Look at this verse from the gospel reading for today. “Taking the five loaves and the two fish, [Jesus] looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all” (Mark 6:41). After Jesus blessed and broke the bread he had the disciples pass the food out among the crowd. Luke tells the same story in very similar language (Luke 9:16). But in the book of Acts—also written by the author of Luke—we find that serving food has taken on a different perspective. After complaints arise about certain widows not getting as much food as others, the twelve—also known as the apostles—say, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables (or keep accounts)” (Acts 6:2b).
Now we should note that in the gospels the term disciple does not always refer specifically to one the twelve. But notice how some of the individuals who distributed food for Jesus were later so focused on spiritual matters that they were not able to minister in that way for the early church. As the title of this posting implies, I may be the only person to find this at all interesting. But here’s what I think this development in the role of discipleship has to say to us today. What you and I are called to do one day may not be the thing we are needed to do on another day.
I understand that Walt Disney was very concerned that the special effects in his movies not become predictable or stale. “Change the trick,” he would say, “before folks catch on.” For very different reasons what I have to offer the church has changed over the years. I have grown and matured and could not remain president of the youth group forever. Instead I have worked or volunteered as a youth leader, church secretary, substitute sexton, Sunday School teacher, committee member, co-pastor, pastor, interim pastor… you get the idea. At times I have been needed to pass out the food, but at other times I have had to let someone else wait tables while I took on other responsibilities. For all of us, a willingness to do what is needed, to use our talents to their best effect, is essential to a meaningful journey of faith.
Prayer: Lord, help us to serve you as we are needed. Do not allow our resistance to change hamper our faithfulness, but open our eyes to the new things you are doing and the ways we can participate. Amen.
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