I opened Facebook this morning and was met with a barrage of posts related to the recent devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. In just a matter of minutes, I saw:
A drone video showing miles of road completely washed out by the devastating flood waters.
A flyer asking folks to bring donations to be delivered to the hurricane victims
A shared post from someone heading south next week also asking for donations for the victims
A gofundme for a family who lost everything in the storm
A request for someone to check on a family member who hasn’t been heard from since the storm
Pictures of food trucks giving out meals to those affected
News stories from the regions destroyed being shared over and over again
The more I scrolled, the more I was inundated with stories, pictures, and requests for help.
Have you ever noticed how quickly our country comes together when these types of natural disasters happen?
People come out of the woodwork to help during these tragedies.
Meanwhile, if I drove 10 miles over to the east end of our nearest town, I would quickly find a tent camp full of people who don’t have addresses, a safe place to lay their heads, or the security of knowing where their next meal will come from.
Or, if I drove just a few hours, I’d find myself in the community of Springfield, Ohio, a community where 15,000 legal and vetted immigrants found safety from the political instability following a presidential assassination, escalating gang violence, and…wait for it…natural disasters plaguing their home country of Haiti.
And, if I drove a few miles in the other direction, I’d see full shopping carts in the doorways of abandoned buildings where unsheltered folks are desperately trying to find a dry place to sleep, lines wrapped around the buildings of food pantries, and clothes closets that can’t keep up with demand.
Just today, the New York Post released a story claiming the Feds have said there’s no money left for the hurricane victims–after FEMA spent $1.8 billion on migrants. Before we all clutch our pearls in mass shock, we should probably have the rest of the story–which is that this is a blatant misrepresentation of information.
It brings up an interesting quandary, though, doesn’t it?
The hungry we choose to feed and those we choose to ignore.
The immigrants we choose to help and those we choose to vilify.
The homeless we’re desperate to shelter and those we’re content to leave on the streets.
I’m in the middle of this study from Luke on what Jesus did, and the timing for this week couldn’t be more appropriate. Maybe it’s time for all of us, myself included, to take a closer look at what Jesus did and try to emulate His behavior in our communities instead of getting pulled left, right, up, and down by the politicians and media outlets so desperate to get our votes.
The Apostles’ Reluctance to Feed the 5,000
Last week, we talked about how the Apostles returned from their first ministry journeys and were excited to see Jesus and tell Him all the cool things they experienced. We talked about how Jesus tried to slip away quietly to be with His friends and how important that is in our lives as well. Even though Jesus wanted to be alone with the 12 and hear all about their ministry experiences, He didn’t really get His wish for very long. Luke explains how:
Crowds soon found out about it and took off after him. When they caught up with Jesus, he graciously welcomed them all, taught them more about God’s kingdom, and healed all who were sick.
As the day wore on, the Twelve came to Jesus and told him, “It’s getting late. You should send the crowds to the surrounding villages and farms to get something to eat and find shelter for the night. There’s nothing to eat here in the middle of nowhere.”
Jesus responded, “You have the food to feed them.”
They replied, “All we have are these five small loaves of bread and two dried fish. Do you really expect us to go buy food for all these people? There are nearly five thousand men here, with women and children besides!” Luke 9: 11-14 TPT
Goodness, this contrast between Jesus and His disciples hits a little too close to home, doesn’t it?
Thousands of people came to Jesus with needs, and He graciously welcomed them, taught them, and healed them. Then, when it was getting late, the disciples responded in a way that sounds so familiar to me:
Send them somewhere else.
There’s nothing for them here.
But, God, right?
Jesus responded to his friends with one simple sentence: “You have the food to feed them.”
You know I always like to read commentaries and dig into these stories, and so much of what I read had to do with Jesus’s figurative meaning here–Jesus had imparted the Apostles with authority over demons and healing power. He had sent them out with these gifts to minister. And, thus–they had the spiritual food these folks needed.
But, what about the literal food here?
The literal food caused the Apostles to flip out–complaining they didn’t have enough and shocked Jesus would expect them to buy enough for everyone.
Goodness, I read about these reactions, and I immediately start feeling convicted because how many times have I made similar arguments when Jesus has called me out of my comfort zone to do something hard that I really didn’t want to do?
Too many–if you were wondering.
