Congregations Caring for Children

Theological Reflection

Theological Reflection

Theological Reflection

Theological Reflection

Theological Reflection

Abundance vs. Scarcity

Thoughts on Mark 6:30 44

By Rev. Dave Ratcliff

Out on a hillside, at the edge of the wilderness, Jesus teaches his disciples a

powerful lesson of life.  The feeding of 5,000 is an important story for the Gospels

and one that is filled with deep and profound meaning.  I would suggest that one

meaning centers around the proverbial question of whether a glass half filled

with water may be identified as half empty or half full.

The feeding of the 5,000 offers us three scenarios whereby the disciples see the

glass half empty and Jesus counters with the opposite perspective.  In looking at

these three encounters, we learn a great deal about the power of living amidst

God's abundance.

The first encounter occurs at the very beginning of the story.  The disciples

have returned from an exhilarating, as well as exhausting, missionary experience.

They return to Jesus wishing to rest and share their stories.  Jesus suggests that

they get into a boat and go to a wilderness area, to rest and share.  The disciples

could not be happier.  Unfortunately, as soon as they arrive at their retreat loca 

tion, they encounter a very large crowd.  Getting off the boat, the disciples wish

to make a quick exit.  Jesus has other ideas, for he perceives that the crowd is like

sheep without a shepherd.  He decides to skip the retreat and minister to the

people.

The disciples chose to view this situation from the perspective of scarcity.

There is only so much time in a day and this crowd is threatening to take away

what little time they have to be with Jesus.  They see the glass as half empty and

seek to possess the limited time of Jesus for themselves.

Jesus sees the situation from the perspective of abundance.  There is always

enough time to do what needs to be done.  He too wished for a retreat with the

disciples, but the time is right teaching the crowd.  There will be enough time to

share with the disciples in the future, now his time needs to be with the people.

The second encounter occurs at the end of the day.  Jesus has been teaching

the crowd for many hours and the disciples interrupt his teaching with a pro 

found concern.  They fear that the crowd will soon grow hungry.  Since they have

no desire to address the need of the crowd on their own, they request Jesus to

send the people back to their homes so that they may find food for themselves.

Once again, the disciples see the glass as half empty.  Food is scarce in the wilder 

ness, and 5,000 people are a large crowd.  The only answer is everyone for them 

selves.

Jesus sees the situation from the perspective of abundance.  He turns to the

disciples and asks them to feed the crowd.  They are shocked and quickly admit

their utter poverty.  This does not deter Jesus.  He turns to the disciples and says,

 Go and see what you can find.   In so doing, Jesus seeks to demonstrate to the

disciples that while the model of scarcity offers isolation and individualism, the

model of abundance offers community.

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