A sermon by Senior Minister John B. McCall, August 3, 2008
Matthew 14:13-21
Matthew tells us a story of hungers. Jesus was tired and deeply troubled, having just learned that Herod had executed his cousin John. He knew he was the real target and the net was tightening. More than anything he needed time to be alone and to collect his thoughts, to return to his center and to let God fill his hungry place.
He got into a boat and rowed to a familiar place. But this time it was different, for the people had heard he was near. When he got to his safe place, he found crowds of hungry people. Jesus was moved with compassion — literally, he felt their suffering. He healed the ill among them, and certainly preached the word of comfort and assurance for which they hungered.
At evening tide the disciples said to him “It’s time for supper and you need rest. Send them away to the villages nearby to buy themselves food.” Jesus said: “You give them something to eat!” They were bewildered. They protested, “There are so many of them, and we have so little. We can’t feed them.” Jesus insisted. Among them they came up with five loaves of bread and two fish.
Jesus took them, looked to heaven and offered a blessing. The disciples understood as they passed among the crowd and fed them. All ate and were filled. There were twelve baskets of scraps left after feeding about 5,000 men, plus women and children.
But what’s the meaning of this miracle, this feeding of the hungry crowds with so little food? We get a clue to its importance when we note that it appears in various ways six times in the four Gospels. We know it’s central to the Good News when we learn there’s a chapel dating from the third century on the spot where tradition says this all took place.
It’s the kind of account we need to hear because it tells us of Jesus’ response in a moment when the need was great and the resources few. And it reminds us that’s characteristic of his ministry in general.
I don’t think it really matters whether you understand this miracle literally.
• Perhaps the food was actually multiplied by the power of Jesus’ prayer.
• Maybe the people on the hillside had been hoarding the food they had carried — just enough for themselves. Now, with Jesus’ invitation they decided to share it.
• Or, it may have been such a sacramental moment on that hillside as Jesus poured out his compassion, that each took only a tiny morsel.
Whatever the exact nature of the miracle, the effect was unambiguous. There didn’t appear to be enough but there was. Surely Matthew wanted his listeners to hear the parallel to the Lord’s Supper. In the biblical account Jesus took what he had, blessed it, broke it, gave it. By the grace of God, it was (and is) enough. One of our familiar ways of sharing communion is with pastors breaking the bread and pouring the cup, then passing the elements to the Deacons who then pass it to you, and each of you serves your neighbor.
Still, I think Matthew also intended for us to hear the larger metaphor. All around us people thirst for food, for righteousness, for meaning, for mercy and for justice. So often we sit, as did the disciples, saying “Lord, send them away for we have too little to feed them.” And Jesus says, “They don’t need to go away. You can do it!”
We look at our resources, our reserves, and feel the fear we may not have enough:
• enough security in unsettled days,
• enough love to sustain us in sickness and in health,
• enough cash flow to pay for college,
• enough patience to endure the terrible twos or twelves or twenties as our children pass through.
We’re afraid we won’t have enough to give a percentage through the church and still buy that boat, enough to pay for health insurance and still buy groceries, enough for gas in the car and oil in the tank.
And don’t we fear that we won’t have enough to maintain our great American life style as thousands of immigrants overflow every border; that we won’t have enough for the federal government to aid the victims of the latest disaster without everyone paying more taxes?
“O God,” we cry. “Fix this!” And God says: “I’ve given you more than enough; you feed them.” There is enough but we’re overwhelmed. And it’s true that for others to have some we’ll need to have less. And that’s fearsome.
So we have to keep repeating that truth to ourselves until we can believe it. God has given us enough – enough time, enough money, enough energy, enough love… enough to share and still have enough for ourselves.
When Jesus felt overwhelmed he knew he had to be still, quiet, and solitary for a while so he could get his life back in balance, back in harmony with God’s will. We must remember that even when we hunger for peace and quiet, and need to take care of ourselves, we can’t neglect to care for others who hunger and thirst and call out for compassion.
It’s not that we can’t see the needs. We know what’s happening. We don’t claim we’re ignorant – just powerless. We know the need, all right, but like the followers of long ago we feel we don’t have enough.
Jesus replies: “Don’t send them away. You give them something to eat. I’ve laid a table before you. Come to the table when you hunger and thirst. Come to the table when you’re weary and heavy-laden. Come to the table when your heart is filled with joy. Here you will find there is enough, more than enough.”
And when we’ve broken the bread and shared the cup of a spiritual meal; when we’ve been fed by God and reminded of the gift of Abundant Life…
“Then,” Jesus says, “you can turn back to the needs of the world, remembering that you’re not alone. Don’t tell them to go away; you give them something to eat. I’ve made it possible.”