Small Gifts, Great Grace: Discovering God’s Multiplying Love 

This week, Fr. Seb reflects on the Gospel of Matthew 14.13–21 exploring how Christ multiplies even our smallest offerings when they are given in love.Matthew 14.13-21

 
I’ve always found cards to be slightly complicated things to receive. A card sent at the right time, for a particular purpose, with a thoughtful and kind message, can be a wonderful thing to receive. And then there are the more routine kinds of cards – birthday cards, Christmas cards – they can, of course, be very nice, but sometimes receiving them can feel more like a social nicety rather than something heartfelt. And then there is the other complication – how long to leave them out for? Being a person who doesn’t like too much clutter, and not being the most sentimental type, I tend to take cards down fairly quickly.
 
But there was one card in the study of our previous house, which I kept out for years. The card itself was fairly ordinary. On it, though, were stickers of animals, and written on the front were the words, ‘Happy Birthday Daddy!’. It was a birthday card from my son Hugo. I imagine its tucked away somewhere since the recent move!
 
Its monetary value was low. But because of its meaning to me, it is in fact extremely precious. And here’s the point: love has a kind of multiplying effect. When given in love, things multiply – much more happens than what might immediately catch the eye.
 
We hear today the extremely well-known passage of the feeding of the five thousand – it is in fact the only miracle story mentioned in all four Gospels, and it was a scene that deeply affected the first Christians.
 
Jesus instructs the crowd to recline on the grass. And from the humble and meagre portion of five loaves and two fish, Jesus makes a meal that satisfies a very great gathering. I imagine the crowd would have been hungry, tired, worn out from their exertions, and yet Jesus gives them sustenance for the day.
 
What they had to offer seemed like very little, yet it fed the crowds. I wonder don’t we often find ourselves feeling as though we have little to offer in the service of Christ? Yet, when we offer the little we have in co-operation with God, the effects can be very large indeed. When we give, even what is small and basic, in true love, through the one who is love, it can have a profound, multiplying effect.
 
In fact, the fruit of many ministries take form from this simple principle – that when things are given in love they multiply. Over the course of my ministry, I can think of many examples. Most recently, though, the wonderful holiday club we ran this past week comes to mind. It did involve a huge amount of hard-work and planning (all before I began in post!) and hard-work from all the fantastic helpers throughout the week, but in essence we gave our time, care, and love to the children who came, and I am confident, seeds were sown which will multiply.
 
 A simple offering can produce something extraordinary. Something as simple as time, space, company, food, can have a profound effect when given in love. It can form new community gatherings; it can steer people away from loneliness and isolation and into the knowledge that they are loved – by us and more importantly by God.
 
And we see the power of this principle at work in what we are doing right now this morning, when we gather at the altar of the Lord in this holy meal of the Eucharist. Creation’s most basic gifts of humble bread and wine, when given to us in love by Christ, become that which is most precious and nourishing. Like the five thousand who gathered around Jesus, tired and searching for sustenance to see them through the day, we – in this Blessed Sacrament – are given sustenance for the journey.
 
The challenge, though, is this: as we receive the gift of Jesus in the sacrament how do we share this nourishment with others? How do we enable what we receive in love to continue to multiply?
 
A few thoughts come to mind. First, we must regularly come to receive this true food and true drink. That way, we ourselves, may be sustained and strengthened for the demands placed on us in the spiritual life. So come and receive.
 
Second, we must pay attention – especially to the small stuff. What do I mean by that? Well, I sometimes sense an anxiety in the Church to want to be seen to be busy – to be defined by what we are doing and what we are achieving. But the spiritual life does not work that way.
 
The kingdom of God so often begins not with the spectacular but with the small: a few loaves, two fish, a simple card, a quiet act of kindness, a listening ear, an invitation, a prayer faithfully offered. None of these may seem impressive in themselves, but in the hands of Christ, and when offered in love, they become the means by which God feeds, heals, and transforms his people.
 
‘Come, everyone who thirsts’, invites Isaiah. We come this day with whatever we have to offer—perhaps feeling that it is not enough. Yet Christ has never asked us to bring abundance; he asks only that we bring what we have and place it in his hands. For when things are given in love, they multiply.
 
So let us come to the altar this morning with thankful hearts. Receive the Bread of Life and go into the world ready to offer gifts of love, trusting that God will do with them far more than we can ever imagine.
 
Amen.