Longer study: a good steward, a boy filled by emptying “A steward is a ruler and servant, one who exists to please his master.” Who is our first good steward, besides Jesus? Our first good steward is the emptiest, the boy who carries two small fish and five small barley loaves to his Master, Jesus.
“…Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up ‘Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?’” John 6:9 Barley is the poorest of breads. Those who could afford no other grain eat bread made of barley. This boy is probably about eight to ten years in age. He is nameless, and probably from a poor family. But he has existed in the narrative for over a thousand years because he represents what all stewards should be: empty of self, childlike in faith and obedience, a servant of a master. Our boy carries his little with him. Yet he gives all: his food; his love and his joy. He sees Jesus and gives to him. He empties himself. Why? And how does his emptiness feed us? First, let’s look at the disciples. Before the boy comes forward Philip says: “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite.” Then Andrew speaks (another but) “…but how far will they (the boy’s food) go among so many?” Earlier the twelve came as a group to Jesus and asked him to send the crowd away so the people (five thousand men) could find food. They see the impossibilities: a remote place; a large and hungry crowd; the lack of bread (Mark 6:35). They see massive disappointment coming. Children see the world with a Godly innocence that enables them to behold wonder in the ordinary: wonder in two fish, in small five barley loaves. Anticipating the wonder of being close to Jesus and the expectation of greater wonders to come, our nameless boy comes forward. We know little about him. Did he have a parent with him? Maybe a
sibling, friends or family? Why did he come… to see healing; to hear about God’s coming kingdom? (Matthew 14:14). All we know of him is this: he empties himself fully and freely with expectation and excitement about what Jesus will do. Most understand being empty as being or having nothing. In this context emptiness is a static, poor position. But this is not Christian emptiness. Christian emptiness is a dynamic, ebbing and flowing, regenerating condition. By giving all away, our boy is filled: he is no longer limited by his possession, his small basket. Jesus will fill him. Expectations fill him; wonder fills him; hope ─ biblical hope ─ fills him. When we give what we have away, dynamite happens. And this is dynamite that builds, feeds and multiples. Emptiness is hope. The word ‘hope’ in the Greek means not what we think of hope being today, a possibility. In the Greek the word originally means the certainty of what will happen: not might, but will. We see this view of hope clearly stated by the Apostle Paul in Romans 4:18-20. Abraham has been promised that he will have a child in his extreme old age. Here is hope defined:
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 18
Abraham is like both the disciples and our little boy. Like the disciples he sees the impossibility of his situation: old; a dying body; a dead womb. And yet, ‘…he did not waver in unbelief… Against all hope… in hope.’ Abraham believed he would have a little boy. He was certain that God would fill his empty deadness with wonder. He becomes a little boy, rich in faith and hope. Jesus fills all in the feeding of the five thousand men, countless women and children: ‘…all ate and were satisfied.’ Luke 9:17. Our boy was filled with imaginative faith of what his Saviour would do for him and others around him. In the multiple leftovers ─ twelve baskets of broken bread ─ there is the promise of more to come. Emptiness is not a static deadness in this context; but the possibility of multiple riches, and overflowing. The apostle Paul closes a section of his letter to the church at Corinth about being filled, ‘…because of the surpassing gift God his given you. Thanks are to God for his indescribable gift!’ 2 Corinthians 9:15. Jesus is this indescribable, overflowing gift.
By emptying himself, our boy becomes a steward who assists his master as the master multiplies without limit. His story of the loaves and the fishes fills all four gospels. What an indescribable gift. Stewardship PO Box 99, Loughton, Essex IG10 3QJ t 020 8502 5600 e: enquiries@stewardship.org.uk w: www.stewardship.org.uk Stewardship is the operating name of Stewardship Services (UKET) Limited, a registered charity no. 234714, and a company limited by guarantee no. 90305, registered in England Š Copyright Stewardship 2013