As a child, I remember often having impromptu guests in our home for dinner. My mother approached this dilemma with grace. She would have prepared enough for our family but not enough for an extra person or two.  What would she do to offer hospitality?  Always she would divide what we had no matter how sparse it appeared.  If we had 4 pieces of meat, these were all divided in half to give us 8.  Everything else was served “family style” by passing the bowls of vegetables and other side dishes to each guest.  Invariably, when the meal was over, we would have leftovers even though before hand we didn’t have enough.  It was the miracle of the fish and loaves in action.  In God’s economy, when we share, we always have enough. Everyone is satisfied.

I once heard a pastor in a sermon give an alternate explanation of the miracle of the fish and loaves.  In the story, the disciples and Jesus are in a very desolate place with a huge crowd of people.  The gospel writers estimate the group to number about 5000.  It was common at that time to only count the men, so with women and children the number would have been much greater.  It was getting late and the disciples urged Jesus to disperse the crowd so they could leave to find something to eat.  Instead of doing the obvious, Jesus instead told the disciples to feed the crowd. How were they to do this?  A young boy offered what he had: 5 barley loaves and 2 small fish.  Jesus had the crowd sit. He blessed the food and broke it.  When it was passed around there was enough leftover to fill 12 baskets. Was the food multiplied by Jesus or as the food was being passed did others in the crowd add what they had brought as provisions for themselves?  Often food would be carried in a person’s cloak. No one would see it unless it was revealed by that person.  Could it be that when the boy shared what he had, everyone else shared what they might have hoarded for themselves otherwise?  Whether Jesus multiplied the fish and the loaves or whether the 5000 openly shared what they had doesn’t matter.  The story still reveals a miracle.  Jesus is able to touch hearts in such a way that they are willing to share and there is always enough.  Everyone is satisfied.

I was in Haiti on a medical mission in 2000 and daily we went out among the people to treat many illnesses.  We each were accompanied by an interpreter.  Most of them were young Haitian men who had learned English and used their services to earn a little money for themselves and their families.  On the first day at lunch, we realized as we sat down to eat that we had been sent only enough lunches for our American group.  There was nothing for our interpreters.  Without a word, we all began to break our sandwiches and fruit in half to share with each of them.  There was more than enough to feed us all.  We were all satisfied. We made sure that during the rest of our mission,  lunches were sent for the interpreters too.

Over this Christmas season as we hurry to prepare gifts and meals for our loved ones, remember those who are left out, the ones that won’t have a meal prepared for them.  Share some of your abundance with them and experience first hand the miracle of the fish and the loaves.  You will find that there will be more than enough to feed everyone and all will be satisfied.