Sermon On The Crumbs Of Life

Khalil Gibran, a Lebanese-American writer, poet and widely considered philosopher once remarked: “All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.” Matthew 15:27 confirms: She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

A crumb is defined as a small fragment of bread, cake or biscuit. Despite its size, it can provide an element of nourishment for an insect or infinitesimal creature. When we bite into certain friable foods, minute particles will often fall onto our clothing, into our laps or to the floor. No matter how assiduous we are, it inevitably follows that when we eat a pulverulent substance, propitiousness may dictate that grains will fall.

A story is told of a very young girl who had been asked by her mother to carry a plate of digestive biscuits from the kitchen into the lounge in preparation for afternoon tea. She was happy to oblige in the important task. However, due to the slight angle that she held the plate, two biscuits fell from it to the floor as she made the journey. As they hit the ground, fragments of the biscuits broke off and although the girl immediately retrieved the main unbroken portions from their resting place, Rover, the family Labrador, who was following her with great anticipation, eagerly devoured the remaining particles.

The dog continued to accompany her in close proximity, until she reached her destination and safely placed the plate on the lounge table. The hope of additional nourishment dematerialized. Rover appeared disappointed at the evident lack of further morsels coming his way and proceeded to the kitchen where he sat wagging his tail, panting and looking expectantly for any other offerings from a kind and compassionate soul. The mother eventually took pity on him and gave him a large healthy dog chew to satisfy him.

Some people in life readily accept mere morsels of food, appreciation or reward as the norm from ungracious or self-centered individuals. They hope to seek the greater satisfaction and nourishment of eating a whole biscuit or slice of cake, but are forced to accept only what is discarded.

Luke 16:19-31 reminds us: “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’

But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house - for I have five brothers - so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’

But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

In life, whether that be in this or the next, tables are known to turn. What is experienced in this world, suddenly is forfeited in the next. A former lucrative lifestyle may be reversed. Those, who have the splendor of the entire cake at hand and egotistically ignore others in need in this life, may suffer the same fate in the next. These are considered the selfish who contribute towards hardship and hunger in today's society.

However, those who suffer in this world are unlikely to suffer in the next, especially in God’s Kingdom. 1 Peter 5:10 confirms: “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

We should always be mindful of the fact that even in this factuality, tables can unexpectedly turn. Fortunes suddenly become lost. Richness fades into poverty, hardship, or hunger. We may end up needing and seeking the crumbs from another to survive. However, for some, the situation can happily change. David James Archuleta, an American pop singer once remarked: "Sometimes when you least expect it, the tables turn and that scary feeling that has hold of you for so long somehow turns into hope."