 Jesus said:  "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations."  And the Holy Ghost descended upon twelve men in a town on the fringes of the Roman Empire—what were they among so many?   And has not every missionary since that time been in the same position?  Whether it was Patrick in Ireland, or Aidan in England, or Cyril and Methodius among the Slavs, or Junipero Serra in California?  And yet all those who today, and through the ages, profess and call themselves Christians are nourished by the preaching of those few.

 What were they among so many?  They were few, they were weak, they were poor, they were foolish, by human standards they counted for nothing.  But they offered up their limited resources to God with thanksgiving.  And by the power of God those limited resources were made sufficient for the task.

 Solitary Christians have faced the problems of disease and suffering:  Florence Nightingale in the Crimea, Father Damien among the lepers of Molokai, Dr. Livingston in Africa.  What were they among so many?  But they offered up their challenges to God with thanksgiving, and healing and comfort were brought to many thousands.

 The lesson must not be lost on us, individually or collectively.  O God, your world is so big, and we are so few!  Should we despair?  God forbid

 Even here in Orange County there is a great need.  Most importantly, of course, there are hundreds of thousands of people here who do not know Jesus as their Lord.  But there are likewise hundreds of thousands who are in need of food, shelter, education, health care, friendship, encouragement . . .  And here in Orange County there is Saint Mary Magdalene's parish, not the smallest or poorest of the parishes of the Church Catholic--but a long way from being the largest or the richest.  Here are we, five loaves of bread and two small fish, among the hungry thousands.  What are we among so many?

 It would be so easy to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem.  But, by the power of God, the most meagre resources may suffice to solve the problem with lots left over.  We have first to give thanks to God, and then to have faith in his power to use us and our meagre resources to fulfill his purposes.

 This little parish, this five loaves and two small fish of a congregation, has the potential to nourish thousands of the spiritually hungry.  But the potential is not obvious.  People may follow the example of Saint Andrew, they may well look at us and say, "What are they among so many?"

 How can our potential be realized?  How was the potential of the five loaves and two small fish realized in that grassy place near the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus took the loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks to the Father in heaven, they were enough to feed five thousand people, with basketsful left over.

 To realize our potential, we must give ourselves to Jesus, so that he can take us, offer us up to his the Father with prayer and thanksgiving.  And then we will be sufficient for our task.

 In the collect for the day, we ask God to stir up our wills so that we may bring forth the fruit of plenteous good works, and so be plenteously rewarded by God.  Our human wills, by themselves, are not enough to lead us into plenteous good works; they must be stirred up by God, by the work of the Holy Spirit among us.

 Saint John does not describe exactly how the miracle of the loaves and fishes worked.  But it is pretty clear that Jesus did not set the loaves and fishes on a table and magically make them turn into five thousand box lunches.  From the account in the Gospel we learn that it was as the food was distributed that its quantity and sufficiency were revealed.

 This is how we should expect it to be with us.  We could pray for God to make this little parish grow, and promise him that when we are big enough we will take on the problems around us.  But that is not how God works.  If we give thanks for what we are and for what we have, and if we allow ourselves to be broken and distributed, only then will the power of God become manifest in our sufficiency.

 The story of the feeding of the five thousand does not end with the people going home satisfied.  Instead, it ends with a wonderful promise:  Jesus said:  "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost."  And they filled twelve baskets with what remained of the five barley loaves and the two small fishes.

 Gather up the fragments, that nothing be lost.  A little later, John quotes Jesus as saying:  "The will of him who sent me is that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but that I should raise it up on the last day."  And much later in the Gospel according to John, Jesus says:  "I kept those whom you have given me . . . I watched over them, and not one is lost."

 This is the assurance that Jesus gives to us, and to all Christians:  in the end, the fragments will be gathered up; and nothing will be lost.
 

Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Orange, California
25 November 2001

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