07/26/2009   8th Sunday of Pentecost   John 6:1-21   – By Pastor Mark Moore            Older Sermons

   Today we look at a well known miracle story, 

             the feeding of the multitude  --  five loaves and two fish  -- 

                   we all remember this one very well. 

It’s in all four gospels.

I still have vivid memories of those pictures on the walls of Sunday school room

     of this vast picnic, 

         people sitting on the ground eating – and the twelve baskets of leftovers. 

How do we carry the messages of the previous week’s lessons forward into this one?

The story evokes images of the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites,

     of God feeding his people in the desert.

In this sense the miracle proclaims Jesus as the "new Moses"

    and therefore authenticates his messianic credentials

           and his inauguration of the messianic banquet.

This would make the miracle a sign of the gospel

    God is again calling out his remnant people and sustaining them to eternal life

[slight pause]

This is certainly the way John develops the story of this miracle

For John, feeding on Christ gives life.

      Feeding, in the terms of eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ,

            is an image for "believing",

                 and it is believing that secures eternal life.

Much debate and discussion has taken place regarding the nature of this event

      and it will continue to go on and on and on. 

Is it a miracle -- this provisioning of bread and fish for an enormous crowd?

    or can it be explained rationally

Certainly in first century Palestine,  no one would leave home for journey of unknown duration

    without taking some food along. 

And the food that the common folk would have available would be barley loaves and fish. 

These loaves would like a large dinner roll

    and the fish might be dried or smoked or salted or pickled,

        the point is that it would keep      and would be easy to carry

            and it would be very common for people of this region to have it. 

That’s the socio-political-historical perspective. 

But what happened. 

       Did the disciples begin to distribute their dinner and it miraculously multiplied

             or when the folks saw that the disciples were sharing what little they had -

                   they pulled out their own dinner and did the same.

does it really matter??

    because what happened is that the people experienced the Kingdom of God. 

It was a profound experience. 

It was remembered and talked about

    with such clarity that all four Gospel writers put it into their stories

            with remarkably common detail. 

This event,      and the memory of it,     

       influenced not only the first generation of Jesus followers,

             but Christians ever since. 

Not because it’s a sign or a miracle 

       -- look the bread just keeps on coming -- 

It’s is a profound story,

   It is a recollection of God providing for God’s children,    God’s chosen. 

        It is the precursor of the Eucharist that we share at this table.  

             It looks forward to the Great feast to come. 

[slight pause]

Matthew has an emphasis that being disciples means more than just being learners

   It also means being workers

This text also suggests that the disciples need to be stewards

   of the meager resources at their disposal.

Sometimes,   for divine miracles to occur,    disciples may have to do a lot of work.

     Perhaps that is a difference between disciples and the crowds.

         While all received the benefit of the miracle; the disciples were asked to work

                and work hard to make it happen      --       and then to clean up the mess.

However the story is interpreted,

              The source of the feeding is God, but the resources are human.

 It is a call to discipleship.

"When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd;

    and he had compassion for them and cured their sick." 

If the sick need curing,         and the hungry need feeding;

       what do the disciples need? 

I saw this quote referring to being a witness for Christ,

"You don't throw a drowning person a sandwich no matter how good the sandwich is."

For news to be truly good,     it has to meet some need of the hearer.

The sick are healed instantly by Jesus alone.

    They present their needs and Jesus responds. 

          The hungry are fed after a lot of work by the disciples. 

The disciples don't actually present to Jesus the need of the crowd,

     but rather their own assessment of the situation

Following Jesus’ trick question

   perhaps they think that they might send the crowds into the villages

         to buy food though they themselves don’t have the money to fund it

It seemed like a reasonable request. 

     The disciples assume (or hope) that the village markets will be able to cope with crowds of

          five thousand plus

[little pause]

And then there’s the limited supply of food

     that they might appropriate from the little boy near by

Contrary to Jesus' teaching, they look first to the local economy to supply the need,

   rather than looking to God 

How often are our prayers asking God to bless our plans,

     rather than putting ourselves at God's disposal? 

Jesus simply tells them, “just make the people sit down on the grass” 

When Jesus sees the sick,    he heals.

     When he sees the ignorant,    he teaches.

          When he sees the demon-possessed,    he exorcises.

                   When he sees the hungry,    he provides food.

When he sees disciples,        he challenges them to go to work: "feed the hungry."

[little pause]

In our text the disciples express their concern for the needs of the crowd

We need to pray,     expressing our concern for others

      Sometimes Jesus' answer to our intercessions is, "You do something about it."

