My daughter, Jessica, loves to share. After all, she’s two-and-a-half.
Okay, well…sometimes she loves to share.
On one such occasion, while I was sitting on the couch working on my husband’s laptop, Jessica came into the room carrying her Happy Meal box. My husband had taken the kids with him while he ran errands so that I could get some things done around the house, and he’d taken them to McDonald’s for supper. Jessica climbed up beside me on the couch and handed me a ketchup packet. “Do you want to share these with me?” she asked.
“Sure,” I said, wanting to encourage her spirit of sharing. Jessica patted the red box with the golden arch handles and said, “Actually, you can share all of this with me.” She began taking the parts of her meal out of the box and placing them between us on the couch.
Her sweet spirit of sharing reminded me of a certain little boy sitting in the crowd listening to Jesus preach. Lunchtime came, and everybody was hungry. Nobody had brought anything to eat except this one little boy. And he shared the whole thing—his entire lunch.
Usually, when we think about this story, the focus is on Jesus and the great miracle He performed with the itty-bitty lunch. It’s always right to focus on Jesus; in fact, there’s no more worthy object of our attention. But I think we often miss the fact that this little boy shared. He offered what he had. There was no way he could have known what Jesus was about to do. But he shared anyway.
It’s a simple point, I know. It’s not terribly theologically profound. But it matters.
If we would all be as willing to share as the little boy was, or as Jessica was that time she sat beside me, this world would be very different. So would our churches. So would our families. But it’s hard to let go of our free time, our sleep, or our extra money. It’s especially hard to let go of our “right” to have things our way and concede that right to others, letting them have things their way.
What’s hardest for you to share? I know that for me, the answer depends on when you ask. Sometimes, I’m selfish about giving up sleep. Sometimes, I want to hang onto my rights. Please don’t misunderstand me; we aren’t supposed to say “yes” to every opportunity to give of ourselves. There are times when it’s our time to act, and other times when it isn’t. But when it is our time, we need to be willing to share what we have for the benefit of others.
Even if what we have is only an itty-bitty lunch. Or a Happy Meal.
Mark 6:38—“How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
Matthew 10:8—Freely you have received, freely give.