Less Isn’t More

August 4, 2024

18th Sunday of Ordinary Time

John 6:24-35

Remember these words of prophetic wisdom: “Less isn’t more – More is more.”

In today’s Gospel, the crowds are asking Jesus to give them one more sign. “Show us another miracle! Maybe then we’ll believe in you. Come on – you can do it!! We want more! We want more!”

Why is it that I want to see impressive acts in order to be impressed? When I go to a baseball game, I want to see home runs. And if they hit a home run, I want to see another. There might be fantastic defensive plays or a great pitcher’s duel going on with strikeout after strikeout. But when we are on our way home, someone will say, “Well, that was cool, but I wish they had hit a few more homeruns.”

The day-to-day simple acts of service never appear on the Evening News. Every day there are countless people doing mundane acts of kindness to countless numbers of people. But rarely, if ever, do we hear of it. We have a friend, who is running a shelter for single mothers, while at the same time, caring for her sister who has terminal cancer. But she’ll never be recognized for her acts in the news. We know a guy who is a teacher in a low-income school district. He spends an incredible amount of his own money to give “his kids” clothes, food, and the tools to try and break the cycle of poverty. But he’ll never be recognized for his acts in the news.

Yet these are just two examples of people doing the work that it takes to make the reign of God real on earth today. Add in soup kitchens, clothes closets, shelters and, of course, the work of our first responders, doctors and nurses, and all of a sudden, you can clearly see the hand of God working in this trouble filled world. But it takes effort for me to open my eyes and see it.

When I do see it, I am impressed. And I am moved. I am moved because I know there is so much more, I should be doing myself. As is my nature, I tend to look for the big stuff. “Where can I make a REAL impact? How can I make this more?” But the answer is in today’s Gospel. “At this they said, “What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus replied, ‘This is the work of God: to believe in the one whom God has sent.’”

Oh.

That’s it?

Just believe in Jesus, huh?

Wow.

That’s, um, pretty simple.

Until I dig deeper and remember the Beatitudes. Until I remember Jesus’s teaching to love my neighbor and my enemy. And myself.

Richard Rohr explains it like this:

“Remember this: There are always two worlds. The world as it operates is power; the world as it should be is love. The secret of kingdom life is how we can live in both—simultaneously. The world as it is will always be built on power, ego, and success. Yet we also must keep our eyes intently on the world as it should be—what Jesus calls the reign of God.”

https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-gracious-weed/

So, while I really enjoy those moments of fireworks and excitement, the real world and the real work is found in the simple moments of service and love. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the Homerun Derby, but as I walk back to my car, I need to be looking for those who had been left outside, on the margins. Those who are hungry, abused, and cold. To those souls, more isn’t just more. More means surviving another day. I need to find a way to share more with them.

Every Day.

© 2024 by Timothy J. Doppel

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