From the Pastor |
Isaiah 55: 1-5 & Matthew 14: 13-21
There was a young preacher, fresh out of seminary who was invited to preach his first sermon at his home church. He really wanted to impress them. That Sunday he was very nervous and he began by saying “Jesus took 5,000 fish, and 2,000 loaves and he fed five people!” He paused… very dramatically… then said “Could any of you do that?” People began to laugh and an older man raised his hand… The young preacher looked at him with indignation and said “Sir, how could you claim to do something that only our Lord could do?” The man stood up and explained exactly what the preacher had asked. The young preacher was so embarrassed and humiliated that he could not continue. He just sat down. The congregation knew him, and were loving and kind, and told him “Look, everyone makes mistakes. Forget about it. Come back next Sunday and try it again.” He agreed. So the next Sunday after practicing his sermon all week, he stood up in front of the congregation. This time he was ready… he said, “Jesus took five loaves and two fish and he fed 5,000 people. Could any of you do that?” Well… there were some giggles as the same man raised his hand again… Now the preacher knew he hadn’t misspoken this time and he got a little angry and said, “Sir, how can you claim to do something like that?’ The man looked at him and with a straight face said, “With the leftovers from your sermon last Sunday.” Today, we heard the story of how Jesus fed over 5000 people… a story of a great miracle. So I ask… Could you do that? Could I? Based on this story, the simple answer is… yes! Now don’t roll your eyes at me… let me explain. This is a story of miracles… and we have to realize that the miracles Jesus performed were not done to try and convince the people that Jesus was some divine being… They were meant to be signs that revealed the character and heart of God to the people. The true miracle of the feeding of 5000 is not what Jesus did… but why and with whom. The ‘why’ offers us the sign… the “miracle” of revelation… revealing more to us about God… and it is captured in that single word… “Compassion.” Look at how this story begins… Jesus hears of John the Baptist’s death… “he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.” Jesus wanted to be alone in his grief, but the crowds found him… they swarmed around him again… It seems that even in grief, Jesus cannot get time to himself. But he looks at the crowds… he sees their needs and “he had compassion on them” and spent the day healing the sick. This ability to lay aside his own needs and offer compassion and care to others is what sets Jesus apart. This miraculous story gives us wonderful insight into the heart of God… For if Jesus truly reveals what God is like to us… then what we find is a God of compassion. This is the same God we see through the Prophet Isaiah. The God who remains with the people of Israel, even though they had failed to keep their side of the covenant… even though they sinned against God. They were punished… conquered… sent into exile… but God did not wash his hands of them. NO! God continues to call out to them… beaconing them to return to God. “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! … Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.” God calls his people to come and partake of all God has to offer ‘without money and without price.’ It did not matter if they were wealthy or penniless, powerful or lowly… all are called to the living waters… all are invited to share in the bounty of God’s kingdom. This is the God of compassion… the miracle that Jesus reveals to us today. And that brings us to the second part of the miracle… the ‘with whom.’ “As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” The disciples recognized that there was a need… they go to Jesus with what they think is a reasonable solution… There are simply too many… they are hungry… send them away! But Jesus disagrees… to him… the solution is even easier: “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” He didn’t say, “Don’t worry, I will take care of this” … he said “You see the problem… you fix it. Give them something to eat.” Easy, peasy, lemon-squeezy! Except it’s not that easy is it… the disciples did not have the resources to feed thousands of people… They were able to find some bread and a couple of fish… they just couldn’t do it. But Jesus challenges them… he says “Don’t worry… you can do it! Jesus takes their meager resources… blesses them, breaks them and then he gives them back to the disciples for them to distribute. And suddenly there is food enough for all… Now, there have been scholars who have suggested that maybe Jesus did not miraculously multiply the food, but the generosity of the disciples simply opened the hearts of others and they produced whatever food that they had brought with them and began to share it. A Stone Soup kind of scenario… What is the truth? I don’t know… but as far as I am concerned… it is a true miracle either way. And it is a two-fold miracle… Not only does Jesus have compassion enough to meet the needs of the people in spite of his own grief, but he changes the hearts of his followers so that they too, are willing to give all they had found and share it in order to meet the needs of others with an abundance left over. For Jesus, it was very simple. There was a need, and he expected his disciples to meet the need. Jesus used his reluctant disciples to care for the poor and hungry that God loves so much. So you see… according to Jesus… we can do it! With his help. That is what is expected in the kingdom of God. The church was never meant to be some sort of country club, or a place for weekly entertainment. The church IS the Disciples of Christ and we are to always have our eyes open… to recognize the needs of the people in our community and we are to always be willing to meet those needs. It does not matter what our resources might be… or what resources might be lacking… with Jesus… there is ALWAYS a way. That is one of the lessons of this story… when we combine our limited resources with the power and compassion of Jesus… there will be more than enough. Jesus did not expect the disciples to feed thousands of people on their own… but with his help. Just like we, as Christ’s disciples today are not expected to solve the all the needs in our community by our own power. That is the amazing thing about this story… it isn’t over… it continues on because God still cares deeply for those who are most vulnerable… for the poor, the immigrant, the hungry… and God continues to use us to care for them. We all have resources that can be used to care for the needs of others… meager as those resources might be… we have them. We have answered God’s call to come to the waters… to feast at God’s table… to enter into a covenant relationship with God… and as such… we have come to know God’s provision and abundance. Even if we are not financially wealthy… we are blessed in so many ways. We must be willing to let go and become God’s provision, God’s hospitality and God’s service to others. It is this vision of compassion that we are called to embrace… that we are called to embody. It is a challenge to offer what meagre resources we may have… be it time, expertise, money, creativity, talent or compassion… To allow Jesus to take them… multiply them and then return them to us so that we can redistribute them to those who need them. It is a call is to be the people who can trust in God’s promises… who can trust in God’s loving care for us, and allow that trust to open us to lives of generosity, inclusivity and service to others. Let’s face it… Whoever said that following Jesus was easy has never really read the Gospels! So, let’s not allow our fears, our selfishness or our human weakness to be the excuse we use to avoid answering Christ’s call to feed the world… to care for the needy and to stand against the powers that leave people hungry in the first place. Who can do all that? We can… you and me… with Jesus’ help. Amen.
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Yeon Shin
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