Shattering Expectations

Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed Him because they saw the signs He had performed by healing the sick.  Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with His disciples. The Jewish Passover festival was near.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do. 

Philip answered Him, "It would take more than half a year's wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"

Another of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. 

When they had all had enough to eat, He said to His disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. 

After the people saw the sign Jesus had performed, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make Him King by force, withdrew again to a mountain by Himself. 

Three times in the course of one week, across various settings I found myself hearing the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000.


The first time was on a Tuesday evening in a class called Redemptive Compassion. This class met for six weeks and considered the question of how best to meet the needs of those in society who are struggling. It was a class sponsered by Love INC ( Love In the Name of Christ), a non-denominational organization that works to identify and meet needs in a way that offers a hand up instead of just a hand out. The second time was the very next evening in the ladies Bible Study I attend at my church (White Hill Church of the Brethren) on Wednesday evenings. This class had no connection with Tuesday evening class, and none of the same participants.  The third time was on Sunday morning in another church I have come to consider my own - Calvary United Methodist Church. I attend the early service here before I head over to my other church to teach Sunday School and be a part of the worship service there. 

So, having heard this three times, in three totally unrelated classes/services, I began to ask myself what is the lesson I am to be learning here. Because when something is placed before me this many times in a row, I believe it is more than coincidence. 

Here are a couple things that stood out to me.

I found it interesting that God used three totally different avenues to reach me with the same lesson. This seemed to me to be a lesson in itself. We are sometimes so quick to put ourselves into neat little boxes and identify with specific groups of people, effectively shutting out so many others that God may want to use to be a blessing in our lives and also want us to bless. In so many ways we are all more alike than different, and it is important push ourselves to move outside of our boxes, outside of our comfort zones, and into places that will stretch us and cause us to examine our preconceived ideas about each other.

The second thing that stood out to me was the meeting of ordinary and extraordinary in unexpected ways. I'm sure that the little boy, with his ordinary basket of lunch on this ordinary day on the side of a very ordinary hill with an ordinary group of people never expected to land a role in a story that would reach through the ages and touch so many in extraordinary ways. It makes realize that there really is just one difference between the two - and that is who controls them. In the realm of the holy all things ordinary become extraordinary in the Hands of God. This is what they were created to be and in God's hands they return to their original, extraordinary state. Which brings me to my next observation.

Limited resources are never the end of the story. Limited resources are simply the springboard for shattered expectations. Because no matter the resources or lack thereof, when they are brought to Jesus and freely given, His power is released and the unexpected happens. The Disciples expectations were that Jesus would see the situation and realize that there was nothing to do but send the people away. Often we look at situations and act like we expect God to look at it and go "yep, you're right. This is a mess and there's nothing I can do with it. Sorry about that, I didn't see that one coming."  We get worried and stressed and wear ourselves down emotionally and physically trying to find a way to fix the problem. All we really need to do is give it to God, along with the resources we have, or, if there are no resources, simply give him our expectations and ask Him to do with them as He sees fit, and then wait to see the amazing miracle He will perform on our behalf. He wants to do this. He wants to love us extravagantly. This was extravagant love, feeding all these people with so few resources. Not just barely nourishing them so that they could go find their own food, but feeding them until they were full, and still there was food left over. This is the way God wants to love us - fully, extravagantly, and in ways that shatter every expectation we could ever have. Life without Jesus beats us up and sometimes we come to expect this to be our normal. And since life tends to follow our expectations this can become a vicious cycle. This is not the way I want to live. I would rather live by the infinite resources of the miraculous than by the finite resources of this world. 

We also see in this story that God uses us to bless others. Jesus could have simply caused the food to appear for each person, in their hands, ready to eat. Instead He chose to use a lunch brought by a little boy and handed out by the disciples. The little boy's participation was key as was the disciples'. In the same way He wants our participation. He wants to us to be part of the story. He wants to share the joy of blessing others with us. And He wants us to be co-workers and partners in this undertaking of sharing His love with the world. 

As we're coming up on a new year I am looking forward to learning and growing more with all those I have been blessed to have in my life. I am looking forward to shattered expectations, living in the miraculous as I see God work in extraordinary ways, and sharing His love with those around me.