Fourth Day of Advent

Above:  Loaves and Fishes Floor Mosaic, Church of the Multiplication, Tabgha, Israel

Divine Abundance

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2023

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Isaiah 25:6-9 (Revised English Bible):

On this mountain the LORD of Hosts will prepare

a banquet of rich fare for all the peoples,

a banquet of wines well matured,

richest fare and well-matured wines strained clear.

On this mountain the LORD will destroy

that veil shrouding all the peoples,

the pall thrown over all the nations.

He will destroy death for ever.

Then the LORD God will wipe away the tears

from every face,

and throughout the world

remove the indignities from his people.

The LORD has spoken.

On that day the people will say:

See, this is our God;

we have waited for him and he will deliver us.

This is the LORD for whom we have waited;

let us rejoice and exult in his deliverance.

Psalm 23 (Revised English Bible):

The LORD is my shepherd; I lack for nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me to water where I may rest;

he revives my spirit;

for his name’s sake he guides me to the right paths.

Even were I to walk through a valley of deepest darkness

I should fear no harm, for you are with me;

your shepherd’s staff and crook afford me comfort.

You spread a table for me in the presence of my enemies;

you have richly anointed me head with oil,

and my cup brims over.

Goodness and love unfailing will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD

throughout the years to come.

Matthew 15:29-39 (Revised English Bible):

After leaving that region Jesus took the road by the sea of Galilee, where he climbed a hill and sat down.  Crowds flocked to him, bringing with them the lame, blind, dumb, and crippled, and many other sufferers; they put them down at his feet, and he healed them.  Great was the amazement of the people when they saw the dumb speaking, the crippled made strong, the lame walking, and the blind with their sight restored; and they gave praise to the God of Israel.

Jesus called out his disciples and said to them,

My heart goes out to these people; they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat.  I do not want to send them away hungry; they might faint on the way.

The disciples replied,

Where in this remote place can we find bread enough to feed such a crowd?

Jesus asked,

How many loaves have you?

They replied,

Seven, and a few small fish.

So he ordered the people to sit down on the ground; then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks to God he broke them and gave them to his disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.  They ate it and were satisfied; and seven baskets were filled with what was left over.  Those who were fed numbered four thousand men, not counting women and children.  After dismissing the crowd, he got into a boat and went to the neighbourhood of Magadan.

The Collect:

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Most of us have experienced periods of anxiety.  We have had certain needs–not mere desires, but necessities–and have been uncertain about how we will obtain them.  Such has been my reality.  Yet, as I reflect on the past and present, I know that I have never gone to bed hungry, never been homeless, and have always had everything I have needed.  I recall once, when in junior high school, my parents went through a phase during which they tried a diet with a great amount of chicken meat in it.  For as long as they were on that diet I was on that diet.  I came to despise chicken, and shunned it for a while after the diet ceased, but at least I ate until I was full.  So I had what I needed, even if I did not like my limited options.

Sometimes we need to play a part in helping to fulfill our needs.  Depending on our circumstances, we might need to apply for employment, tell others our problems, and lay aside false and culturally conditioned pride.  Our friends and neighbors, as capable as they might be, are probably not telepathic.  We might not have because we have not asked, or maybe we asked for the wrong thing or in the wrong way or for the wrong reason.

I reject Prosperity Theology, which the examples of Jesus and his surviving Apostles refute.  Yet I believe in the abundance of God, who transform little into more than enough.  In God we have more than we need, but not necessarily all that we want.  This is fine, for often what we want is destructive at worst or merely unnecessary at best.  It is better to have what we need, to recognize this reality, and to thank God for it.

KRT

Written on May 31, 2010

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2011/11/12/divine-abundance/

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