Little Is Much When God Is in It

Matthew 14:13–21

There is a question that does not always get spoken out loud, but it sits quietly in the background of almost every life. It shows up when the bills are due and the paycheck is already spent. It shows up when the strength in your body feels like it is running out before the day is over. It shows up when the pantry is thin, the future is uncertain, and the needs are greater than what you have in your hands. And in those moments, whether we admit it or not, the question rises in the heart: “Will there be enough?” Enough money to make it through the month. Enough strength to face what is coming tomorrow. Enough food for the table tonight. Enough faith to hold on when everything feels uncertain. That question is not new. It is as old as human need itself. It runs like a thread through Scripture, and it runs just as deeply through our own lives. I remember first hearing that question—not in words, but in life itself.I remember first hearing that question—not in words, but in life itself. Growing up in the hills of West Virginia, our family numbered nine altogether. My father’s wages from the local sawmill were never quite enough for a family that size. We were not wealthy. There were days when the cupboard looked very bare. And yet… we were never abandoned. Somehow, our needs were met. Looking back now, I can see the hand of God’s providence working quietly through the resourcefulness of my parents and through the generosity of His creation. We gathered apples, walnuts, and berries from the abandoned “Old Maid Farm” above our house. We planted vegetables in vacant lots around the village and behind our little church. We picked up coal that had spilled from railroad cars. And on occasion, we found wild honey hidden in the woods. None of it looked like very much. And yet somehow… there was enough. God provided through willing hands, open eyes, and grateful hearts. And when I think back on those years, one simple sentence seems to say it all:And when I think back on those years, one simple sentence seems to say it all: Little is much when God is in it. That same truth is what we find unfolding in today’s Gospel lesson. Jesus has just received the heartbreaking news of John the Baptist’s death. Seeking a quiet place, He crosses the Sea of Galilee. But the crowds follow Him on foot. And instead of turning them away, Matthew tells us that Jesus is moved with compassion. He heals their sick. He welcomes them. He teaches them. But as evening comes, another need rises before them. Thousands of hungry people. One lonely hillside. Very little food. The disciples look at the situation and do what most of us would do. “Lord, send them away.” In other words: “We don’t have enough.”“We don’t have enough.” And humanly speaking, they were right. Five loaves. Two fish. Five thousand men, besides women and children. The numbers simply do not add up. But Jesus is never limited by what does not add up in human terms. He simply says, “Bring them here to Me.” That may be the most important sentence in the whole story. Bring your little… to Jesus. Bring your worries… to Jesus. Bring your family… to Jesus. Bring your brokenness… to Jesus. Bring your limited resources…Bring your limited resources… to Jesus. Bring your uncertain future… to Jesus. Because what is insufficient in our hands becomes more than enough in His. That truth is repeated again and again throughout Scripture. Moses had only a shepherd’s staff. David had only a sling. The widow had only a little flour and a little oil. The little boy had only five loaves and two fish. None of them had very much. But every one of them discovered the same reality: God specializes in using small things to accomplish great purposes. Many years ago, Kittie Suffield expressed that truth in a simple gospel song many of us know well: “Little is much when God is in it; Labor not for wealth or fame. There’s a crown—and you can win it, If you’ll go in Jesus’ name.” Those words are more than a hymn. They are the message of this miracle.They are the message of this miracle. Notice what Jesus does with the bread. He takes it. He looks toward heaven. He blesses it. He breaks it. And He gives it to the disciples to distribute. Those four actions are not accidental. He took. He blessed. He broke. He gave. And later in Matthew’s Gospel, in an upper room in Jerusalem, Jesus will do the same again. He will take bread. He will bless it. He will break it. And He will give it, saying, “This is my body given for you.”The miracle on the hillside is pointing forward. It points to the Cross. It points to this Table. It points to Christ Himself, the Bread of Life. And there is something else we must not miss. The bread was blessed before it was broken. And only after it was broken did it become food for the multitude. Let me repeat that….Only after it was broken did it become food for the multitude. The same is true of our Savior. His body was broken so that the world might live. And if we are honest, many of God’s greatest works in our own lives have come through the same experience of being broken… Some of us have been broken by grief. Other—broken by illness. Some by disappointment. Others by failure. And yet God has a way of taking broken lives and making them vessels of His grace.Broken bread feeds hungry people. Broken Christians often become the most compassionate servants of Christ. Finally, when everyone had eaten and was satisfied, Jesus told the disciples to gather what remained. Twelve baskets full. Isn’t that just like God? They began with almost nothing. They ended with more than they started. That is the arithmetic of grace. God does not merely add. He multiplies. Today we come to another table. Unlike that hillside, this table does not offer ordinary bread alone. It points us to the Bread of Heaven. And most of us come carrying something that feels too small. Perhaps your strength feels too small. Perhaps your faith feels too weak.Perhaps your resources feel too limited. Perhaps your hope feels worn thin. Bring it to Jesus. That is all He asks. He does NOT ask if we have enough. He only asks that we place in His hands what we HAVE. As a little boy in West Virginia, I watched God provide through apples and walnuts, coal along a railroad track, vegetables from a borrowed garden, and honey from the woods. As an old pastor, I have watched Him provide through many other acts of grace: His forgiveness, faithful friends, loving wife, answered prayers, and sometimes through a broken body or even a broken spirit. The methods have changed. The Provider has not. Jesus is still here. Jesus still takes what we have. Jesus still gives it to us. And it is enough, praise and glory be to him forevermore. Amen. So as we come to this Communion Table today, let us come with empty hands and trusting hearts. For the One who fed the multitude still feeds His people. The One who multiplied loaves still multiplies grace.The One who multiplied loaves still multiplies grace. The One who satisfied hungry crowds still satisfies hungry souls. And His message to every one of us remains the same: Bring it to Me. For it is still wonderfully true— Little is much when God is in it.