What Are You Doing With Your Tuna Fish...

Last night in our guys small group I led a discussion on John 6, specifically the first 15 verses where Jesus feeds several thousand people. As we talked and discussed and as I read the passage, a few thoughts occured to me. When Jesus confronts Phillip he doesn't ask whether or not they will be able to feed the crowd. He doesn't ask if it is possible or if they can afford it or if they are capable. He just asks how. It's not a matter of capability with Jesus. Immediately, though, that is Phillip's concern. He replies that eight months wages wouldn't even give everyone in the crowd one tiny nibble of food...Then as the disciples begin to brainstorm and problem-solve (or more likely talk about how Jesus once again could possibly be going insane), a little boy comes up and offers his five pieces of bread and two fish. I can see him trying to leave home with the crowd earlier in the day, eager to see what was going on and to watch what Jesus would do next, and his mother yelling at him as he ran out the door, "Don't forget your sack lunch!" Luckily, he didn't and here he offers all he has, albeit nto a whole lot...He hears the disciples discussing the perceived problem and Andrew sees him walk by and the boy offers up his two tuna-fish sandwiches...It wasn't much and sure wouldn't feed the crowd in his hands, but it was all he had.
The disciples then go to Jesus, almost ashamed of the little that they are able to come up with and offer. They even say, "Well, here's what we found Jesus, but it's not gonna' help." But they forgot something. They forgot that the tuna-fish sandwiches were no longer in the boys hands. They were no longer in the disciples hands. They were in Jesus' hands. And in Jesus' hands two tuna-fish sandwiches can feed THOUSANDS. And so Jesus blesses the food and they eat - They ALL eat - and the Bible says they eat until they are all so full that they cannot eat another bite! Wow! This story amazes me at what Jesus can do when we put what we have in his hands!
And then at the end of the story he instructs the disciples to go and gather the leftovers...And you know what? There were exactly 12 baskets of food left. Twelve "take home" boxes and twelve disciples. Coincidence? I don't think so. I think Jesus told them to pick up the leftovers becuase he knew exactly how much was left. He knew that each disciple would have enough left to take with them and eat on for a few days to come...And he knew that when they looked at that basket and ate of those leftovers that they would realize and remember the power of the One they were following. Each time they took a bite they would remember that when they saw the situation as impossible and they thought that they were not capable or couldn't do it, that Jesus just asked them how, not if. Jesus never asks if they can feed the hungry crowd, only how. He had the power to do it, he was just seeing if his disciples had come to the realization that with Jesus it is not a matter of if but how.
So what about you and I? What are our "tuna-fish sandwiches?" A little boy saw a huge dilemna and didn't say, "Well, this is all I've got...Too bad it won't help." No, he saw a need and he gave of what he had. And that is all God asks of us...He has gifted us with talents and abilties, and personalities, and possessions, and he says to us, "Will you put it back in my hands to be used to feed thousands?" We may look at our talent and see it as insignificant. We may look at our possessions and wealth and see it as small. We may look at what we can contribute with our hands and see it as too little to make a difference...But when we place those things in his hands, a couple tuna-fish sandwiches can feed the world. So what are you doing with your tuna-fish? In whose hands is it in?