Abundance, Gratitude, & Humility

We all know the “Feeding of the 5,000”.

As children, we heard it as a miracle of God—pure and simple.

How, when we trust in God, our needs are taken care of.

As we matured, the story evolved.

We learned that the 5,000 were just men and how a more honest reckoning of the miracle was feeding 15 to 20 thousand people.

For some, the story evolved even further, into a story that was not so much a miracle of God but about how the miracle of God’s love inspired people to share what little they had until it was enough for everyone.

I have mixed feelings about that.

I like the idea that God inspires us to do better—to share, to love, to create miracles of our own.

But I also think that we need miracles.

Our belief in miracles inspires hope.

Sometimes, that belief is the only thing that lifts us out of despair.

But that is a sermon for another day.

I guess it won’t surprise any of you that we’re going to continue our exploration of the theology of abundance.

In fact, the Feeding of the 5,000 is a one of the foundations of the theology of abundance.

The story itself is a study in the contrast between scarcity and abundance.

The passage begins with Jesus’ learning about the execution of John the Baptizer.

Jesus is grieving.

He withdrew to a deserted place to be alone.

And yet he had compassion.

He could have said his spiritual stores were empty.

He could have said that he had nothing left to give.

Those would have been the responses from a mindset of scarcity.

But our God is a God of abundance.

Jesus looked out at a sea of folks and said, “I have more to give” and he healed them.

Then, the disciples say, “This is a deserted place, and it is already late.”

They say they have nothing to feed the crowd.

That is the language of scarcity.

There’s nothing around.

There’s not enough time.

We don’t even have enough to feed ourselves.

I imagine that there are some amongst you who are questioning why reality has to be called “scarcity”.

They WERE in the middle of nowhere.

It WAS getting late.

And, as far as they knew, they DIDN’T have enough to even feed themselves.

The simple answer is this: scarcity focuses on what we don’t have.

Abundance focuses on what we do have.

Abundance places our trust in God.

Now, I’m not here to blame anyone for thinking in terms of scarcity.

As you’ve heard me say several times, we are culturally conditioned to think in those terms.

And Jesus’ own disciples—people who had seen him performs miracles with their own eyes—couldn’t help themselves but focus on scarcity.

I imagine Jesus was exasperated when he said, “There is no need for them to disperse.”

He was probably thinking, “Have you forgotten that I turned water into wine at the wedding banquet in Cana?

Have you forgotten all my acts of healing—the leper, the Centurion’s servant, the paralyzed man?

I’ve healed dozens in this crowd; do you think I would let them starve?”

He tries to redirect them.

He says, “Give them something to eat yourselves.”

But they can’t see beyond scarcity.

The disciples were faithful Jews, and they forgot they worshipped a God of abundance.

A God who provided manna and quail in the wilderness.

A God who sent ravens to feed Elijah.

A God who made sure a widow’s oil and flour never ran out.

And yet, still, they could only focus on the 5 barley loaves and 2 fish, which they knew wouldn’t even feed themselves.

But Jesus shook his head and said, “You know that?

You know 5 loaves and 2 fish won’t be enough?

Bring them to me!”

And the first thing Jesus did—the thing that shows he was coming from a mindset of abundance—was he looked to heaven and thanked God for the gift of that bread and fish.

That is the other indicator of abundance—gratitude.

Scarcity—because it focuses on what we don’t have—makes gratitude difficult, if not impossible.

Abundance and gratitude always go hand in hand.

A layer of this story that is often missed is there is an unsung hero in it.

He doesn’t even appear in Matthew’s version of the story.

But in John’s gospel, the 5 loaves and 2 fish were supplied by a boy.

A boy who didn’t see scarcity in what he had.

A boy who was quick to offer what little he had.

A boy who wasn’t looking for recognition or gratitude.

In fact, he is forgotten in 3 of the 4 gospels.

But that boy understood the abundance of God.

He trusted in God’s promise to provide for his people.

The other thing that’s important for us to notice in this story is where the focus lies.

The focus is not on the boy who supplied the loaves and fish.

Nor is it on the disciples who distributed them.

The focus is on the abundance of God and the 5,000 who were fed.

There is a lesson in that for us.

Because having an abundance mindset comes with a sense of both gratitude and humility.

Gratitude for the individual success that comes from God’s grace.

And the humility to understand that, although we may work hard for what we have, we are still only stewards of God’s gifts.

Gratitude for extra resources that are a tool for us to share God’s love with our siblings.

And the humility to understand that the situations between us and our neighbors could easily be reversed.

Gratitude for abundance—the confidence that there is always enough and always room for one more.

And the humility to know all that we do should not be for self-aggrandizement, but for the glory of God.

Pastors have a phrase that they use when they see or hear something that illustrates the gospel.

We say, “that’ll preach.”

Hearing stories about Alberta and Sal over the last few weeks since Alberta passed, I kept thinking “that’ll preach”.

I kept thinking about how they exemplified abundance.

And how they were unsung heroes who embodied humility.

People who knew them related how they were not as focused on amassing wealth as much as how those gifts allowed them to help others.

And how they never took the opportunity to brag about their generosity.

They just did the work of the Kin-dom, sharing God’s gifts with those who needed help.

Like the boy who offered up 5 loaves and 2 fish, they were unsung heroes.

So, as we go forth from this place, I give you a challenge.

Let’s stop providing cover for a scarcity mindset but saying, “I’m just being a realist.”

We are called to a different way of thinking.

We are called to remember that our faith is relentlessly a story of abundance.

When Abraham thought there was nothing to sacrifice, God provided a ram.

When the Israelites thought they would starve, God provided manna and quail.

A widow thought she was down to her last meal, but her flour and oil didn't run out.

Five loaves and two fish became enough for thousands—with baskets left over.

The tomb was empty because even death didn't get the last word.

The story of Scripture is never that there wasn't enough.

It's that God always provided in ways nobody expected.

So, I encourage you:

Trust God.

Be grateful.

Share generously.

Practice humility.

Live abundantly.

May this meditation on God’s word keep our hearts and mind on Christ Jesus. Amen.

While preparing for this sermon, I found this Powerful Abundance Prayer by Keir Alexa.

I think it is beautiful and can help us to shed our conditioning to focus on scarcity and refocus us on abundance.

From The Light of God that I Am.

From The Love of God that I Am.

From The Power of God that I Am.

From The Heart of God that I Am.

I Decree-

I dwell in the midst of Infinite Abundance.

The Abundance of God is my Infinite Source.

The River of Life never stops flowing.

It flows through me into a lavish expression.

Good comes to me through unexpected avenues and God works in a myriad of ways to bless me.

I now open my mind to receive my good.

Nothing is too good to be true.

Nothing is too wonderful to have happened.

With God as my Source, nothing amazes me.

I am not burdened by thoughts of the past or future.

One is gone.

The other is yet to come.

By the power of my belief, coupled with my purposeful fearless actions and my deep rapport with God, my future is created and my abundance is made manifest.

I ask and accept that I am lifted in this and every moment into Higher Truth.

My mind is quiet.

From this day forward I give freely and fearlessly into life and Life gives back to me with magnificent increase.

Blessings come in expected and unexpected ways.

God provides for me in wondrous ways.

I am indeed grateful.

And so it is. Amen.