Excerpt from Mark 6:30-44

"And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.  Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand."

Reflection by Martin B. Copenhaver

According to one interpretation of the multiplication of loaves and fishes, the people who gathered to be with Jesus brought their own food with them, but out of self-concern, and the fear they did not have enough, they hid it from others.  They kept it in their pockets.  Then, according to this interpretation, when they saw Jesus offer them whatever meager scraps of food he had, the people were moved to a more generous impulse, reached into their pockets and shared whatever they had brought.  And in so doing they found it was enough.  It was more than enough.

I am not drawn to this interpretation because we live in a scientific age that is skeptical of anything supernatural.  If God wanted to multiply loaves and fishes—or even make those fish waltz in three-quarter time, for that matter—God could do that.
But is it any less a miracle if this interpretation is true?  Given the way that self-concern and fear grip the human heart, is it any less a sign of God's presence if, for once, we escape their hold on us?

And if that is the real miracle, it is not just a miracle we see Jesus perform, it is a miracle in which we are invited to take part.  In some sense, we can be the miracle.

We tend to devalue small things.  Jesus never does.  Instead, he points to the power in small things that we might so easily overlook.  The largest of all realities—The Kingdom of God—housed in the smallest of all seeds, the mustard seed.  The pinch of yeast that leavens the whole loaf.   A scrap of bread that can help feed a multitude.  The miracle can start with what is already in your pocket.

Prayer

God, I seem to have so little to offer, but I know you particularly like to work with small things, so help me to offer it and to leave the rest to you. Amen.

About the Author Martin B. Copenhaver is Senior Pastor, Wellesley Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Wellesley, Massachusetts. He is the author, with Lillian Daniel, of This Odd and Wondrous Calling: the Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers.

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