When they had all had enough to eat, He said to His disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. John 6:12-13
“The economics that Christian hospitality seeks to embody, then, is marked by abundance, surplus, excess, and surprise. In the Gospel accounts of the feedings of the fish and loaves, there are always baskets left over. An uncalculating generosity characterizes these feasts.
At this point, however, some nagging questions persist. Isn’t it actually the case that there is not abundance? People go hungry and homeless. Increasingly, people are working longer hours just to make ends meet.
Don’t we need to work and save to secure our livelihood and that of our children? Isn’t it more truthful to speak of scarcity rather than abundance? These kinds of questions easily lead us to endorse the spirit of capitalism: to compete and hoard, to have tight fists rather than open hands.
I don’t have any easy answers to these questions. They resonate with me and create a deep tension with the conviction that through hospitality we participate in the abundant grace of God. We must see, however, that even though we live in a fallen world of competition and hoarding, this is not the place we are called to dwell…
Christian hospitality, in contrast, embodies the conviction that to live fully is to receive and to give God’s own plenitude. Such plenitude is eschatologically present; the kingdom of God is at hand… Christians are therefore called to live “as if” the kingdom of God, a reign marked by excess and superfluidity, is now present, because it is now present, though not in its fulness.”
Elizabeth Newman in Untamed Hospitality: Welcoming God and Other Strangers (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2007) 101-102.
Think of the “abundance, surplus, excess, and surprise” of life in the kingdom of God and what it means to live in that reality now, though we don’t experience it in all its fulness yet.
The “abundance” links to the the image of the feedings of the fish and the loaves. People are hungry, tired, and broken. They need the nourishment and satisfaction that only God can supply. This reality persists today.
The “surplus” reminds us that there’s more than enough for everyone. So, why doesn’t everyone have enough? Our role comes into view: to gather, but not for hoarding, rather with the vision of sharing God’s abundant grace.
The “excess” reveals our posture as servants. In a world where competing and hoarding to get ahead of others actually leaves people empty, we humbly serve by gathering all God supplies for enjoyment and sharing.
The “surprise” is that we discover life in God’s economy. “To live fully is to receive and to give God’s own plenitude.” But it’s only found in receiving and giving, that is, enjoying and sharing all God richly supplies.
With Newman, I conclude with a question for application: Do you live “as if” the kingdom of God, a reign marked by excess and superfluidity, is now present, because it is now present, though not in its fulness?