Putting Prayer Into Loving Action

Through your experiences as a leader, whether it be in your work, as a parent, or through your involvement in the community, you have a sense of what makes a good leader. Because of your experiences, you know there are different ways to define, think about, and approach leadership.

Some say a leader is one who influences and advances change for a more equitable world. Others say that a leader is anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes and has the courage to develop that potential (Brené Brown). Regardless of your definition, what you think about leadership informs your practice of leadership.

Mother Teresa said, “At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by ‘I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked, and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.’”

Regardless of your understanding of leadership, at the end of life you will be judged by the love you have expressed, the relationships you have developed, and the community you have nourished.

In his story of feeding the 5000, Luke gives us a glimpse of what leadership looks like in the community. In fact, he gives us direction on what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

Read: Luke 9:12-17

¹²When the day was almost over, the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so that they can go to the nearby villages and countryside and find lodging and food, because we are in a deserted place.” ¹³He replied, “You give them something to eat.” But they said, “We have no more than five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴(They said this because about five thousand men were present.) Jesus said to his disciples, “Seat them in groups of about fifty.” ¹⁵They did so, and everyone was seated. ¹⁶He took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them, and broke them and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. ¹⁷Everyone ate until they were full, and the disciples filled twelve baskets with the leftovers.

Reflect on Luke 9:12-17

In Luke’s story, the crowd has been with Jesus all day. It is now late, and the people are hungry. The disciples have a humanitarian concern for the hungry and the homeless. They want to do what is humanly possible to assist the people. So, they suggest it is better to dismiss the crowd. “Send the crowd away so that they can go to the nearby villages and countryside and find lodging and food…”

The disciples are well-intentioned in their concern, but Jesus sees the situation differently. He responds, “You give them something to eat.”

Scarcity or Abundance?

The disciples reply out of scarcity, “We have no more than five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all these people.” They said this because about five thousand men were present and they are thinking of what they don’t have.

Jesus responds out of what they have. He instructs them to seat the people in groups of fifty. When the people are seated, Jesus takes the five loaves of bread and the two fish, looks up to heaven, blesses them, breaks them, and gives them to the disciples to serve to the crowd.

As Jesus takes, blesses, breaks, and gives, he includes the disciples in the giving. As he prays, he includes his followers in the action. Throughout The Acts of the Apostles, God’s love and care for people is implemented by the acts of the followers of Jesus.

Feeding the Multitude

The number “five thousand” shows how great the miracle is. The term “men” represents a picture in which only adult males would leave home without provisions for an extended time in order to hear Jesus. In Matthew, the words “besides women and children,” states it in an exclusive sense to enhance the miracle.

“In groups of fifty” reflects the organization of Israel during the exodus and wilderness period, the “wandering people of God” on their way to the promised land. Luke portrays the life of both Jesus and the church as a journey and refers to the saving work of Jesus as “exodus.”

The words “took”, “blessed”, “broke”, and “gave” reflect the liturgical formula used in holy communion. They reflect the language of the liturgy of the Lord’s Table. The feeding of the 5000 is told as a Lord’s Supper story.

Jesus took and blessed the loaves and fish. Early in the Christian movement, fish became the symbol of the Christian faith. The ichthus says who we are and what we believe. Bread became the symbol of the body of Jesus. So, Jesus takes, blesses, breaks, and gives, he includes the disciples in the giving. Jesus put prayer and action together.

The Sacred Act of Feeding People

Luke takes the sacred act of Holy Communion and places it in the story of feeding hungry people. Could it be that feeding the hungry, in the sight of God, is as sacred as Holy Communion?

The prophet Isaiah wrote, “True expression of one’s love for God is the sharing of one’s bread with the poor.”

Is there a connection between the Lord’s Supper and our engagement in the community? Is there a sacredness in loving, feeding, clothing, and housing people?

So, we get a sense of the church’s mission of feeding the hungry as a continuation of Jesus’ ministry and an anticipation of the kingdom of God for which we pray, “…Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…”

Putting prayer into loving action is what it means to be a leader in the community, whether it be the church or the city or neighborhood in which you live. When you pray and respond in acts of love, you are being who you were created to be. Who you are is how you lead.

Respond to Luke 9

Luke tells the story of feeding the 5000 is told as a Lord’s Supper story. He makes a connection between Holy Communion and engagement in the community. Just as taking the bread and cup is done in remembrance of Jesus, your ministry in the community is done in remembrance of Jesus. Your ministry in the community is just as sacred as taking the bread and cup.

Holy Communion represents the greatest expression of God’s love for God’s people. Your leadership in the community is an expression of that same love.

Many Jesus followers do not understand community engagement as sacred work. Why? Because our understanding of leadership is informed mostly by what we have seen or experienced. Most of us have not experienced engagement in the community as an expression of God’s love.

God’s Love in Human Form

We are involved in the community. We are invested in what happens in the community. We are directly involved in direct service, community organizing, and social responsibility, but too often, we do not make the connection of our involvement and as an expression of God’s love…God’s love in human form.

As followers of Jesus, we have the opportunity to lead out of the core of who we are, children of God, loved by God, and sent out to love others as God has loved us. Within the church community, God’s love is expressed in and through the sacrament of Holy Communion.

In the larger community, God’s love is expressed in and through acts of love, care, and compassion…in remembrance of Jesus. Just as the bread and fish were woven into the feeding the 5000, God’s expression of love is woven into the fabric of service, organizing, and responsibility through each of us as individuals and as a church.

Community of Belonging

People and communities are important to God. It is in community that people experience love and belonging. It is in participating in a community that attitudes, values, and goals are established to enjoy and fulfill life.

A true community does not treat people differently because of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or background. People are cared for and belong because the expression of God’s love is as sacred in the community as Holy Communion in the church.

What could happen if you held loving your neighbor and caring for your community as sacred as receiving the body and blood of Jesus?

Return

Give God thanks for the people you met today. Where did you experience God’s love? With whom did you share God’s love? How did you experience the sacredness of Holy Communion? How did you interact with others? Did you hold them in the sacredness of God’s love? Who is helping you grow as a leader? What will you do differently tomorrow? Ask God to give you the faith to be the leader God has created you to be.