What is in your hand?

What’s that in your hand?

How many times have you and I said something like this:

If only I could find a job?

If only I could find a wife?

If only I could find a husband?

If only I had a car?

If only I had an apartment or a house?

If only….

If only….

What happens when we latch onto one of these if onlys?

We become

Discouraged

                       

                        Depressed

                        Feel like giving up

Some of us get lost

            Lost in a fog of discouragement

            Lost in a pit of hopelessness

            Lost in a world of alcohol and drugs

            Lost, lost, lost….

Some of us begin to die

            Physically as our health begins to fail

            Mentally as worry and anxiety takes over

            Socially as isolation becomes our friend

            Spiritually as our souls shrivel

Some people become suicidal

Our lives becomes consumed with survival

            Our next meal

            Our safety

            Our minute by minute existence

Our world becomes smaller and smaller

I learned many years ago that surviving homelessness was a full-time job.

There is no time to look for a job –

when you are lined up for food stamps

when your clinic hours are only from 9 – 4

when they only serve meals at 7 AM, 11 AM and 4 PM

Is there hope?

The life story of Jesus what we call the Gospels has a story about a crowd of homeless people who needed a meal. Most of us forget that this crowd was homeless – a big crowd – we know it as the story as the “feeding of the 5,000” because women and children were not people in the first century so they were not counted  - in actuality – the crowd was probably closer to 20,000 than 5,000  – let’s read about it in John 6.

6 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), ² and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. ³ Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. ⁴ The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

⁵ When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

⁷ Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages^[a] to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

⁸ Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ⁹ “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). ¹¹ Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks,and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

¹² When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” ¹³ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

Hey, little boy, what do you have there?

Well, I have five little loaves of bread and two small fish.

What do you have?

            Life

            Breath

            Some energy

            Some experience

            A heart to work

            A friend

            Desire

            Some faith

Many years ago, the Reverend Robert Schuller who some of you may remember from the television show Hour of Power and the Crystal Cathedral, landed at La Guardia Airport in New York. He went to the curb to catch a taxi.

As Pastor Schuller entered the cab, the cabbie greeted him. “Good morning. Pastor. Would like some water Do you have preference – New York Times or Wall Street Journal?”

Pastor Schuller was taken aback by this greeting. He noticed that this cab was unlike any New York cab he had ever been in. New York taxis do not have reputation for being friendly or clean.

After he took the water and paper, Pastor Shuller inquired, “How do you know me?”

“Well, Pastor, I have this job because of you. A few years ago I was sitting in my small apartment with my wife and three children. I was depressed and unemployed. I looked around my place and looked at my family. I turned on the television one Sunday morning and I flipped the channel and saw you preaching. You told the story of Jesus feeding five thousand people with the five loaves and two fish.  You talked about how the boy gave what he had.

Then you said, “What is in your hand?” 

I thought about that question, “What is in your hand? It kept running through my head. What do I have in my hand? Then I said to myself, “I have a driver’s license. I can drive! So Monday morning I went down to the taxi company and got a cab. I decided that moment to be the best cabbie in New York. That is why it so clean and I offer drinks and newspapers.”

What is in your hand?

Maybe you say, “The only thing I have is a little bit of faith.”

I have good news - a little bit of faith can do great things. Remember the words of Jesus?

Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for 

” (Matthew 17:20).

Even the little faith in God is a great thing in your hand.

It is not the size of your faith but who your faith is in that matters. When your faith is in the Creator, the Maker of Heaven and Earth you can do great things!

Do you know this great God? Have you made him your God?

Ronald Friesen © 2018

P.S. This is a message I gave at the Human Service Campus this morning to a congregation of homeless people.