Why MANNA House?

Over the years, our guests have come to call Manna House, “THE Manna House.” And a few days ago, a friend of mine asked me, “What is the deep spiritual and moral meaning of the word ‘manna’ in Manna House?” 
He rightly assumed our use of the word “manna” is derived from Exodus 16, the wonderful story of the Israelites being fed by God on their journey from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. Ched Myers, an activist biblical scholar and teacher, has written about God’s economy reflected in the story of the manna, and it is God’s economy that we seek to share in our offering of hospitality at Manna House. This economy is also evident in the Gospel stories of Jesus feeding the 4,000 and the 5,000.
Simply put, in God’s economy, God the Creator creates a world which is good, in which there is enough for everybody, if we share, and do not hoard. God provides manna in the desert for the Israelites to eat, with the clear instructions to not gather more than what they needed, and to not store any. When some gathered more than they needed, they found the measure they had gathered only equaled what they should have gathered, and when others tried to hoard, they found that it had gone rotten.
In the Gospel stories, the disciples do not think there is enough food to feed the crowds of people. But Jesus, trusting in God, asks that they present what they have, blesses it, and then instructs them to share. Lo and behold, there is more than enough for everybody!
Both hospitality and justice depend upon our trusting that God will provide enough for all, and our commitment to share rather than to hoard. At Manna House, we have many stories of days when we were about to open without enough shoes, or pants, or socks, or underwear for our guests. On each of those days, God did provide. People arrived with donations, living out their trust that God would provide, and so they gave instead of hoarding.
When we fear that we don’t have enough, we are susceptible to the temptation to hoard. I’ve seen a guest share socks with a guest who came too late to get on the list for “socks and hygiene.” I’ve seen a guest arrive barefoot because he shared his shoes with another person on the streets. He trusted that he could then get shoes at Manna House; which he did. Our guests are quite good at living in God’s economy of sharing. They look out for each other, making sure people have enough to survive. They trust in God.
The fear of “illegal aliens” has a lot to do with the fear of scarcity. We don’t have enough for all of “those people.” The fear of giving money to a panhandler has a lot to do with the fear of scarcity. We don’t have enough to give to whoever asks. The fear of the poor has a lot to do with the fear of scarcity. We don’t have enough to take care of everybody. But scarcity is a heresy in the face of God who creates abundance. We create scarcity as we hoard out of fear.
Fear of scarcity (and perhaps fear of robbers still being about) made the priest and the Levite pass by the man on the road who had been robbed. It was the Good Samaritan who trusted in God and shared. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., saw the social justice implications in this story, “On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life's roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”
When the Israelites entered the Promised Land the manna was no more. But they were to ensure that everyone had enough through the practice of justice. God’s law was to care for the poor through redistribution of goods. The prophets enjoined the same, as Zechariah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy each to his brother and sister, do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the sojourner, or the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother or sister in your heart” (Zechariah 7:10). This was Jesus’ clear teaching over and over again as well, “Whatever you do to the least of these you do unto me” (Mt 25:31-46).
God’s economy teaches us to not only trust in God, but to trust in each other. There is no need to hoard if we believe God provides, and if we believe others will share. We are called at Manna House to live this alternative reality, that God does provide and that others will provide. So we seek to practice compassion in our hospitality with “the least of these.” We redistribute to those who are need, and we depend upon donations from people who are committed to sharing. We also practice compassion as we learn about the structural causes of homelessness, and so agitate for the justice of housing, food, medical care, and an economy that pays a living wage.
Calling where we do all of this “Manna House” reminds us again and again that everything we do depends upon the abundance of God, an abundance we can trust.