One of the disciples – it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter – said, “There’s a little boy here who has five barely loaves and two fish. But that’s a drop in a bucket for a crowd like this”. … When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted”. They went to work and filled and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barely loaves.  (John 6: 8 – 9, 12 – 13)

A guy I know grew up believing his grandma was with Jesus when he fed the 5,000. He came to that belief  because whenever that particular gospel would be read, everyone in the family whispered, “Grandma musta’ been there!” And they would laugh.

They all knew that no matter how many people arrived for dinner – even unexpectedly – everyone ate and there was always plenty left over. “My family was never rich,” my acquaintance said, “especially when my mum was growing up, but they never felt poor, either.”

Some people have a sense of abundance, that there’s plenty of life to go around and they love to share what they have. Others are Scrooges who hoard everything, worrying that there can never be enough to satisfy. The apostles were skinflints when Jesus asked them to start offering what little they could muster. But then food started showing up, and everyone had plenty.

Some people in the church have those same attitudes about God’s grace. They believe that grace is so rare that we have to hoard it and dole it out piecemeal only to the most deserving. But others take their cue from Jesus, who fed the 5,000-plus on a moment’s notice: They realise that in God there is no skimping. The God who created the countless stars in the sky and who pours life into all Creation is no miser. Open your heart; there’s plenty for all.