Leftovers
John 6:1-14; 2 Kings 4:42-44
Rev. Dr. Mary Alice Mulligan
Most of us may not recognize the Elisha story but we probably know this Jesus story. The miraculous feeding of the 5000 is recorded in all four Gospels, which puts Jesus actually right in line with Elisha. Prophets arise in response to God’s call because people are in need (not always for food). All of the prophets are empowered by the life claim of the first Commandment: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.” (Deut 5:6-7) and then by God’s call on the prophets to “let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24) Prophets are committed to God and to justice, so God is able to intervene in the life of the world through them. God responds to people’s real needs, in Elisha’s case using a prophet to feed 100 hungry impoverished people from another person’s offering. The Bible traces a whole line of prophets through the First Testament, then continues in Mary’s prophetic song, The Magnificat, and in Jesus’ teachings. Listen for the word of God revealed in the prophetic acts of Jesus from the 6th chapter of the Gospel of John.
After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”
Some years ago, a denominational group of us were in Mexico City for some training. We lunched at an outside market, sitting at wooden tables to eat rice and beans. As we finished eating, several young boys came up to see if we were done. They would take our plates. We didn’t know what the busing expectations were, so we were happy these young men volunteered to take our plates, but instead of taking them to be washed, each boy immediately sat down with a plate, hurriedly finishing up the final bites we had not bothered to eat. “Are you done with your plate?” took on new meaning. Our leftovers were sustenance for them. Surrounded by all that food they could not afford, these hungry boys had found a way to get a meal.
So, here’s the truth. Needy people can be fed. The world has plenty of food to feed everyone. The Bible tells miraculous feeding stories, but the food is not popped into existence from nothing. In both stories we hear today, the miracle starts with someone’s generosity. A man from a foreign area brought his gifts of “first fruits” to thank God for his harvest – 20 loaves of barley and a sack of fresh ears of grain. As was the custom, he gave the food to someone who doesn’t farm but rather serves God full time. In this case, the man gave it to the prophet Elisha. Although small, the gift was extremely generous because the area was in a time of scarcity. All over, people lacked enough to eat; the man’s harvest could not have been overly abundant itself. Elisha chose not to keep the food himself, but to distribute it to hungry people nearby. His companions were uncomfortable placing this small amount before 100 people, yet Elisha reminded them LORD Yahweh promised the people would have enough with food left over. So, everyone ate their fill and there was food left.
Hundreds of years later, a child gave his lunch of 5 rolls and 2 garnish fish (like anchovies) to St. Andrew, who took it to Jesus to be distributed among the huge crowd following him. Five thousand people were fed, with enough left over for each of the 12 disciples to put some in their little supply basket which each carried, much like a shoulder bag.
Each feeding of all those hungry people began with someone’s generosity. They placed their offering, small as it was, into God’s hands (the hands of a prophet or Jesus). The hospitality of one person creates a community of people whose needs are met. Think how many times a group gathers for a meal, something as organized as a neighborhood Thanksgiving meal or as casual as brunch after worship in Fellowship Hall, and more people come than planned, but somehow the food stretches and there are leftovers.
Hungry people can be fed, because God’s power is set loose. The One who creates everything is once again set loose to act among humanity. Those who hand over an offering are trusting God is able to do something with what they give. Their gifts somehow initiate a miracle. Think of one person in a crowd, performing some act of generosity, then suddenly the group morphs from being merely a crowd to being a community, where additional actions of kindness and compassion continue to happen, solidifying the community. God’s power can be freed up when a community is open to welcoming God’s actions. We have all heard of a community of Amish farmers raising a barn in a day, after they place their supplies, their hammers, and their own muscles in God’s hands.
I know of a congregation of under 100 who had a one week, faith-promise effort while they were recovering from a church fire. The faith-promise effort was to give what they could immediately, not to make a pledge for some time down the road. They were trying not to have to borrow too much more after they decided to make some improvements the insurance money didn’t cover. They raised $32,000 in a week.
God’s power is at work in communities where people refuse to accept: “We won’t have enough.” Followers of Jesus Christ know “not enough” cannot be the final answer when they place what they have in Jesus’ hands. We know from the childhood stories we heard about Jesus or the first words we read in scripture, that God cares about the entire creation, including the physical needs of human beings. God knows our needs, especially the needs of the most vulnerable. There is enough, when people are willing to place what they have in divine hands, which sets loose the power of God among us.
But what about the leftovers? When people give into Jesus hands or even into the hands of a prophet, not only is there enough to meet the need; there are always leftovers. So what about them? The story shows clearly, leftovers are not abandoned. Don’t you love that? Leftovers supply sustenance for later. They are not thrown away. We may not be prophets able to feed 100 people with very little, but we can put our little gifts in the hands of Jesus, knowing there will be plenty left to sustain someone for the next time.
But even more, when Jesus moves among us, touches us, uses us, then amazingly, we can be the leftovers. Among ourselves, we can find miraculous resources to sustain people later. How can we do that? We place ourselves in God’s hands and allow God to mold us, use us, to feed the next hunger. Every time Jesus shared bread with others, his disciples or a crowd of 5000, he would take, bless, break, and then give bread to feed all the hungers around, there is sustenance left over. We can allow ourselves to be the leftovers to feed all the hungers around us.
So where are the leftovers feeding people miraculously today? Anytime we take a casserole to a single mother so she doesn’t have to cook one night, there it is. Or when we listen to a grieving friend, or we tell a neighbor we know is lonely that we made too much dinner and we wonder if she’d like to share it at her house or ours, or we drop by the hospital to sit with someone’s family member during a lengthy surgery. We are being leftovers, taken out of God’s plastic leftover container and opened to meet the next need. Hungers are all around us, and we can be the leftovers to feed them because we have been held in Jesus’ hands.