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Caring, Sharing and Multiplication

Sunday August 19, 2007 • Greg Boyd

As Kingdom of God people, we are called to care and share with others. When Jesus commands his disciples to feed the crowd with only five loaves and two fishes in Luke 9:10-17, he is showing them that nothing is impossible with God, as everyone was fed and there were leftovers remaining. Our call is to trust and listen to how God would use us. No matter how much or little we have, God can use our faithfulness to abundantly bless others!

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In a world where we see hunger, wars and injustices, it is very easy to feel helpless and overwhelmed. “What can we possibly do?” becomes the question and mindset to the natural mind. We give up, center on ourselves, or spend time trying to get organizations to solve these problems.

Jesus challenges these assumptions. Our hope is not found in this world, but in living for Jesus. Through the miracle of the loaves and fishes, Jesus shows us that he is the Creator. Like all miracles, this is a foretaste of the coming Kingdom, showing that they’ll be no more hunger when the Kingdom is established.

Jesus tells his disciples to not think about how they can provide the resources of the fish and bread. Rather, he encourages them to obey and just start giving out of what they had. Jesus is calling us to do the same. Don’t use the fact that you have limited resources to justify not caring or sharing with others. Our main responsibility as Kingdom people is to assume it’s our responsibility, to obey God and be faithful. Jesus asks us to live in the question, “What would God have me to do?” (see 2 Corinthians 9:7-8).

As the disciples obeyed Jesus, the loaves and fishes began to multiply. Everyone was fed and there was still more left-over. God calls us to obedience. We are called to be a people who share, and trust that the more we share, the more we have to share. The amazing thing is when we obey God and share what little we have, he multiplies it to meet the needs of those he’s called us to address.

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Focus Scripture:

Luke 9:10-17

When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.

Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”

He replied, “You give them something to eat.”

They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” (About five thousand men were there.)

But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.