Feeding the Five Thousand
Lectionary Year A, Proper 13
Matthew 14:13-23 (extending the traditional grouping of texts, because I think verses 22 and 23 are part if the inclusiothat properly closes the preceding section. It does also introduce the next passage.)
 |
Sermon
Our gospel text begins with “When Jesus heard about John…” What was it that Jesus heard? In the section of text immediately before today’s reading, Jesus was given the grim news that his cousin, John the Baptist, had been murdered on the orders of Herod Antipas in order satisfy the wants of his wife, who hated John. This took place at a lavish and sordid banquet entertaining the wealthy and influential in the region of Galilee. Although Herod did not want to kill John, he also did not want to appear as going back on his word, so reluctantly gave the order.
Who here has not experienced loss? For some of us, it may be quite recent where we’ve lost a dear friend or family member. For some others it may be a loss of something that used to define us: perhaps a job or other livelihood. And for pretty much all of us in 2020, we’ve lost a sense of what used to be. Even though these are different types of losses, our bodies and minds process them in the same way. We go through the same process of grief and grieving.
Jesus gathers himself away from the crowds to try to be alone, to process this devastating news and, in modern parlance, do some self-care work. Jesus needs some time to work through his grief, his anger, and undoubtedly some fear at what awaits him should he continue with his divine mission.
The text does not say if he got any time alone, but reading the text it seems as if as soon as the crowd learned that Jesus was crossing over on a boat, they hurriedly began their trek on foot. By the time Jesus arrives at his intended destination, the crowd is already there to greet him and press him with their needs.
It certainly would have been reasonable for Jesus to ask the crowd to wait a while, but Jesus instead is moved immediately by compassion and begins to heal (Gk., cure) the sick that are brought to him. A commentary I read noted that the text did not say that Jesus taught or preached, or gave the people systematic theology, but that he simply healed those who needed healing.
Perhaps a lesson here for us is to ask ourselves why we are Christ-followers in the first place? What motivates us to do what we do? Are we more inclined to disseminate knowledge, and perhaps to argue about beliefs? Or is our first response to relieve the needs that come to our attention? Do we do so out of compassion, or for some benefit that might accrue to us?
The story continues. It appears Jesus spends the entire day ministering to the sick. As evening falls, the disciples clearly note another need: that everyone needs food. Their solution is to send the crowd away. It seems like a reasonable solution. Jesus has been working all day, and the disciples alongside. They are tired and the disciples know that Jesus hasn’t had the time alone that initially prompted this journey. Perhaps there’s a little bit of concern for Jesus mixed with the disciples’ own feelings of tiredness and exhaustion that prompts them to ask Jesus to send the crowd away.
Jesus’ response catches them, and us, off guard: “There’s no need to send them away. You give them something to eat.”
Jesus is asking a group about the size that is assembled here to provide food for a crowd size that is larger than the entire Petersburg population! Just the numbered men approaches double our population.
We would be taken aback and shocked if Jesus were here telling us to meet the needs of all of Petersburg and then some. Yet I would dare say that he is asking exactly that of us and of every one of his churches in this town today.
The disciples’ response is probably given in stunned shock, “We only have five loaves of bread and two fish…”
“This is all we have…” is the voiced part. The unspoken portion is, “And what do you expect us to do with this? Do you really expect us to feed the entire crowd with this?”
We too, hear Jesus’ command for us to meet the needs of the people around us. But we too, are tired and our resources so meager. How in the world could Jesus even think that we could meet the needs of everyone around us? Maybe we could meet the needs of a handful of families here and there…
Jesus commands his disciples to bring what they have to him.
In motions that foreshadow the Eucharist, the Communion Supper, Jesus has the crowd sit down and he raises the bread and the fish and offers a blessing to God. He then breaks the loaves and fish and hands them to the disciples.
When we think about this story, the feeding of the five-thousand, I think we often imagine it as Jesus feeding the crowd miraculously. But the text doesn’t say that. It says that it was the disciples who took the bread and fish and it was they who distributed the food to the entire seated crowd. The text also does not specify how it was that everyone was given food. The “how” is unimportant to the story. Only the “what” matters in that everyone’s need was met.
For those that are into geeking out with literary structures in the Bible, in this story the center is not the miraculous feeding, but it is where Jesus asks the disciples to provide food: where the disciples declare what they have, and where Jesus takes what is given to him by the disciples. This is the center of the story and where the primary theme is most likely to be found. (Next week’s gospel reading which immediately follows today’s also follows a similar structure. And to geek out even more, there are thematic and literary parallels between this story and next week’s.)
We’ll return to what I see as the primary theme, but first, let’s finish the story.
When everyone was given food and all had their fill, there were twelve large baskets of remainders. We aren’t told what happened with these. What is important about this is that what had seemed utterly insufficient had turned into something more than just merely sufficient.
Now Jesus makes the disciples go back into their boat and go away while he dismisses the crowd. When the disciples wanted to have Jesus dismiss the crowd, Jesus said, “Not now.” But now that his work is done and the crowd’s needs are met, it is time for the crowd to be dismissed.
Another lesson from this story for us may be that God will bring to our attention the needs around us. And it will be God who takes them away when the time is right. Our call is to meet the needs as long as they are in our midst.
Finally Jesus gets the time to himself that he needs and longs for. But he does not merely relax, but he spends time in prayer, with God. Or perhaps that is Jesus’ way of de-stressing and restoring emotional balance: by entering into the presence of God.
Now back to the center of the story and what I think is the key take away:
· We don’t do ministry on our own terms. Just as Jesus said to his disciples, “There’s no need to send them away,” God might bring needs to our attention that we frankly might not want to address or can’t imagine how we might.
· We are expected to be Christ’s hands and feet. Just as Jesus commanded his disciples, “You give them something to eat,” God asks us to be responsible for meeting the needs that are brought to us. Jesus did not directly feed each person in the crowd. He asked his disciples to do that, and the same is being asked of us.
· We have resources. It may not be much — just a few bread and fish — but every follower of Christ, every congregation, the collaboration of churches, and the worldwide Church has resources. What resources do we have, however small and meager they might be, that could be used to meet the needs that we see?
· We must contribute what we have to God. Jesus asked his disciples to hand what they had to him. The disciples had no idea what was going to happen. In biblical hindsight we know what Jesus did and how the story ends, but the disciples didn’t have that benefit. They had never experienced a mass feeding from so little. So it would have been completely understandable if they had refused or expressed more reluctance. The most obvious use of the food was perhaps for Jesus himself to eat, or that it would be given to a few people with the most need. Likewise, we don’t know how God will use the resources that are contributed. Are we willing to contribute what we have, not always knowing exactly how they might be used?
Ultimately, this story is about faith. For the most part the disciples don’t have a great degree of faith, but they trust Jesus enough to give to him all the provisions they had amongst themselves. And that faith might just be the greater miracle in the story.
Later in Matthew’s gospel Jesus says, “I assure you that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Go from here to there,’ and it will go. There will be nothing that you can’t do.” [Matthew 17:20b]
The disciples are frequently portrayed as lacking faith and are chastised for it. But at the same time, they have a tiny bit — just enough for God to work with them. And in that respect, I don’t think we are that much different from them. We waver between faith and doubt. We look at the world around us and our own lives. We see the mess that we make and we see messes that others make. We see and experience the random tragedies and disasters that pummel us. It might be easy to get discouraged and lose hope. We get tired.
Jesus’ command to us remains the same. Come together in solidarity, with compassion; and in faith, contribute what you do have to God, and God will return to you what you need to be effective ministers in this community.
No comments:
Post a Comment