Leveraging Five Loaves and Two Fishes

[John 6:1-14]

business technique, which he has used successfully in growing his Microsoft Empire. It is known as leveraging. It works something like this. You have a smart idea for a business venture; but you have very little money to invest in the venture. Therefore, you go to your friend and dare him to invest in your venture. He knows you through and through and takes you at your word. He invests. Soon, another person invests and another and pretty soon, the whole town invests in your business and the company grows. The knack is that you keep your investment in tact while you use the investments of your friends to

grow your business. Venture capitalists use this effectively. Home mortgage loans are a kind of leveraging. You want to buy a million dollar house; but you have little money. Therefore, you arrange a loan from the mortgage bank. You agree to pay off the loan in installments while you get to enjoy living in that house.

We encounter the same technique in this miracle of the feeding of the five thousands. The victuals – five loaves and two fishes were meager, but they were used for maximizing

returns in feeding the masses. How was this accomplished? Can this be repeated in our day and age? You see, God is in the business of leveraging from time immemorial. Creation is a way of leveraging. Yes, in Christ we have all the riches of God freely given [Ephesians 2:4-10]. Yet God invites us to share in the great adventure and God graciously accepts our meager investments as though that alone would be enough to make the difference. Leveraging five loaves and two fishes is about the meager investments we could offer in

meeting massive human needs.

The miracle about the feeding of the five thousand is the only story that is recorded in all the four gospels. (Read Matthew 14:14-21; Mark 6:34-44; Luke 9:11-17; John 6:1- 14). When you study all four passages together, you get a full picture of what actually took place. While the narratives in Matthew, Mark and Luke are somewhat similar, John’s gospel speaks about a boy who offered Jesus his lunch of five loaves and two fishes so

that Jesus could perform this miracle. In simple terms, the miracle is about sharing resources, organization and management at the right time and place. But the most important thing, it was orchestrated by someone who was in full control of the situation and knew exactly what he was doing. The key to understanding this miracle is found in John 6:6: “Jesus knew what he would do.” There is no use entrusting your precious little treasurer to someone who doesn’t know how to put that to the best use. Warren Buffett

did not give his wealth away to a homeless vagabond on the streets of New York, but to Bill Gates, the most business savvy person on earth. Is not this a comforting thought to know that we can entrust our little treasures and gifts in God’s hand and that God can multiply and use

them to bless us and others. Here was Jesus who had worked out all the little details of the miracle and was in full control of the plan and execution of the event.

When we read the narratives in the four gospels, it is clear that the disciples panicked

when they realized the growing crisis developing in their midst. The crowds were there for the good part of the day listening to Jesus preach and teach. People become tired and weary. As the afternoon wore off, disciples urged Jesus to dismiss the crowd so that they could go home to eat. However, Jesus told them directly that the people need not depart; instead the disciples should give them to eat [Mat 14:15-16].

You see, when confronted with massive human needs, we tend to dismiss people

easily. The excuse we give often is that our ministry is limited to meeting the spiritual needs of the people. When confronted with physical, material and social needs of people, we direct them elsewhere. We tend to compartmentalize human needs into spiritual and physical. Meeting spiritual needs seems easy, but meeting physical needs is a different ball game. It demands a lot from us. All human needs are related. Individual human beings are a unity. Jesus commissioned his disciples to go out, preach, teach, heal the

sick and caste out demons. Here Jesus commands the disciples to feed the masses. The mission of the Kingdom of God is holistic in all its dimensions.

One of the things we practice in our congregation is the agape meal. We celebrate Eucharist on first Sundays and we share a fellowship meal following the service. Every family brings a dish to share with others. [I wish we could do this every Sunday]. It is a symbolic way of testifying to our belief in the holistic ministries of the church. Agape meal

is not just about meeting a physical need. During our fellowship meals, spontaneous networks of bonding are created between families, men, women, youth, kids and guests. Our services are unhurried and our services and fellowship times lasts for hours. God is never rushed. Jesus did not dismiss people easily. He saw to it that people’s needs are met. We have in the USA wayside drive-in chapels and prayer windows. You drive in and press a button. A shutter opens and a person on the other side of the window greets, shares a promise for the day and offers a brief prayer. You press the button again, the

shutter closes and you drive off. How convenient! One would think that God has little time for relaxed conversations and fellowship with humans. This is not the picture we get about our Creator God walking with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the afternoon.

