The word “Christian” was originally a derogatory term that the Romans used those who followed Jesus. It means, basically, “Little Christlings.” It would have been said with a sneer. 

The early Jesus followers just called themselves “People of the Way.” But after a years of being derided as “Little Christlings” they took the term and claimed it for themselves, saying “You know what? We are Little Christlings, thank you very much.” As one early church leader said, “Through Christ, the divine became human so that humanity could become divine.” But if this is what you’re truly after, to not just worship Jesus as the Christ but to actually allow Jesus to lead you to becoming more Christ-like, to awaken and share the Christhood in you, well, prepare for an adventure, and prepare to get schooled, with grace. 

The famous story of the loaves & the fishes starts with Jesus’ inner group of followers coming back after their first foray into trying out what it’s like to be “Little Christlings.” They had been drawn to Jesus out of their own yearning to know God, their yearning to be healed, their yearning to be made whole, their yearning for a more just and holy and peaceable way of life in the midst of what is so often is a very hard world. Jesus taught them, Jesus helped them heal, Jesus opened their minds, and hearts, and souls. And before very long, Jesus empowered them with the holy spirit to go off on their own, in pairs, to do the same for others – to teach them about the reality of God’s love, to heal them, to help open their minds and hearts and souls. So the disciples got their first chance at being Little Christlings. 

They did pretty good. But what they immediately found was the tremendous hunger among their people – the yearning, the heart hurt, the soul need, the desperate desire for a shred of hope. And when they came back to Jesus, they were exhausted. They hadn’t even had time to eat.

Jesus told them, “Okay, my Little Christlings, let’s get away and get some rest.”

So they got into a boat and set out for a nice spot out of town for a snack and a nap. 

But people saw them, and their hungering and yearning and desiring for God was so great that thousands of people ended up seeking them out in their little retreat spot in the wilderness. Jesus was moved by compassion for them. Without a moment’s hesitation, he sat down and taught them. 

Now, remember his disciples, the Little Christlings, were already spent – they were tired, they were hungry, they were wrung out. And here Jesus had promised them rest only to sit down with these needy people, for hours. These people weren’t just needy, they were greedy! 

We could imagine the disciples were like, “Jesus Christ! What are you doing? We’re supposed to be getting some rest out here. Oprah said we should take more time for self-care.”

So, they said to Jesus “Look, what you’re doing is great; we support you. But it’s getting late and everyone’s hungry. We’re in the middle of nowhere. You gotta close up the Jesus show for the day and send everyone back to town to get a bite to eat.”

But Jesus says, “No, they’re staying; I’m staying. And it’s up to you to feed them.”

  Notice he didn’t say, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. Time for a famous miracle.” No, instead, he puts it to his Little Christlings to dig deep and care for the situation.

But there’re not feeling like being Little Christlings anymore. They haven’t had their snack or their nap.

“Are you kidding? We can’t afford to feed five thousand people! They can take care of themselves. It’s on them if they didn’t bring along something to eat. 

“And who are they to expect us to feed them? Meals weren’t included in the cost of this seminar. As a matter of fact, they didn’t pay anything for this, or even rsvp – we didn’t even invite them in the first place.

“And don’t, Jesus just don’t get started on the injustices of poverty and how large land owners fueled by Roman capital are dispossessing the Galilean peasant class;es we don’t want to hear about the rising rates of kids on free and reduced lunch in public schools in a nation where we throw out 60 million tons of fresh food every year, or about rising food prices outpacing wages while corporate profits skyrocket, or about climate change inducing famine in the global south; and, Jesus, don’t get started on your whole shtick about giving to anyone who asks, and about how the hungry shall be fed, and the meek shall inherit the earth. 

“Look, Jesus, there just comes a time when people gotta take personal responsibility.”

And Jesus is like *sigh. “Just show me how much food you’ve got.” 

Turns out they’ve got five loaves and two fishes.

He takes a loaf and the blesses it and he breaks it and he gives it to the people. 

In this way, five whole loaves in one person’s hands become ten broken pieces in ten people’s hands. And those ten then take and bless and break and eat and share those pieces with their neighbors. Those neighbors take and bless and break and eat and share those pieceswith their neighbors. And so on through the crowd … and in the taking and the blessing and the breaking and the eating and the sharing, what seems at first to be dividing in fact multiplies. And everyone, everyone, in their hunger, their yearning, their need is fed. 

In my family at Christmas time when the Swedish traditions come out, someone will remind everyone the secret to Jesus’ miracle of the loaves and the fishes. It was lutefisk on rye. Everyone lost their appetite. Not hungry anymore. 

But the real secret here is that gifts that are shared out of blessing and gratitude multiply rather than divide. The economy of God’s grace is not an economy of scarcity but rather of abundance. This is the true nature of God’s Creation.

When we appreciate this and come to God out of our hunger, our yearning, our hurt, our need, our humility;

when – to our relief, to our delight – we are fed; 

when we allow our hearts to open in gratitude with the blessing of what we receive,

then we discover an ease in ourselves to giving to those who come to us in their hunger, their yearning, their hurt, their need. 

We become a little more like Little Christlings, with the heart of Christ that takes and blesses and breaks and gives.

And, yes, it is okay to eat snacks and take naps along the way. 

(Delivered Sunday, November 2022, by Rev. Nathaniel Mahlberg at the United Church of Christ at Valley Forge)

Image: The Lord’s Supper by Fritz Eichenberg