Five Tortillas
Eighteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 112
Five tortillas. Two fish. More than five thousand hungry people in the wilderness.
God could have rained down manna. God could have sent a flock of quail. They were not far from the sea – God could have made thousands of fish jump out of the water to be collected on the beach. God could have simply granted them miraculous strength, so they were not hungry.
Instead, God told his disciples to bring to him what they had.
Saying the blessing, he took their five tortillas and two fish, said the blessing, then gave it back to the disciples to share. More than five thousand people ate, and were satisfied.
It is the same, today.
We look at the problems around us, and it is easy to think the problems are too big for us. They are physically hungry. They are spiritually hungry. They are emotionally hungry. We have so little. What can we do? We do not have enough.
Bring it to Jesus.
If we will give Jesus everything we have, then he will make it enough. God has the power to do everything, but God delights in taking what we offer, and making it enough.
Many of us have experienced a meal where there should not have been enough, but somehow we didn’t run out. We joke about it as a time where God multiplied the loaves and fishes for us. It isn’t a joke. We did not simply incorrectly estimate how much there was, God does this.
Many of us have experienced a time where we did or said something small to help someone, and our words or actions affected them greatly, even though they seemed small to us. God does this.
The ancient fathers of the church tell us that the five tortillas and two fish represent the word of God. The five tortillas represent the five books of Moses, and the two fish represent the Psalms the Prophets.
The word of God is powerful. Even if we only remember a little bit, or remember a small story, it can heal hearts and satisfy souls. My friend Jim was on a mission trip to a village of about one hundred fifty people in Peru. There, they do not preach. They only share a small story from the Bible around the fire at bedtime. One night, it was Jim’s turn, and he told the story of Daniel in the Lion’s den. Jim did not speak spanish, but he shared the story as well as he could. Their group went back to the little room over the grocery store to sleep. Very early in the morning, they were awakened by a fierce pounding on the door below. A man stood there, weeping. The interpreter came, and the man at the door shared his story. Somehow, the story of Daniel, who trusted God even when it looked like hungry lions were going to eat him, touched his heart. He saw his sin, and he saw the goodness of God. Jim did not preach a good sermon. Jim did not even tell the story very well. But, Jim shared the little he had, and God used it. God does this.
What do you have? Do you have a little food? Do you have a little money? Do you have a little time? Do you have a little wisdom? Do you have a little joy? Do you have a little encouragement? Do you have a little hope? Do you have a little peace? Do you have a little patience? Do you have a little kindness? Each of us has a little something.
Give it to Jesus, and he will make it enough. He will make it enough for us, for our family, for our friends, for our neighbors, and for the world. Give it to Jesus. He will make it enough.
