John 6:1-21
Well…I know that the laws of Newtonian physics are not suddenly flexible if you just have enough faith.
- Atoms and molecules do not just transform randomly.
- It is more reasonable to believe that things are what they seem.
- Water stays water. Five loaves stay five loaves…and the dead stay dead.
I get it…and I have read all the rational explanations for what really happened at the feeding of the five thousand.
- Explanations I could offer to my non-believer friends…
- Without feeling like I must apologize for being so foolish as to believe in miracles.
- With a little effort I can easily explain away the feeding of the five thousand as little more than a wonderful picnic with a bunch of people.
- Since bread and fish did not just suddenly replicate themselves…
- What happened that day was obviously more like a big wilderness potluck.
- Where everybody felt so compelled to be good people after hearing Jesus preach…
- That they all opened their picnic baskets and gave parts of their fried chicken and potato salad to their neighbors.
- So that is why there was enough food to go around.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
But I decided not to preach that homily today.
- That Jesus wants us to be nice and share our lunch…
- Since we all learned that lesson already in kindergarten.
Not that thousands of people sharing with their neighbors is not miraculous…it is.
- It is just that there are six accounts of this miracle in the gospels.
- Six…and since there are only four gospels…that means that in two of them…a version of the story was told twice.
- So…it is just too important a story for it to only be about people sharing their lunches.
So…as crazy as it is…I believe in miracles…not because I think I am supposed to…
- But because I need to…I need to believe that God does what I cannot do.
- I mean…if God only acted in ways we can…we could all just be our own gods.
- And if history tells us anything…it is that we make terrible gods.
We have a God who can feed so many on so little.
- A God who created the universe out of nothing.
- A God who can put flesh on dry bones.
- A God who can put life into a dry womb.
- God does all of this out of nothing.
- Nothing is God’s favorite material to work with.
- God looks upon that which we dismiss as nothing…insignificant…worthless…
- And says: “Hah…now…that I can do something with”.
The resource that Jesus had in abundance…that day…was not the fried chicken and potato salad hidden under people’s tunics.
- The raw material that Jesus had was the need of humanity for a God that can do miracles.
- And this need is an endless resource.
You see…that day…the disciples forgot that they too were hungry.
- The disciples forget that it was their own personal need for bread…
- That qualified them to participate in the miracle of feeding thousands with nothing on hand.
- It was not their cooking skills.
- It was not their ability to guilt everyone into sharing.
- It was their own deep hunger which exactly matched the hunger of the crowd.
How often do we forget this?
- What we really have going for us is not homiletical ability.
- Or choral conducting expertise…or leadership training.
- It is our own personal need for a savior.
- A need identical in quality and quantity to those we minister.
- This need we have for Jesus…the need for forgiveness and love and mercy…has no limit.
- This is our nothing from which God creates real miracles.
Yet I so often forget this.
- I am easily overwhelmed by the hunger of the multitudes.
- And I look around trying to figure out what I have at my disposal that might feed them.
- And I keep coming up short.
- Short on compassion…short on skill…short on will.
- And I think of how God called me to this.
- And needs me to feed God’s people.
- So…I lean on my own resources.
- And when I do…I quickly see how little there is.
- A few loaves? A couple fish?
- It’s never enough.
Years ago…I went to a retreat at a Greek Byzantine Catholic monastery outside of town.
- I was matched up for spiritual direction with one of the brothers.
- I was hoping he would give me work to do.
- You see…the monastery was a working farm.
- Instead…he looked at me and said…
- I don’t think you should do anything while you are here.
- Just walk the farm knowing that God loves you totally apart from any work you do.
- I thought that sounded awful.
- How can the work I do be important if God loves me quite apart from the fact that I do it?
That’s the irony.
- The more important and transformative the work is that we do…
- The more we need to know that we are loved by God…
- With or without doing that work.
When Jesus looks out and asks where are these hungry people going to get food?
- He means that we all are the hungry people…and he is the bread.
- When I rely only on my strengths.
- When I think I have only my small stingy little heart from which to draw love for those I serve.
- When the water is rough…and storms are real and I am scared.
- Filled with fear of what is happening or not happening in the church.
- Filled with fear that I do not have what it takes to be a leader.
- Filled with fear that everyone will see nothing in me but my inadequacies.
- I have forgotten about Jesus.
- The one who makes something out of my nothing.
- The one who walks towards me in the storm.
That’s our guy.
- The Man of sorrows familiar with suffering.
- Friend of scoundrels and thieves.
- Forgiver of his own executioners.
- Resurrected on the third day.
- The lamb who was slain…the great defeater of death and griller of fish and savior of sinners.
We are all broken and hungry in need of a savior.
- So…together we come away with Christ to sit in the grass and be fed.
- We are loved entirely and completely by God with or without doing the ministry and work we do.
We just do not realize how tired and hungry we are until we go away to rest and reach again for the hem of Jesus’ garment.
- And then…hands extended…someone looks into our eyes and calls us by name and says:
- “Child of God…the Body of Christ Given for you.”
- And then we realize…we had no idea how hungry we really were.
- Thanks be to God.