Small Things Can Make a Big Difference

Blankets for foster children

The Rev. Kathi Johnson

C Lectionary 30 – 16 October 2016 – Stewardship #2

Text: John 6:1-13

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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Last week, our stewardship focus was on the call to be faithful stewards. This week, we focus on our call to be faithful in small ways, as a part of our overall stewardship of the gifts that God has given to us.

Our stewardship focus verse this week is contained within a larger story – a fairly well-known story – what we call the Feeding of the Five Thousand. This story is found in each of the four gospel books in the Bible – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Because all four of the gospel writers included it, we can assume that this story was important to the earliest Christians as they were beginning to share their favorite stories and sayings of Jesus.

Today's version of the story comes from the Gospel of John, and by chapter 6, Jesus is well into his time of public ministry, and he is well-known by the people. Our text today says: “A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.” This large crowd follows Jesus and his disciples to a mountain, and Jesus realizes that he’s dealing with a crowd of hungry people. Please remember that many of those who followed Jesus were poor – very poor – so poor that hunger was an almost-constant state for some of them.

“Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” Jesus asks Philip.

“Ummmm…..Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little!” Philip responds.

Then, Andrew sees this kid walking by – he has five barley loaves and two fish is all. Maybe he was taking these to his own family; whatever the case, Andrew sees these scant resources and points them out to Jesus, adding that he’s not sure they’ll be much good.

Unlike his disciples, who are focused on the lack of resources, Jesus is focused on the need of the people. They are hungry, and his desire is to feed them. So he receives this gift of five loaves and two fish, and he gives thanks for them, and then they begin to distribute the loaves and the fish. And there is enough for everyone to eat their fill, and there is enough even for twelve basketsful of leftovers.

And this, from five loaves and two fish.

Sometimes, the smallest things can make a big difference.

A spiritual practice that I have recently begun using is called the Examen, which comes to us from Jesuit spirituality. The Examen, as I use it, is a time of reflection at the end of the day. This reflection takes shape following these five steps:
·      Gratitude
·      Review
·      Sorrow
·      Forgiveness
·      Grace

As I spend this time each evening thinking back over my day, it is often the littlest things that reflect God’s grace upon grace – a smile from someone, a kind word given or received, a short moment of beauty as the sun rises or sets, a line from a song or a hymn.

Taking the time to think through my days in this way is helping me to realize again and again how the small things can make the biggest difference. Have you ever gotten a little pebble stuck in your shoe? The small things can make a big difference. Have you ever gotten a nice note from someone on your poopiest day? The small things can make a big difference.

The same principle works here at Our Redeemer. We’re small, but we make a big difference. Since I’ve begun my ministry here, we’ve contributed to the ELCA’s malaria initiative, an initiative that has significantly reduced malaria in African nations. We’ve made health kits and school kits that have gone all over the world. We’ve made blankets that are given to foster children. Maybe one blanket doesn’t seem like a big deal – until you think about the foster child who receives that blanket as a gift and something to call their very own.

We’re small, but we make a big difference. We’ve given tithes off our yard sales to our sister congregations who are facing huge struggles. Let me tell you – even if the dollar amounts we’ve given are not huge, these congregations and their pastors know that the members and friends of Our Redeemer in Grand Prairie are with them, that we are their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Whether in our daily lives, or in our life together as a congregation, God can take every small thing and make a big difference. That’s why it’s so important for us to be faithful not only in big ways, but in small ways, too. Thinking back to our Gospel lesson – if Andrew had not noticed that kid with the loaves and the fish, and had not offered those to Jesus as an option for feeding the crowd, then that small gift wouldn’t have been used to feed all those people.

You have a green post-it note this week, and on it, I’d like you to answer the following question: What small things have you seen make a big difference? When you’re done, please take them to the large sheets on the wall.

Let us give thanks to God for every gift – both big and small – and for God’s loving care for us through these gifts. And let us be faithful in every way – both in big ways and in small ways, realizing that God can use every bit of faithfulness to show his grace and love to all the world.

Amen.

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