Give Thanks

Matthew 14:13-21

Give Thanks

Crowds of people were following Jesus and his disciples.

We are told there were 5,000 men, not counting the women and children.

So, rough estimate?

15,000 people?

That’s huge.

And they were all hungry.

What an overwhelming situation.

The disciples noticed this, and the solution they brought to Jesus made perfect sense: “This is a remote place, and it’s getting late.

Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

What’s wrong with that?

These people need to take care of themselves; there is nothing the disciples can do for them.

They are hungry, send them away.

But then Jesus replies, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

This is radical stuff, but the story is so familiar I think I sometimes miss just how radical it is.

I mean, it made such an impact on those who were there, that it is the only miracle story of Jesus that is recorded in all four Gospels!

It’s been said that this story goes straight to the heart of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ—what it means to be a Christian.

***Put up Slide #1***

“You give them something to eat.”

***Take Down Slide #1***

One of the churches I served, East Ridge United Methodist Church, was situated in a poor section of town.

We were surrounded by extended stay hotels where hundreds upon hundreds of unhoused people lived along with their children.

We had a small food closet, that had boxed macaroni and cheese, some cans of tuna fish and so forth.

It was food that church members brought to church with them to give to folks living in emergency situations.

The problem was that it seemed like the entire population surrounding that church building was in an emergency situation and God was calling us to do something about it.

But being just a small church with meager resources, what could we do?

I spoke to our church about it and then sent out emails to the other churches in town and announced if anyone was interested in getting food pantry going in East Ridge we would be having a brainstorming meeting about it on such an such a date.

Between 40 and 50 people showed up.

We met, and agreed there was great need, but no one was stepping up to run with it.

A Pastor can’t do it him or herself, it needs to be led by the congregation if it’s going to work.

We met a few more times, until someone finally came up to me and said, “How many of these meetings are we going to have? We aren’t getting anywhere.”

With my tail between my legs, I decided I must have misheard God’s call.

One day I was sitting in my office when two members of the church, Tab Williams and Rick Bonner stopped in.

Tab said, “Ken, Rick and I have been talking about it, and we want to try and open that food pantry.”

We got connected with the Chattanooga Area Food Bank, it’s run by feeding America, the same group that runs Second Harvest.

People donated a bunch of refrigerators and freezers, we scraped together what little money we had, and we went for it.

About a year later, Rick and I were walking through the food pantry area about thirty minutes before opening time and we looked around.

A group of women from the Korean Church down the street were preparing a table with fruit to hand out to the long line of people gathering outside our doors.

At another table people from a variety of other local churches, now all friends of ours, were arranging frozen meat.

At another table several folks, including a member of the local Jewish Synagogue, were getting vegetables ready to distribute.

The place was humming like a well-oiled machine; 30 or 40 volunteers were talking, laughing and working together.

Rick and I looked at each other and just started to laugh.

I said, “Who knew this could happen?

We have no idea what we are doing.

One year ago, this was just a dream.

We felt God calling us to do something to help feed the hungry masses outside these doors.

And now it’s happening.”

Working in that food pantry was like living within the miracle of the loaves and the fish…

…and I would tell people this all the time.

…it was amazing.

It was energizing.

It was the most fun I’ve ever had.

That food pantry has now been used by the Chattanooga Area Food Bank as a proto-type for how to organize and run area food pantries, which in the years since, have popped up all over the city.

And the East Ridge Community Food Pantry is now the largest local food pantry in the city.