How do we leverage our resources for the Kingdom of God? The first thing is to recognize the needs out there. In this case, the disciples became aware of the looming

crisis developing in their midst. People were weary and hungry. The disciples sought an easy way out, dismiss the crowd and retire for the day. Jesus would not let that happen. Secondly, we should know the resources we have in our possession and we have to know the limitations of those resources as well. Many of us are oblivious to the resources and talents we have in our possession. Jesus tried to help the disciples to figure out the magnitude of the needs and the resources available to meet those needs. Philip says,

“Two hundred silver coins worth of food will not be sufficient to feed the whole crowd.” (Probably, this was the amount Judas Iscariot carried in his purse). Of course, Andrew, one of the disciples was finally able to find a boy with five loaves and two fishes. It is always good to

know the resources you have on your hand. The boy was willing to share his lunch with Jesus.

Thirdly, there has to be a managed approach to meeting the need. Feeding five

thousand men (there might have been equal number of women and children, making a total

of eight to ten thousand people) out in a desert is a massive undertaking. Even if you

have enough food to feed every one of them, one could imagine the chaos that might

have ensued trying to serve the hungry. There would have been a riot in the crowd trying

to grab the available food. How was this massive feeding program organized and managed?

Jesus had a plan. He said, “Make them sit down by groups of fifties” [Luke 9:14-15]. The

moment you breakup the crowd into manageable size, you are on the way to accomplishing

a massive undertaking. Each group of fifty would have had an adult supervisor who

ensured that every member in his group had sufficient food. No one was left hungry. And

look at the venue of this picnic. John 6:10 tells us that there was much grass in that

place. How enchantic! You couldn’t have asked for a better venue than that. Leveraging

requires a strategy — knowing the extent of the need, the resources we have and their

limitations, and of course the organization – the appropriate place and time to accomplish

the feat.

When all said and done, nothing can be accomplished until we place all that we have

in God’s hand. Jesus took the five loaves and two fishes, gave thanks to God, broke the

bread to be distributed [John 6:11]. Then the miracle took place. Besides, Jesus had plan

in place for the leftovers. No food could be wasted. They collected twelve basket of

bread (Bible does not record any leftover fish. Obviously fish would have become rotten

overnight where as bread would have stayed fresh for three to four days). In other

words, every bit of this mass organization had to be preplanned and orchestrated to the

minutest details. Nothing was left to chance.

I always wondered about the boy who turned over his brown bag to Jesus. What

would have gone through his little brain as he witnessed the miracle unfolding right before

his eyes? He sat down next to Jesus. He was totally blown away by what he saw. The

key to the understanding of this miracle is found in John 6:6: “Jesus knew what he would

do.” The person leveraging meager resources for maximum returns ought to be absolutely

sure what he is about to do. None can do it better than Jesus who knew exactly what he

would do with what the boy had offered him. That is a lesson the little boy and the

disciples had to learn that day.

May be you are at that place confronting a dire need or a crisis in your personal,

professional and family life. You are at the point of breakdown. What could you do? First

thing is to stay calm. Second, come to Jesus. Third, place your resources and the

problems at the feet of Jesus. You probably have no clue as to how to handle the situation

or how far you can stretch your strength and resources. You are anxious. There is no

other way but to turn over those resources and crises over to Jesus. Every problem you

confront now can be brought to the feet of Jesus who will turn them to bless you and

others. Jesus will even leverage your problems and turn them into an opportunity for

blessing and joy. Rev. Dr. Anand Veeraraj

Pastor, New Jersey Indian Church

22 Colonial Lake Drive, Lawrenceville NJ 08648

Email: pastorveeraraj@aol.com; web: www.njic.org