By Ron Harmon, Presiding Bishop
…the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low; for the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare…
(adapted from Witness the Word sermon)
In Exodus 16 God introduces a totally different economic system through manna. The people are told to gather only what they need for the day. If anyone tries to hoard manna out of fear for tomorrow, it rots and breeds worms. That sounds pretty nasty. The theological difference between Pharoh’s hoarding and the manna principle in Exodus could not be starker—living out of fear or trusting in the flow of God’s generosity.
This is the theology of abundance. Creation is generous. God provides precisely enough when resources are shared.
This is the enduring human struggle: scarcity is real in many places, yet globally there is enough for all when resources are justly shared. So, the question remains: will we let fear drive us to overconsume, or will we live by the manna principle, taking only what we need for the day and trusting that there will be enough for tomorrow when we share?
Jesus was a big fan of the manna principle—God provides precisely enough when resources are shared.
Let’s reenter the feeding of the 5,000 story to discover how scarcity becomes a myth when resources are shared. As the day wore on and evening came closer, the disciples started to worry. They could see the practical problem in front of them: it had been a long day of teaching, this was a large crowd, they were far from town, and the people would soon need food and a place to stay. So they came to Jesus with a practical solution—send these people away to fend for themselves.
But Jesus answered with a clear statement that disrupted their practicality. He said, “No, you give them something to eat.” It was a simple sentence, but it changed everything. It revealed an unexpected miracle not from Jesus, but the crowd.
The disciples looked at what they had and then looked at each other in disbelief—five loaves and two fishes. Are you kidding me? That is nowhere “near enough” (there is that phrase again “not enough”) to feed a crowd of thousands.
As the disciples moved through the crowd, organizing people into groups and preparing to distribute the food something miraculous began to happen among the people themselves. Seeing what little was offered, perhaps others reached into their bundles of small provisions, opened their cloaks, and shared what they had been holding back…a piece of bread, a dried fish, a handful of grain, a little food saved for later—small offerings, what might seem like less than ordinary provisions placed into the hand of neighbors.
As the movement of God’s generous abundance swept through the assembled crowd, what began as apparent scarcity started to look different.
(continued in tomorrow’s Daily Bread)
Prayer Phrase
“I am about to do a new thing” (Isaiah 43:18).
Embrace Abundance
Take a slow breath and open your hands. Consider one thing you have received—love, grace, time, resources, or opportunity. Now ask, “What has been given to me that I can share with someone else?” Hold that thought for a moment. As you breathe in, say, “I receive with gratitude.” As you breathe out, “I give faithfully with generosity.” Pray, “May I trust there is enough when I choose to share what I have for the welfare of all.”
Today’s Prayer for Peace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.