Sermon: “You Give Them Something to Eat”

Lectionary: Year A, Proper 13
Gospel Text: Matthew 14:13-21 (NRSV)

Thesis: Jesus did not simply do compassionate deeds; he was compassion in his whole being. As his disciples, our walk with Christ should include growing from merely doing compassion to embodying compassion in this world.

Sermon Audio: 27 minutes

I was asked to fill in at the Lutheran Church while Pastor Mike is away on vacation. The text for today was the story of Feeding the Five-Thousand, aka the Loaves and Fishes.

This is such a well known story and because it is found in all four gospels, it comes around to preachers rather frequently. Should I just settle for preaching what has been preached over and over, or could I find something new in this story?

As I read the account in Matthew, I became more and more unsettled, uncomfortable, and troubled. This is not merely a miracle story or a story with a feel-good premise about God providing for all our needs. This is a story about discipleship training in the area of compassion. The disciples seemed to have a lack of it and Jesus is trying to teach them how genuine compassion acts. It is also a story of Jesus instructing the disciples about what the Kingdom of Heaven is like and on the part they are to play in it.

When this story is read from the perspective of the disciples, it is not a quaint little story but a difficult one that demands much from all who call themselves Christian and followers of Jesus Christ.