Leftovers, Table Scraps, & Doggy Bags

I’ve never liked taking leftovers home from a restaurant.

Maybe it’s the inconvenience of asking for a to-go box.

Maybe it’s the odor of leftover food that makes your car stink.

Or maybe it’s because I remember how they called to-go boxes “doggy bags” when I was a kid.

Doggy bag? I assume that means, “this food is perfect for a dog… or you, if your standards are Labradoodle-level.”

My wife LOVES leftovers.

She will take things from other peoples plates and put their scraps in her to-go box.

She takes the bread from the center of the table.

I’ve seen her take handfuls of the little hard candies that restaurants leave out (She really goes crazy over the ones at Maggiano’s).

I’ve come to the conclusion that my wife is more like Jesus than I am.

Why?

Jesus had a thing for leftovers too.

In Luke chapter 9, we have another Gospel retelling of the feeding of the 5,000 story.

QUICK RECAP: Huge crowds. Hungry people. No McDonalds or Taco Bell in sight. A little boy offers up his lunch… 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish (I’m thinking he must have been in junior high ‘cause that’s a lot of food for lunch). Jesus blesses the food, breaks it, distributes it to the disciples—and the disciples give it to the people. MIRACLE HAPPENS. Everyone eats and has enough. In fact, there’s even leftovers. Jesus has the disciple pick up the leftovers… 12 baskets full.

I like to think that Jesus had each disciple take home a basket full of the food. Can you imagine them going home explaining the story behind their “doggy bags” full of bread and fish?

Even after everyone was fed, Jesus noticed the leftovers.

He gave them value, worth, and significance.

They could have been overlooked—but Jesus saw them and had them collected.

To someone else, a few scraps here and there might not have seemed significant…

But Jesus took a second look. He saw value in the leftovers.

There are people in our world who have been tossed to the side, discarded, and counted-out.

They feel like leftovers…

And Jesus notices. He sees them. He recognizes their value, significance, and worth.

To Him, they are worth going back for.

Let’s be like Jesus.

Let’s take a second look.

Let’s notice the “leftovers,” and bring them in!