Big challenges? Bring them to Jesus!

Welcome to “Word from The Center” MONDAY, a devotional word from the Center of our faith, Jesus Christ, with reflections on His Word. I’m Gregory Seltz. Today’s verses are Matthew 14:15-21, where the Bible says,

[15] As evening approached, the disciples came to Jesus and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

[16] Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

[17] “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

[18] “Bring them here to me,” he said.

[19] And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

[20] They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

[21] The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Every year, Americans spend about five hundred million dollars on Twinkies. Yes, TWINKIES! Those golden, cream-filled cylinder cakes are still around. To me, they really taste good with a hot cup of coffee when traveling. I fill up with gas on the way to the next speaking engagement, run into the “icehouse,” buy that coffee, AND chase it down with a Twinkie. Now, I realize that they have NO nutritional value. I also realize that a diet of Twinkies will “do me in” in the end. And yet, five hundred million dollars a year! Why do we do it? I can hear you telling me the truth, “Dr. Seltz, you’ve got to eat better than that!” And you’d be right! But they are hard to resist.

500 million dollars seems like a lot, but it’s nothing compared to the $16 billion dollars that we spend on chocolate annually. And that’s nothing compared to the $117,000,000,000 that we Americans spend on fast food every year. That’s a lot of zeros isn’t it? So, follow the money. Yet we’ve got to face facts. We are a people who tend to hunger for all the wrong things. If it tastes good, we eat it, even if it’s bad for us. It seems that we have an appetite that forfeits what is really needed for healthy minds and bodies. But today’s Bible passage goes much further than that. Today Jesus himself reminds us that we are sinful people who don’t just crave “junk food” physically; we’ve also got an insatiable appetite for “spiritual junk food!”

We crave the latest and the greatest things of this world, even though they will always let us down in the end. We hope that they might fill our lives, maybe even our hearts and souls too. We have access to information from around the world. Every year it’s the latest TV, I-Phone, or computer. This year some of you might be willing to trade in your car, your job, or even your spouse and family for one of those! But the “next thing” is not the solution, nor is it really the problem. The problem is who we are without God. The solution is who we are with Him in our lives.

We're spiritually hungry because we are meant to have a relationship with God. That’s what really matters. It’s not our “hunger” that’s the problem; it’s the SPIRITUAL JUNK FOOD WE CONSUME that will eventually consume us! When faced with the big challenges in life, don’t look for quick fixes or easy changes. No, look to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the one not only calling us to a relationship with Him as central to our lives, but the one who himself is the “Bread of Life” that sustains and empowers our lives now and forever. Bring your problems, your struggles, even your sins to the one who still meets you, forgives you, and sustains you with His Eucharistic meal where He comes in/with/under the bread and wine to you for your very life and salvation.

In Matthew chapter 14, Jesus challenges the disciples to see their great problem in feeding all of those people as a faith challenge. Yes, we have physical hunger pangs that need to be filled. But, more importantly, we have spiritual hunger pangs that are only filled by faith in the one who not only can feed thousands with fish and loaves, but one who creates and sustains our life-changing faith in Him through His gifts of Word and Sacraments. When faced with big challenges in this “physical” world, remember that the Lord of heaven and earth is your Creator and Redeemer. He is the one who cares for you.