When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" – John 6:5

Today's Scripture Reading (January 3, 2024): John 6

Jesus is the master at using teachable moments. As he looked and saw the crowd approach, he asked, "Where are we going to buy food for this crowd?" Philip's answer is very pragmatic because Jesus's question was also pragmatic. "Jesus, we don't have enough money to buy for all these people." Philip's response was similar to Abraham's comment to God: "Sarah is too old to bear children. God, I am not going to have a son with her." Both answers are a recognition of what it is that we can do. We can do many things that we sometimes don't recognize, but there are many more things we can't do. And feeding a multitude and having a child late in life are among the "can't" dos.

The biggest enemy of our faith is the idea that we have to rely on ourselves to get the job done. So, the feeding of the five thousand was a great teachable moment. Jesus could look his disciples in the eyes and say, "Look at what happens when you don't have enough to get the job done yourself, and you have to rely on me."

Just over a couple of decades ago, the church allowed me to purchase a home with their gracious help. I am so thankful they found their way to allow us to buy a home. The practice is becoming increasingly prevalent for many reasons, the chief of which is stewardship. It makes sense for a pastor to be able to build equity in something so that the day he retires to a more voluntary position in the church, he still has somewhere to live and has built up some equity to help in retirement. But it is also stewardship from the side of the care for the property. At the time of the purchase, I was in a couple of conversations about the new house. In the discussion, I called my new home "the parsonage," and those to whom I was speaking gently disagreed with me. "No, this is not the parsonage; it is the Pastor's Home." To which my reply was just as firmly, "No, it is the parsonage."

I'm not sure that those I was talking to ever really got it, but it is the parsonage. In reality, I don't own anything. I am a servant; I come to my God with nothing to give him. He is the owner of my house, my car, and my savings account. It is all His. He is the possessor of all of my time and talents. I am not a benefactor in any way. I can't be and still be a person of faith. My money, time, and possessions are an enemy of my faith. When God called me, and I finally stopped saying no, I surrendered everything to the church of Jesus Christ, which is his body. I am committed to it. I have come, possessing nothing. I am in covenant and utterly dependent on him.

So, I know I can't complete the task he has laid on my shoulders. I stand with Philip, asking the question, "I don't have enough to purchase what is needed to complete the task at hand." And Jesus's reply hasn't changed. "Garry, just watch what happens when you don't have enough to do the job yourself, and you must rely on me."

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Matthew 15