I might push his answer even further,    "I've provided you with food,   distribute it.

       I've provided you with money,    donate some.

             I've provided you with time and abilities,    volunteer them.

[pause]

The issue of food and hunger is a powerful symbol in scripture. 

It takes us deep into the human spirit. 

In our reading from Kings today,  When Elisha receives the first fruits as an offering to God

    he says    “give it to the people and let them eat,

                         for thus says the Lord, they will eat and have some left”

In the Magnificat,     Mary praises God as the One who,

    "...has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.” 

 In Isaiah, God calls out to Israel,

    "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;

        and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!

            Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."  

Israel is sustained in the wilderness     and learns to depend on God for life itself

Now Jesus is shaping his disciples into a compassionate corps

    which will carry the ministry and the message of Christ to a hungry world

When Jesus asked, ‘how are we going to feed all the people?’

     the disciples ran out of ideas pretty quick

They were,   of course,    not equipped

    they didn't have a clue as to how they could possibly feed this crowd 

        What they had to offer was way too little! 

The rest of the story contains lessons about how it is God can use our availability to continue to offer help and hope to a hungry world

It does not matter how much you have!

    What matters most of all is what God can do with what you have!

[little pause]

You have likely heard the term compassion fatigue. 

   Compassion fatigue happens when we see too much pain and anguish  -

       our hearts begin to grow accustomed to the daily sight of misery in newspapers

           and on television. 

If we allowed the pain to continue to penetrate our feelings,     we would be overwhelmed

 Compassion fatigue is a defense mechanism of our inner self

         to protect us from becoming paralyzed by the horror around us

So we get used to it. 

           It doesn't strike home as much

                  And besides....

"I'm just one person.  What can I possibly do in the light of such overwhelming need?" 

Or in terms of our gospel lesson,

"We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." 

One of the central propositions in our reading is that God can take our "not enough"

    and turn it into    "more than enough." 

Amazing things can happen when we see with eyes of compassion

    and make ourselves available to God as agents of compassion. 

[pause]

This is a story of a miracle,    but which miracle?

The obvious answer is the multiplication of the loaves and fishes,

    but there is perhaps another miracle here.

A peasant in Palestine, then and now, traveled with food.

   When Jesus tested the disciples with his question about buying food

       He was saying: you have the resources to solve this problem!

          Take the initiative!     Be leaders!

What Jesus does next ought to be instructive for all of us who claim to be his disciples.

In a scene that is overflowing with Eucharistic overtones,

    Jesus takes the bread,    blesses it,    breaks it,    and gives it away

In effect he turns to the crowd and says,

    " This is all that we have. It isn't much, but what is ours is yours

          Here, take it and eat"

Note that the disciples are not mere spectators of Jesus' acts of compassion

   They, and we,   are participants. 

      Jesus involves them from the very outset

And more than one interpreter of this story has suggested that the miracle here is not the multiplication of the loaves

    but the fact that beginning with the reluctant disciples

          people shared what they had without leaving anyone in need

This is a discipleship story,

    one that needs to be internalized.

From the diagnosis of the problem

    to the distribution of the bread

         the disciples are involved

             We are involved

What the story has to say about our role and responsibility in God's kingdom

     is as essential to our being Christians

          as breathing air and drinking water are to life itself.

But of course the story does not end there.

    The compassionate Jesus and the ministry of his disciples offered all they had

        which turned out to be enough to feed a multitude

             "And all ate and were filled."

This wasn't just a juice box and some crackers to tide them over until they could get to the nearest restaurant or marketplace

     They were filled.     They were satisfied!   They had some left over!!

This story means to propel us from our economies of scarcity

     in which acquiring and accumulating,  

           consuming and protecting goods

               are marks of our culture

                  and presumed good self-sufficient citizenship

propel us into     becoming citizens of the Way of Jesus

    that recognizes an economy of shared abundance for all

This is where the power of Jesus really lies

   It is a power that continues to threaten Herod

       and all that believe in his model of power and authority

It is a power that is moved by the needs of others

     and then moves toward them in compassion and mercy

                                                            God our Father,
                                       in the name of him who gave bread to the hungry,

                         we remember all who through our human ignorance,   folly,    and sin
                                                     are condemned to live in want

                                                      Show us, who have so much,
                                         what we can do to help those who have so little;
                   and bless the efforts of those who work to overcome poverty and hunger,
                                             that sufficient food may be found for all;
                                                       through Jesus Christ our Lord.