Changing the Distribution System

Last Sunday, I preached about changing the distribution system. The gospel text for Sunday was Matthew 14:13-21, the story about the feeding of 5000 people. As I read this story, I realized that when the disciples began to panic, "How could we possibly feed all those people? We don't have enough!" that Jesus did not panic with them. Jesus did not give them a pep talk about doing the best they could with what they had. Jesus did not form a committee to try to collect all the food that anyone else might have brought. Jesus did not even perform a miracle and turn rocks into bread or grass into fish. Jesus simply blessed what they had and asked them to distribute it. And there was enough.

As we look at the state of our world today, we see 20% of the world's population (980 million people) living on less than $1 a day and we ask ourselves, "How can we possibly feed all those people? We don't have enough!" But maybe the truth is that we do have enough. Could it be possible that God gave us enough to feed the world? Maybe the problem is that God put us in charge of the distribution system.

One little boy that I read about, Drew Friend, changed the distribution system in his town. You can read about it at Drew's Big Give. I started trying to think of other ways that we can begin to change the distribution system. Here are some of my initial thoughts:

• Donate food regularly to a local food pantry. And not just a couple of leftover things from the pantry, but a bag or two of real food from the grocery store. (For those of you at St. Martin's, you can bring it to church on Sunday and we'll get it to SPAN for you).
  
  
• Buy a backpack full of school supplies and bring them to your local elementary school. I'm sure that children will arrive at school with nothing and the teachers will know who needs it.
  
  
• Support a child's education in Haiti. For $160 a child gets tuition and meals for an entire year. That's so cheap! Contact the front office if you want to support a child.
  

Who has other ideas about changing the distribution system? Post some comments, I'd like to learn from you.