GIVING & RECEIVING

by Rev. Camper Mundy, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church

Christmas is a wonderful time of year! It’s a season marked by giving and receiving.

Ultimately we celebrate God giving Himself to us in the Person of Jesus, and we receive that Gift through faith. And as we receive “the Gift” (capital “G”), we are enabled by Him to give of ourselves through Him.

But do you ever feel like you’ve got nothing left to give? (Some people call that day December 26!) Seriously, though, do you ever feel overwhelmed with life? Or inadequate for the task at hand… Or discouraged and frustrated… Or broken and exhausted… Or like you’re running on empty?

The disciples of Jesus know what that’s like. And we see that clearly in a famous story where Jesus takes what little the disciples have and multiplies it to provide abundantly for them and through them. It’s the story of the miracle known as “The Feeding of the Five Thousand” – the only miracle mentioned in all four of the Gospels. One telling of the story is found in the sixth chapter of Mark’s Gospel. (You might consider reading Mark 6:30-44 to refresh your memory.)

As the story unfolds, it becomes late in the day. The disciples’ much-needed retreat with Jesus has already been interrupted. And now it seems that Jesus’ care and teaching of a large crowd (the interrupters!) is going long. The disciples are becoming more and more irritated. They’re hungry (see v. 31), and they only think practically and selfishly.

So what do they do? They tell Jesus what to do! They tell the God of the universe how to run His show: “Jesus, send the people away to buy something to eat” (v. 36).

And how does Jesus respond? He says to the disciples: “You give them something to eat” (v. 37). You can hear them now: “What?! That would take eight months of a person’s wages” (v. 37). In other words, if a person makes $75,000 a year, it would take $50,000 to buy everyone something to eat!

Jesus does not address the disciples’ objection. He simply asks how much bread they have. They survey the huge crowd and come back with the answer – only five loaves and two fish. Pessimism, frustration, and unbelief are intensifying.

Yet these are Hebrew people, and they miss something huge that any Jew in that day should have seen… God’s faithfulness to provide for His people throughout history. And particularly for their hunger! There was God’s provision of manna when Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years. But even more akin to their present situation was God’s provision of food through Elisha, feeding a hundred hungry men with only twenty loaves of bread. (See 2 Kings 4:42-44.)

God’s faithfulness to provide abundantly is their story! It’s their heritage!

Have they forgotten Who they are with? Have they lost sight of God’s ability to feed His people? Have they lost sight of God’s perfect goodness, never-ending faithfulness, and abundant provision? Have they settled to live within confines of human understanding, rather than find hope in the limitlessness of Almighty God?

Like the disciples, we often find it difficult to trust Jesus,

especially when we’re pressed to give what we don’t have to give.

But giving always begins with receiving!

Okay, back to the story… In verses 39-44, we see that Jesus involves the reluctant, irritated disciples in preparing the people for a meal, pushing the limits of the disciples’ patience and faith when they most need to trust Him.

Jesus takes what little the disciples have, offers thanks to the Father, breaks the bread, and gives the food to the disciples to distribute to the people.

“They all ate and were satisfied” (v. 42), and there were basketfuls of leftovers (v. 43). Everyone ate abundantly, and they ended the day with more than they had started.

Ours is a God of abundant goodness and provision!

“You give them something to eat” (v. 37). Did they? Yes! Jesus enabled the disciples to give by taking what little they had and multiplying it. Apart from Jesus, they could do nothing.

Jesus could have simply made bread appear in the peoples’ hands. But He chose to give the ministry to the disciples. Jesus gives. The disciples receive and are then able to give.

But let’s not miss the key to giving and receiving. In verse 41, we read that Jesus “gave [the bread and fish] to the disciples to set before the people.” Did Jesus give each disciple a “bottomless-pit” basket that never ran out of bread? Well, that’s one interpretation, and the one most often portrayed in film or television.

But in the original language (and your version of the Bible might pick this up), the verb “gave” is in a form that expresses a continuous action. It reads more literally that Jesus “kept giving” the bread and fish to the disciples to give to the people. In other words, it’s a continual filling. The disciples’ baskets became empty, and they had to return to Jesus. They had to stay connected to, in concert with, relating to Jesus. The disciples had to continually receive in order to continually give.

Like the disciples, we must receive before we’re able give.

We must stay connected to the Source of real life.

We must continually go to Jesus that He might continually fill our baskets!

Honestly, so often my life preference is to be self-sufficient. My preference is to only have to go to Jesus once, have Him give me the “bottomless-pit” basket that doesn’t need continual filling, and then get on with it. Provide for me now, so that I won’t need You later. Give me all I need now, so that I won’t have to trust You with my struggles – whether financial, medical, relational, vocational, or something else. I want to be independent rather than having to continually depend on Jesus.

Once I was sharing this tension with a friend of mine. He quoted a missionary saying: “You must do what you cannot do with what you do not have for the rest of your life… But Jesus will do what He can do with what He does have through you for the rest of your life.” Wow!

Ultimately, God provides abundantly for us through Jesus. The One who was born in Bethlehem (a name meaning “House of Bread”). The One who is the true “Bread of Life” for those who trust in Him.

Just as Jesus provided for the people through the breaking of bread, He has provided for us through the breaking of His body on the Cross. That our sins might be forgiven. That we might be reconciled to God. That we might know real life and true joy in relationship with Him.

And Jesus invites us to participate in His redemptive work… to give of ourselves for others. But first (and continually) we must receive from Him. So this Christmas season, let’s receive the Gift of Jesus, and then give through Him to the world around us.

——————————————————————–

Rev. Camper Mundy and his wife Heather moved to Williamsburg in September 2007 to join the ministry and mission of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church. Previously, they spent six years in Vancouver, Canada where Camper served as a pastor at Grace Vancouver Church (PCA) after receiving his M.Div. from Regent College in Vancouver. Before that, they were in Chapel Hill, NC for six years where Camper served as a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Camper and Heather were married in 1996 and have three children. They met as undergrads at Wake Forest University.