That's a helpful message, and true in many cases. But the more pressing message of this passage focuses on God. God can do a great deal with a little bit. It focuses on Jesus as source of rest, leadership, and nourishment. Church suppers bless food that is present and waiting on the table. Jesus' supper blesses food that is not present and still satisfies the hunger of an overflow crowd. I've never felt the compulsion to demystify the miracle stories. I have no desire to demote this miracle to a "See what happens when we all share" motif. I think it's more of a "See what happens with a little when the power of God is behind it." With age has come a degree of wisdom. I now realize how little one person can accomplish in the big scheme of things. This is liberating knowledge. I also realize how important that little bit can be. That is motivating knowledge. That is the work of God.
Jesus blesses, not several tables groaning under the weight of the bounty we have prepared and brought, but five loaves and two fish. Jesus' version of a church supper—this "Lord's Supper"—is a demonstration of grace: God doing in and through us things we could not do on our own steam; God moving mountains with faith the size of a grain of mustard seed.
"Cast down your bucket where you are" may help us discover resources we didn't realize were present in our situations and in us. "Cast down your bucket where you are" is sure to help us discover the presence and power of God at the depths of our experience. This is the Lord's Supper, not just another church supper. Cast down your bucket where you are.
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