John 6:1-12 Feeding the five thousand
Alternatively adapt and use 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 The body of Christ
The feeding of the five thousand is a well-known story about God’s provision, but have you ever put yourself in the sandals of the young boy who had the fish and loaves? Can you remember a time, when you were young, when you were in the middle of an extremely large crowd? How did it feel? I suspect that whatever the situation, you didn’t feel responsible for the needs of those around you, especially the adults.
Did the boy in the story hear those around him grumbling that they were hungry? When the boy offered his lunch to the disciples, I wonder if he felt overwhelmed by the number of people around him and their very human needs?
It is very easy for us to feel overwhelmed when we watch the news on TV and read the newspapers. The needs our own country, let alone the whole world, particularly after the last eighteen months, can seem insurmountable and unending. We can feel insignificant, perhaps even worthless in the light of this need. We may feel that we have little to give, to offer – we can’t do what we once did and there are stronger, more important people whom God will surely want to use before us.
But a little goes a long way in the hands of Jesus. Or as the singer Danniebelle Hall says in her song ‘Ordinary People’,
‘little becomes much when you place it in them hands.’
Five small loaves and two fishes became worth half a year’s wages and fed five thousand men and possibly many women and children too – an impact the boy couldn’t have possibly imagined.
But the need was only met because the boy was willing to give what he had, even if he couldn’t have imagined what difference it was going to make. He may have wondered if he was going to go hungry himself by giving up his lunch, but in the giving he received more than he could eat.
Verse 6 of the poem we shared gives us one last treasure. It tells us Jesus knew what he was going to do before he even asked. He knew that among that huge crowd the boy was there and had what was needed.
Jesus knows you are there, and he can use what you have to make a difference. It may be we feel we don’t have enough time to give or we don’t have the energy and resources we once had, but in God’s hands the little we do have will be made beautiful and will do the extraordinary. What we can do changes over the years and may look very different, but we all have our part to play.
The poem ‘I’ll go in the strength of the Lord’ by Major Margaret Huyton imagines this very conversation with our loving Father. There is always something we can do – God always has a purpose for us – we just have to be ready and willing.
REFLECTION
Play the song ‘Ordinary People’ by Danniebelle Hall and finish on a time of reflection.
ONLINE GROUPS
Share screen the song.
