Someone recently sent me an email that told the story of an old man who frequently went out onto a pier by the water to feed seagulls. People saw and thought of him as an odd old man, perhaps even sad, doing that as often as he did. But as the story unfolded we learn that this odd behavior had an explanation to it. This man was part of the military and while out on one of his missions, he and his crew were shipwrecked and stranded out at sea. They drifted for days on some of the wreckage. Somehow they had secured some water from the ship but were without food and starvation became a real threat. As hope was quickly slipping away and this now old man was napping, he was startled awake by a seagull that landed on his face. He quickly grabbed it before it could fly away and he and his crew proceeded to tear it apart and eat much of it. They saved some of the guts to use as bait to catch a few fish, which they then used as bait for more fish. This started a cycle that brought them through many weeks stranded at sea until a rescue boat spotted and found them.

Ever since that experience, the old man went out to the pier to feed the seagulls as a way of thanking the seagull that gave up his life to save he and his crew that fateful day. It forever changed the outlook of his life. He didn’t mind looking odd to the people around him.

When you hear his story, his feeding of the gulls makes sense. In fact, it almost seems necessary to complete the story. If it hadn’t ended like that, it would seem that something was missing.

Christianity tells a story similar to this old man’s story. It tells us of one who gave up his life to feed dying people who, once fed, cannot help but go out to feed others. In the same way, we would say the Christian story isn’t complete unless those for whom Christ died do go out to feed others.

This event in the gospels points powerfully to this pattern. Because Jesus satisfies our hunger, we must go out to feed others. To feel the real power of this event, we must unpack the historical, political, and cultural contexts. That’s what I want to do as we look at the state of the people: hungry, fed, and called to feed.

Mk 6:30-44 Called to Feed the Hungry – Discussion Guide