It has been said that there are two kinds of people in this world. There are those who see life as a glass that is half empty and then there are those who see life as a glass that is half full. In the scripture readings for today, we discover that God does not fit into either of these molds. Instead, God always gives us abundantly more than we can ever ask or need. Even when we are complaining about what we have like the Israelites did in the wilderness and the disciples did with the prospect of feeding over five thousand with only five loaves and two fishes, the Lord God comes through as the generous provider.
In the Book of Nehemiah, after the renewal of the celebration of the Festival of the Booths, a day of fasting and repentance was declared for the Israelites. On that day, the Israelites separated themselves from the foreigners of whom they had married. This was a day of great weeping for many had inter-married; especially, those who had returned from exile in Babylon. Husbands and wives were separated from each other; and fathers and mothers from their children. For in order to have a pure people, set aside to serve the Lord, only those descendants of the house of Israel were allowed to remain together.
For those of us looking back through our modern lenses, this seems like a most cruel thing to do. The splitting up of families according to their blood line goes against our teachings of tolerance and respect for all peoples. Yet, in order for the bloodline of the Messiah to be re-established, the Israelites had to separate themselves from those who worshiped other gods. Only then, would the covenant of the Lord God and the house of Israel be re-established. In fact, the heads of the families of the Israelites had to sign a covenant with the Lord to re-confirm their commitment to God.
After the people had separated themselves from all the foreigners, Ezra, who was a Jewish priest and scribe, stood up in front of the people and prayed for God’s mercy and forgiveness for them. Ezra reminded the Lord God Almighty of God’s generous provisions for their ancestors in the wilderness after they had turned away from God to worship the gods of Egypt - in particular a golden calf. He retold the story of the Lord’s great mercies in the form of food, water, guidance and protection towards their ancestors. Ezra reminded the Lord with these words, “you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and you did not forsake them. Even when they had cast an image of a calf for themselves and said, “This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt”, and had committed great blasphemies, you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud that led them in the way did not leave them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night that gave them light on the way by which they should go. You gave your good spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and gave them water for their thirst.”
The Lord God had shown mercy to the people of Israel even though they had turned against Him. Because of His love for them, He provided them with more than enough to meet their needs. Even in the midst of a desolate wilderness, in the words of the psalmist, “mortals ate the bread of angels; he provided for them food enough.” Where there was no earthly provision, the Lord God generously provided for them.
The story of God’s provision in the wilderness was an important reminder for the exiles of Babylon who had returned to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. Through this story they were reminded of God’s abundant provision for them especially on a day of such sorrow for them. They were also strengthened in their faith to look to the Lord when the glass appears to be half full. For the Lord God took their half full glass and filled it to overflowing with His blessings. The house of Israel was re-established on earth as the sign of God’s abundant mercy and provision for those who honor and worship Him.
The story of God’s provision in the wilderness continues to be an important story for the Jewish people as well as for Christians of today. In the message of God’s generous provision we are given hope of the Lord’s forgiveness and mercies to us even when we fall away from the teachings of the Lord. Even when we become jobless and circumstances in our lives appear to be bleak and barren, the Lord God continues to be our Provider. All we have to do is seek the Lord and go to Him for help. Of God’s provision King David wrote, “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.”
In today’s gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus miraculously feeds over five thousand people with only five loaves and two fishes. The disciples are instructed by the Lord to feed them, but because of their lack of faith they cannot do it. In fact, they come to the Lord complaining that they only have “five loaves and two fishes”. Instead of walking away in disgust over the disciples’ lack of trust in Him, Jesus takes the small offering and with it proceeds to feed the multitude with twelve baskets of food left over. The twelve disciples saw the glass as half empty, but Jesus made the glass overflow with more than enough.
In our every day lives we are faced with many ups and downs. Jesus never promised us that being a Christian would be easy. He did promise to always be with us and to meet our every need with His abundant riches. This is because through Jesus Christ, we have access to the very throne of God our father.
Sadly, when our glass seems to be half empty or even empty, instead of remembering that God is our Provider and seeking His help; we allow the trials and tribulations in this world to overcome us. Yet, this is not what St. Paul teaches us. In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul writes, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,
‘For your sake we are being killed all day long;
we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
In more simple terms, God loves us, because God is love. God cannot stop being God, which means that God cannot stop loving us. Because God is Love, God cannot but help to provide for those who seek His face and ask Him for His help. One of God’s many names is Jehovah-Jireh, which means ‘the Lord will provide’.
God wants to help us, especially when we think we are down to nothing like the Israelites in the wilderness or when we believe that we have only a little to offer Him like the disciples did with the five loaves and two fishes. If we will only say yes to His great love for us, then we will see and know the abundance of God’s loving mercy and forgiveness for us as He more than meets our needs. May we no longer see our lives as glasses half empty or half full. May we begin to see and know that our lives are like glasses running over with God’s love.
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