Contemplative Bible Reading

Luke 9:12-13a (New Living Translation)

12 Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place.”

13 But Jesus said, “You feed them.”

This is part of the (hi)story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with only five loaves and two fish. Let’s focus on the preliminary conversation.

The disciples, faithful and good servants, come to Jesus and tell Jesus of the obvious predicament. There are thousands of folks here with no food. Those folks were listening to Jesus.

Obvious suggestion, “At the end of the sermon, dismiss the crowd and tell them to go elsewhere for food as there is none here.”

Obvious reply, “We are here, now. Let us minister here, now.”

Yeah, but, some short-term work won’t solve the long-term problem. Let’s have an after action review to figure out how to do these sermons-in-the-wilderness events so we don’t have this problem and then we can…

We are here, now. How can I minister to others here, now? How can I serve others here, now? There are needs here, now. God put me here, now. Let me be like Christ here, now.