Author: Meredith Lovell Keseley
This week as many of us our just gearing up for our Thanksgiving feasts, the Washington Post reported some unsettling news. They reported on a new federal report “which shows that nearly 50 million people — including almost one child in four — struggled last year to get enough to eat.” (View the complete article here.) The report put the feasting that will take place next week into perspective. Many of us, myself included, will indulge in too much turkey along with an extra helping of mashed potatoes or pumpkin pie. At the same time, though, there will be others in our communities whose stomachs will be growling. Food will be on everyone’s mind. Some will think about the abundance of it on their table while others will think of the scarcity of it in their stomachs.
As Christians around the country gather for worship this Thanksgiving, their scripture text will be from Matthew’s gospel. Christians will hear Jesus say, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
Do not worry about what we will eat or what we will drink. Is Jesus serious? How can we not worry about what we will eat this time of year? How can we not concern ourselves with the disparity between the feasting and the hungry? How can we not be anxious about food, whether it is about how much or how little of it will be on our tables, especially at a time like this? On the one hand, Jesus seems to have never tried to host 25 people for Thanksgiving dinner. On the other hand, he seems to have never experienced real physical hunger. We know that at times like these, food is one everyone’s mind.
Worry, Jesus suggests, is not the answer. Worry won’t make the turkey cook faster. Worry won’t stretch the bowl of mashed potatoes so that they make it the whole way around the table. Worry won’t fill hungry stomachs.
God, on the other hand, is the answer. God will provide. God will provide in moments of abundance and God will provide in moments of scarcity. For those with abundance, God will provide opportunities for sharing. For those experiencing hunger, God will provide opportunities to be fed. And, in the end, God will provide a banquet feast where all will have a place and all will have plenty.
Worry won’t get us anywhere this holiday season, but action will. Our action of giving to and receiving from one another, sharing in moments of feasting and in moments of scarcity with one another, will get us somewhere. So, too, will God’s action in the world, bringing about God’s kingdom and that day when all will be fed.
Image by Mr. T in DC (rights)
