Bring what you have

Here is my sermon from today's Eucharist at St Stephen Walbrook:

We live in an age of austerity where our government has implemented a series of sustained reductions in public spending, with more still to come, all intended to reduce the budget deficit. As a result, we live in a time of relative scarcity compared with years of a booming economy prior to this time of austerity.

The reality of living in a time of scarcity has parallels to the feeding of the five thousand where Jesus and those with him are in the wilderness with no food except for the five small barley loaves and two small fish offered by a boy in the crowd (John 6. 5 - 14). Jesus’ disciples essentially despair in the light of their situation as there is nowhere to go to buy food, they have insufficient money for the numbers involved and the boy’s lunch is too small to share with any but a few.

Jesus, however, brings abundance in the place of scarcity. He prepares the crowd to eat, gives thanks to God and begins to share the little that they have. As the sharing commences, the food is found to be sufficient for everyone’s needs with 12 baskets of leftover bread gathered together at the end of the meal.

How did this happen? It began with a young boy bringing barley loaves and fish to Jesus. Barley loaves were one third of the price of the wheat variety; it was the bread of the poor. And then there were the two small fish. The Greek word used for these fish in John’s gospel is “osparion”, which meant they were certainly not fresh fish from the Sea of Galilee. “Osparion” were either small dried or pickled fish. The young boy may have generously offered all he had but that offering was meagre in the extreme. Little wonder that Andrew should say despairingly to Jesus: “But, what are they among so many”?

Yet, Jesus willingly took what was offered and, far from commenting on the poor offering set before him, he gave thanks over the loaves and fish. And, as Jesus gave thanks a transformation took place and there was enough for all to be fed and, we learn later in the chapter, to be satisfied. With the transforming grace of Jesus even our poorest offerings can become something extraordinary.

Tom Wright in his commentary on St John’s Gospel says that all God calls us to do is to bring what we have to Jesus in prayer. We tell Him what we need. We then let Jesus bring the two together and make it enough for all! As that marvellous prayer puts it, the Lord Jesus truly can ‘transform the poverty of our riches by the fullness of his Grace’.

It is easy for us to think that big is best and that what we have and are is too little to make an impact but this story says otherwise. Jesus takes and uses the little that the young boy offers.

Small is beautiful, as E. F. Schumacher reminded us. Our small actions or contribution, combined with those of others, can then have a big effect. This year’s BBC Radio 4 Christmas Appeal for St Martin-in-the-Fields uses that thought in its slogan ‘Small Action Big Difference’. The butterfly effect which is found in Chaos Theory and the multiplier effect in economics both show, on the basis of research, that small changes and small contributions can have significant effects.

Hattie May Wiatt was a young girl in Philadelphia in the 1880s who began saving towards the building of a church which could accommodate the large number of children going to Sunday School in those days. Hattie May died young and after her death the pastor of the church, Rev. Russell Conwell was given the 57 cents that she had saved. He used these to begin a fundraising campaign which resulted in the building of a church, a University and a Hospital.

What can you give to God today? It doesn’t matter if it seems very little or very small. Brother Lawrence that ‘We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.' In addition, as he did with the small offering the boy made in this story, Jesus can take the little that we can offer and can use, transform and multiply it. The important thing then is that we offer what we can. What can you give to God to today? Whatever it is, the important thing is to offer it – however small it may seem.

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G.F. Handel - The King Shall Rejoice.