There once was a fundraiser who raised money for an international hunger nonprofit, The Hunger Project. In her book, The Soul of Money, she told the story of going to accept the biggest gift this nonprofit had ever received in its history. She flew to Chicago and went to the CEOs office in huge, fancy skyscraper. There was serious opulence and power on display, while she was a lowly fundraiser there to pick up a check.

 

Despite the generosity of the gift, the executive of this massive company was gruff and dismissive. He barely looked at her, as if this important donation and this woman was a nuisance in his very busy, very important day. He did not care about solving hunger or her or her organization or the people they served. She was quickly dismissed. So, she took the check and flew back home to New York.

 

That same evening, she was asked to present to a congregation in their Harlem church basement. These were not wealthy people or church. The heavy rain outside was finding its way into this basement space. But the people were excited by the work of the nonprofit and excited for how they could participate. They deeply cared for hungry people, struggling around the world. After she gave her talk, she asked them for their support and one by one, folks came forward with their gifts to feed the world. No one took out a check book to write an impressive check. Just cash, just what they had to give.

 

These interactions could not have been more different. In one, there was no love, no care, or even interest … but A LOT of money. In the other, there was love overflowing and abundant along with money … but not a lot. The dichotomy for the author was stark and profound.

 

Her organization ended up returning the check to the food conglomerate with a thanks, but no thanks letter. They said that when the company was ready to engage in the mission of the charity with authentic interest and care, they would gladly welcome this company’s charitable giving.

 

Years later, that same executive who was so dismissive joined the board and became a real advocate, giving and raising far more money than what had previously been returned. His change began when that check had been returned. It had never occurred to him that a nonprofit, a charity, would turn down money like this. It never occurred to him that someone would value authentic relationship, integrity, and love over “winning” in the world.

 

I love that story about returning the check. I so admire the courage of this organization to say thanks, but no thanks. I am not sure if I would have been that bold, that committed to the integrity of the relationship between the charity and the giver. If someone handed you a massive check for a cause you cared deeply about, how much would you care if they gave it out of their own cynicism and selfishness?

 

This gospel today might be a reminder of the courage we would need to also refuse the gift, honoring the Spirit of love over money, power, or status.

 

We’re in the gospel of John for the next few weeks, but this story of the feeding of the 5,000 is also in the gospel of Mark. And in that gospel, this story comes right after Herod’s birthday banquet and the gospels we have been reading over the past couple weeks. So, with Herod, we see the banquet of the rich, corrupt, morally weak, and depraved. With this gospel, we see Christ’s banquet, nourishing thousands from the smallest of gifts. In the gospel of Mark, these two stories are right next to each other and are being contrasted.

 

The first is one feast of corrupt power and wealth. The other is the banquet feast of God. The spirit or soul of these two feasts could not be more different, just like Lynn Twist’s story of the check from the food conglomerate juxtaposed with the soul-filled, love-soaked collection in the church basement.

 

In her book, Twist talks about our cultural crisis of insufficiency. Everywhere we look, in the richest country in the world, we see what is missing. We focus on how we don’t have enough. She talks about from the moment we wake up in the morning, we groan about not getting enough sleep, not having enough time, not having enough health, not having the will power to go to the gym, not having anything to wear even as we have closets stuffed full. We all have our stories of not enough. So, what is that for you?

 

Herod too was afraid of not having enough power and authority. In his killing of John the Baptist, he acted out of his conviction that he did not have enough power to follow a path of righteousness. Again, in today’s gospel, our disciples were afraid of not having enough to feed the people.

 

But there is enough! Enough for them. And enough for us.

 

We are being invited to live in faith that there is enough. Lynn Twist writes from her experience with The Hunger Project that this often involves looking for gifts and resources in unexpected places. Places where sustenance and bounty “should not” be found according to conventional wisdom. Jesus models this in acknowledging and accepting the child’s offer to share his loaves and fishes.

 

A child in the ancient world was a person without status or importance. Andrew noticing the small gift of the child in this gospel is important. But so is the child’s gift! How often do we hold back giving what we can because we see the magnitude of the problems and say, “I can’t give. What I have is not enough. If I open myself to that problem, I might be sucked dry.”

 

Doesn’t that sound like the disciples? They said, it will take 6 months wages to feed this group for one meal! There were either that many people, or the disciples were looking at the problem and exaggerated the scale of the issue in response to their sense of overwhelm. We do this, don’t we? Before even beginning, before even trying, we can declare problems to be unwinnable, unmeetable, unfathomable. We make them so big; we avoid responding at all … because we know we can’t meet the need.

 

However, this child took the first faithful step of offering what he had. While Andrew noticed this totally insufficient gift, he gave up in the face of the magnitude of the problem. Wouldn’t this be like Lynn Twist turning down the love-soaked money in the basement of that church in Harlem? Or not even going? After all, what good is a few grubby bucks in the face of WORLD HUNGER!?

 

On one level, that is true. What good was the $200-some dollars she gathered that night? What good did those people really do, especially when they themselves did not have enough by American standards? And yet those gifts were gifts of love. Insufficient on their own, but radiating love, given in solidarity from people with “not enough” to others with “not enough.” The beauty and generosity of their giving gave the Hunger Project the courage and clarity they needed to return that corporate gift, which later blossomed into far greater generosity.

 

The smallness of our gifts are magnified through God’s love. With God, there is enough. With God, we are sufficient.

 

The last part of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reads, “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.” God provides and provides abundantly! But we also hear in the gospel John and the story of Elisha, that we are asked to take a step in faith. We are asked to do our small, totally insufficient part to address a problem that we are ultimately powerless to fix on our own.

 

We take a step and God gets to work.

 

I wonder how many of us have stories that fits this gospel? How many of us have looked at an impossible problem and felt the grace of God behind us after we took a small step? Perhaps you noticed doors opening, the right people arriving, or funding coming through at the right time. Our small, inadequate actions with our inadequate resources are enough when we take those steps in faith and take them with others.

 

We are asked to take small faithful steps in the direction of healing, wholeness, and care for ourselves, for creation, for our communities, for our families. Look in any direction in our lives and we will see immense problems. But what if we are looking for hope in all the wrong places? What if we are like Andrew dismissing the small, inadequate gifts or available actions? The child’s small gift, in the hands of the Lord, became an overwhelming abundance.

 

It is because of this very idea that Nate and I give to a few nonprofits between $10 and $20/month to address homelessness and hunger. These are tiny gifts. They are laughable in the logic of Herod. But in the logic of Christ and given in community with others, it is enough. It’s our part. Small but faithfully given.

 

I don’t know how this applies in your life, but I know it does. In your situation, look for those incremental, small but faithful steps you can take in your situation. Maybe its a personal issue? Or maybe its big ones, like climate change that looms over your head? Or something in between? What is the next faithful step, the next small offering, the next act of care that you know is not enough? Try it and see what happens. The Lord will be there with you, making your small steps, your small gifts enough to meet the need.

AMEN