Too many times I’ve made these same statements to God. The thing is, if you’re human like me, you probably have as well.
Even though Jesus wasn’t asking the Apostles to go buy food for all of these people, they thought He was, and the reality of that ask is that it would have been a huge one and one that would have required sacrifice. And, sacrifices are hard, aren’t they?
Jesus’s plan was different than they expected, but it still required work from them, and it still resulted in the physical feeding of the 5,000.
Jesus Literally Feeds the 5,000
I think it’s important to note here how Jesus met these folks’ physical needs in this moment. He didn’t take their hunger away and leave them sated–like He easily could have and like would have provided another spiritual analogy of Jesus being the nourishment we need.
No, He literally multiplied the physical food in His possession so there was enough for everyone to eat their fill and still have leftovers. Luke explains it this way:
He told his disciples, “Have them all sit down in groups of fifty each.”
After everyone was seated, Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, and gazing into the heavenly realm he gave thanks for the food. Then, in the presence of his disciples, he broke off pieces of bread and fish, and kept giving more to each disciple to give to the crowd. It was multiplying before their eyes! So everyone ate until they were filled, and afterward the disciples gathered up the leftovers—it came to exactly twelve baskets full! Luke 9:14-17 TPT
I am so guilty of looking for the deeper meaning in things, I sometimes forget the importance of the literal meaning.
This has definitely been one of those stories for me.
I’ve known this story for what feels like my entire life. I’ve always focused on the miracle of Jesus multiplying the loaves and fish. Don’t get me wrong. The miracle is an important aspect of this story and of providing further proof to the people that Jesus was the Messiah. But, the literal meaning holds just as much weight for us as Christ-followers.
Because the reality is people have physical needs as well. If you’ve never studied Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and you are in ministry, I encourage you to stop reading and do so now. It’s so eye-opening when it comes to how we go about meeting people’s needs.
These thousands and thousands of people had physical needs that needed to be met.
Despite the grumblings of the Apostles…
And, I think these grumblings are important and serve an important lesson for us as well:
Too often, we find ourselves approaching needs in the same way the Apostles did–
Send them home.
Someone else can give them food.
They can find shelter somewhere else.
You don’t really expect us to pay for this, do you?
Or, maybe it looks more like this:
Send them home because they need to go through the proper channels.
Someone else can give them food because they should be off of government assistance by now.
They can find shelter somewhere else because they’re taking all our jobs.
You don’t really expect us to pay for this, do you because I already pay too much due to inflation.
Do you know what I didn’t see Jesus doing before he passed out food to everyone?
Checking their citizenship
Reviewing their records
Evaluating whether or not they were worthy
And yet, here we are today placing all sorts of parameters on who we decide is worthy enough for us to help.
I don’t know about you, but, personally, I’m pretty grateful Jesus didn’t place parameters on who He healed, saved, loved, and showered with grace. And, I can’t help but think it’s time for us–as people who say we want to be like Christ–to work a little harder to be a little more like Him in these situations.
Jesus Wasn’t a Politician
Jesus was a humanitarian, not a politician.
I think we could all benefit from remembering this important distinction as we head into election season and then deal with the aftermath of the elections.
Regardless of who is elected, we have a duty to the least of these. We are called to love them, to feed them, and to meet their needs–not just their spiritual needs, but their physical needs as well.
And it seems pretty impossible and a little counterproductive to hold a loaf of bread out to them with one hand while gearing up to throw stones at them while we chase them away with the other.
I love the outpouring of love I’ve seen from folks empathizing with the victims of the hurricane. This is the example Jesus set for us. Maybe, just maybe, we can start cultivating this same outpouring of love and empathy for the rest of the least of these too.
Friends, this is a hard time. You’re inundated with political ads, opinions, justificiations, and arguments from every direction. My prayer for you is simple: My prayer is that you remember who Jesus was and what Jesus DID, how He treated the least of these, how He fed the hungry, and how He saw people over politics.
Reflections:
What is your biggest obstacle preventing you from meeting the needs of the least of these?
How can you focus more on being a humanitarian?
What is a need close to you that God might be nudging you to meet?
Wow, thank you for breaking this down. Jesus showed us by example how to do this. May we have ears to hear and may our faith live out in action.
Thanks for this prompt, Kristen! May we follow in Jesus' footsteps!