They Need Not Go Away

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. Matthew 14:13-21

Too often, like the disciples, we toss up our hands and say we can't tend to the overwhelming need. A huge crowd came to see Jesus and his disciples told him to disperse the crowd when evening came. These were sick, needy and poor people. The disciples were overwhelmed, I assume, and afraid but that was not reason to send them away. They gathered up what little they could and it became enough for the whole crowd, with leftovers. It is time for us to repeat to one another; "they need not go away." These are times when folks with great needs will approach us.  They need not go away. We, who believe in God's love for all, can gather our small resources, pray hard, and trust in God's abundance even in scarcity.

Creator, God, you are the source of all we have

you promise abundance and fullness to everyone

and you teach us to not send the needy away.

In our fear we shut out others in lean times

we turn the crowd away to forage alone

yet you call us to never let folks be sent away.

Help us Lord, in abundant and lean times

to trust in your sure provisions and abundance

so that we might serve the neediest among us. Amen.