Excerpt from Matthew 14: 17-19

"The disciples replied, 'We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.' And Jesus said, 'Bring them here to me.'"

Reflection by J. Mary Luti

"But, Jesus, we have only this much food," the disciples say. They are doing triage, counting heads and fishes, tallying up loaves and hungry mouths, and making a plan—which is to stand around and wring their hands, because they can’t make the numbers work.

But Jesus is thinking about the decisive nature of the little bit you have in hand, the magnitude of small things—a mustard seed, a child, one coin lost in the house, one sheep detached from the fold, five small loaves, two fish. He knows it takes a lot less than you think to satisfy the frantic hunger you feel when you are down to nothing, nothing at all, in the larder of your heart.

It may be a miracle, but it isn't complicated or mysterious: When the question is, "With what?" you don’t count to find the answer. You draw near. When the question is, "But how?" the answer isn't plans and programs. It’s proximity.

"You have something? Even a little? Good. Bring it here," Jesus says, "to me."

They did. And the rest is history. Well, not history exactly, but very Good News: That day, with Jesus so near, blessing their lack, everyone ate. This day, with Jesus so near (he is always this near), blessing your lack, you will, too.

Prayer

Jesus, bless the meager provisions I bring you in the futility of my striving, and return them, ample and fine, to my willing hands for the feeding you intend—my own and the world’s, today and every day. Amen.

About the Author Mary Luti is Director of Wilson Chapel and Visiting Professor of Worship and Preaching at Andover Newton Theological School.

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