The Twentieth Sunday after Trinity, 17 October 2021
Clapham Harvest Festival, Eldroth, Austwick School Harvest Festival
You know the story well. But have you ever wondered exactly what happened that day - precisely how Jesus actually turned five small loaves and two little fish into enough food to feed five thousand people?
Various scenarios present themselves. Maybe, having prayed to his Father: ‘Father, turn this small offering into a gigantic feast’, suddenly a great mountain of bread and fish appeared before Jesus, and gesturing towards this food mountain he told the people, ‘Here, come and help yourselves.’….?
Or maybe Jesus stood at the front simply pulling more and more loaves out of his hands, giving each away in turn - people queuing to receive for half-an-hour, an hour, two hours or more, one at a time, which has the feel of some below-par Britain’s Got Talent conjuring act.
I’m quite drawn to the idea that Jesus gave each disciple a piece of food and each disciple gave that piece to a person in the crowd, telling them to ‘Take what you need and pass it on’. And so the first people who got a piece of food tore off a bit for themselves, and then turned to the person next to them and shared the food with them, saying, ‘Take what you need and pass it on’. And the second person to the third, and so on… and somehow miraculously each time the food was shared, there was plenty enough for the next person to take for themselves and pass more on again.
I like that scenario because it teaches us that the miracle was in the sharing. Imagine what would have happened if the first people to receive the food from the disciples didn’t pass it on, just kept it for themselves, sat there eating in front of everyone else until there was none left for anybody else. If they had done that, would everybody have been fed; would there have been a miracle? (No)
Imagine you were the second person, sitting there waiting for the first person to pass on the food, and how you would feel when they didn’t.
Or imagine what would have happened if the first people to receive the food from the disciples looked at their neighbour, but because they didn’t know that person, because they came from a different village or another tribe, they didn’t share the food with them; but instead they went looking for their friends and family in the crowd, gathered them together in small huddles and shared the food just with them, in their own little exclusive party.
That would have fed a few more people - maybe thirty, maybe fifty altogether. But if they had done that, would there have been a miracle?
Imagine you didn’t belong to the village or the tribe or the family of any of the people who were first given food, and how you would feel when they ignored you and shared only with the people they knew.
For the miracle was in the sharing. It was only because the people shared with their neighbours, whoever they were, that five thousand people got fed.
There’s another scenario in which the miracle was in the sharing. It’s less magical than the others, but it’s maybe closer to reality. It’s the idea that many people in the crowd had a bite to eat hidden away in the folds of their clothes or their carry bags, but didn’t cough up when the disciples first asked them. They held back for themselves. It was only when the little boy made his offering and the disciples started to hand chunks of it out that people were moved to follow suit, to reach inside for their provisions, and share it around the people standing nearby. I like that because it’s a version of the miracle which replaces a holy conjuring trick with human agency. And I believe that God works best when we humans act out to recreate his generous ways.
For the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand teaches how God will provide enough food for everyone to eat: that is the wonder of Harvest, that’s what we celebrate today.
And it teaches us that everyone will eat when everyone takes just what they need and shares the rest with others.
Now the United Nations tell us that there is ‘more than enough’ food in the world for everyone to have enough to eat. [1] And yet we know that there are some families whose fridges and food cupboards are full to overflowing with food, so much that a lot of it just gets thrown away, while other families struggle every day to find food to put on the table. Where is the miracle in that?
And we know that there are some countries in other parts of the world which produce enormous amounts of food - but who have to send all of it overseas to the rich countries like ours, because trade rules mean they can’t afford to keep any of it for themselves. Where is the miracle in that?
The UN say that despite there being enough for everyone, ‘up to 811 million people remain chronically undernourished’, and their campaign to reach ‘Zero Hunger’ by 2030 - when nobody is hungry anywhere in the world - is reportedly way ‘off-track’. [2]
Which provokes me to say again, one last time, that the miracle is in the sharing. It is only when people share with their neighbours, whoever they are, that everyone gets fed.
This is not religious magical thinking: it’s an achievable scenario which the World Food Programme has broken down into five steps which world leaders can take, which are in brief, ‘Increasing protection for the most vulnerable; Improving infrastructure; Reducing food waste; Growing a wider variety of crops; and Focussing on child nutrition’. [3]
The UN admit that ‘There is no silver bullet to solving hunger’. But if we press our leaders to follow these steps towards Zero Hunger then who knows what miracle might be achieved? [4]
I leave you with one last thought: can you imagine a world where everybody takes just what they need, and shares the rest of what they have with others?
If you can imagine our world being like this, then you can help to bring this world about.
If you can imagine yourself doing this, then you’re ready to help create a miracle.
PRAYER
Father God, we thank you for giving us all we need to eat; and we are amazed by the wonderful miracle which happens when we decide to take only what we need and share the rest with others. Help us to imagine a world where this happens all the time, and to do all we can to help to bring this world about. Amen
Note
[1] United Nations, Can we feed the world and ensure no one goes hungry? UN News, 3 October 2019.
[2] United Nations, World ‘off track’ to meet most Sustainable Development Goals on hunger, food security and nutrition. UN News, 18 July 2019.
[3] United Nations, Can we feed the world and ensure no one goes hungry? UN News, 3 October 2019. Sidebar: ‘Five solutions to Zero Hunger’.
[4] United Nations, Become a Zero Hunger Challenge Participant.
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