The gospel accounts are ripe with the miracles of Jesus, and we know that not all of them were even recorded. Every time Jesus performed a miracle, hoards of people were confronted with his power and his authority as the Son of God became harder and harder to dispute. Like in the feeding of the five thousand, none could deny the miracle that had happened and word traveled far and wide about what this Jesus could do. But as is so often the case, Jesus worked his miracle with invitation to others to take part. In this case by one small, often overlooked boy.
Before the miracle takes place, Jesus is ministering to an absolutely massive crowd and the disciples are starting to worry about the lateness of the day and how any of them are going to be fed. They begin whispering amongst themselves, trying to come up with a solution and getting no further than a few fish and loaves of bread. The other gospel accounts only quote the disciples saying they have fish and bread, but John goes a little further in his account and tells us they belonged to a boy in the crowd.
“Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” (John 6:8-9)
Andrew’s pessimism aside, there’s some valuable things we can learn about the boy here. Clearly this was some sort of packed lunch he was sent along with for the day, meant to sustain a few, not many. Furthermore, I think we can safely assume that he was volunteering his lunch, not having it taken. I don’t exactly think Jesus would have condoned the disciples grabbing a kid by the collar and stealing his lunch. So the picture that forms is a boy, listening to the growing murmurings of the disciples about their need for food, fiddling with the lunch bag at his side, and making a decision to offer what he has to others.
And that right there is where the invitation is and why that boy’s generosity is everything. Jesus knew that little boy’s heart. He could have gone and asked him for the loaves, but he waited. He let the boy’s heart turn to him and take its place in the story. And the boy responded.
Whether or not it actually was a big sacrifice, the boy had to weigh his own provision against the needs of others. And on top of that, he had to embrace the idea that Jesus could do more with his lunch than he ever could in his wildest dreams. No wonder Jesus told us to be like little children in coming to him. This child got right away what a group of adults following Jesus couldn’t comprehend. While the disciples were going back and forth discounting his meal because of its size, the boy was simply ready to see what he could do with it.
And we all know what Jesus did with that small lunch.
We all need a little more of this boy’s attitude in our lives and there are some key things we can learn about generosity from him.
1. Generosity doesn’t need to be complicated
If the boy was looking at his lunch with the same eyes as the disciples, he would have easily dismissed his contribution and not even offered it in the first place. The miracle would have still found a way, but the boy’s involvement would have passed him by. By offering what he had and trusting the rest to God, he was able to take part in something huge.
We have the same opportunities every day, and if we discount them for our ability to make something incredible of them we’ll never go anywhere. We don’t need incredible things to offer. We need to offer simple things with incredible generosity. God can do so much more with our packed lunch than we could ever do cooking for a crowd of five-thousand ourselves.
So whatever it is you have to offer, offer it. Don’t measure it, don’t weigh it, don’t discount it. Just give and let God grow your offering into something more.
2. God uses our generosity to meet our needs too.
Generosity can be a scary thing. And in a world that shouts at us to see to our own needs first, the idea of wilfully giving up what was set aside for you can sound downright foolish. But God is so far beyond conventional worldly wisdom and means of provision.
The boy was giving up his lunch with came with the reality of going hungry that day. We don’t know how regular or secure his meals were. Maybe that sacrifice came with uncertainty and a already rumbling stomach.
But God never leaves us behind when we follow him into faithfulness. In the case of the boy, he watched what started as a sacrifice for him turn into a feast he was taking part in. Scripture tells us that there were basketfuls of leftovers picked up when all was said and done. The boy was part of that crowd and would have been encouraged to eat his fill.
Now we might not get as quick of a turnaround as the boy’s offering to feasting. We may experience lean times or anxiety when we give out of thankfulness that seem like we’ve lost more than we can afford to. But God never leaves us with too little and he never forgets our faithfulness. It’s not in God’s nature to take things we need to give to others and leave us high and dry. He will always make a way that you are taken care of in your faithful giving. He delights in your faithful giving, and he’s not about to leave you hurting because of it.
No matter how much God asks you to give, he will make sure that your needs are met too. You are just as important to him as those he’s asking you to help.
We may not find ourselves with fish and bread in a bag in front of thousands, but all of us will find ourselves in situations where we’re called to simple, faithful generosity. May we like that faithful little boy find ourselves ready to give. Who knows what big things God will do with our small ones.
Let’s find some joy,
A
Avalon Robinson Author 