Time and time and time again in ministry people have said to me they don’t feel qualified to be part of some ministry in the church. But Jesus wants us to see that each one of us has gifts. I want to emphasize that point – each and every one of us has gifts for the purpose of building up the church. Not just the people with theology degrees, and not only the personality types that volunteer for everything there is to be part of. Everyone. Saint Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians that all the baptized are to share our gifts for the building up of the church.
Andrew is feeling overwhelmed by the scope and impossibility of the task ahead and reasonably concludes the five loaves and two fish will not feed the crowd of five thousand. He looks at the miniscule amount of food and questions, “But what are they among so many people?” He confronts the impossibility of the task ahead.
Have you ever doubted the significance of what you have to offer? Maybe you have had an idea but lacked the confidence to step out and do it until you had more resources. “It isn’t enough, it will never work” is not the defining criteria in ministry. If the disciples had waited for more resources, they would never have left Galilee. Abundance can flow from simply doing what you sense you are called to do.
This telling of the feeding of the five thousand comes at the beginning of John chapter 6, which leads us into the well-known bread of life discourse where Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever comes to me will never be thirsty.”
What do you feel inspired to do? It could be to simply call a friend who is lonely. It could be that you have a desire to pray for some aspect of life in the parish. It may seem small and insignificant, but that’s how God broke into the world, small and insignificant. Don’t be afraid to offer your little. Come to Him. He will provide.
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