Finding Faith ... in the 'Feeding of the 5,000'

EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2017 I began a new venture as a synodically authorized minister at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. The ride over the past 3 years has been an amazing journey of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on July 28, 2020. This was the 17th digital service we performed after our church was shuttered because of the COVID pandemic.

The first thing that leapt out at me this week in our gospel was Jesus' entirely human reaction to the news about John's death. A gruesome death, for sure. But we have to remember also that John is Jesus' cousin, and even more than that, Jesus' mentor. I can only imagine that the news of this gruesome murder must have shook him to the core.

And so I completely understand his reaction to the news, to want to a quiet deserted place. Retreat to his boat out on the water, where it is that he might reflect on the news, and maybe think about the passing of his dear cousin. And this very reaction reminds me of Jesus' humanness, if that's a word.

Which is comforting in that I have to admit that I've had similar feelings as of late. There's just so much going on. Here at church, we're so happy to see new faces because for weeks and months we have trudged on in our services with this very small group of dedicated volunteers staring into the audience of our "Paper People." There's so much weightiness in the world. ... And of course, as you all know, we've experienced our own death in our family when we lost our brother in recent weeks.

So I have felt that same reaction that Jesus had to the news of John's death. At times, I've wanted to crawl into my own boat, in a deserted place, far out on the water.

I see a very equal comparison in tonight's gospel in which the circumstances in which Jesus received the news of his cousin's death. As you well know, those were turbulent times in the 1st century, just as the times that we are living globally in now. It's almost as if, not only then but now, we live in circumstances in which the weight of the world does make you want to retreat from that very world. Even our very own Christ.

Unfortunately for Jesus, as we well know from tonight's story, Jesus is not left alone for long. As soon as his followers hear the news they go to seek Jesus in that deserted place. And we know that there's thousands of them. They come to find their teacher because I'm sure to them the news must have been just as jarring. After all, John was killed for being a prophet, a disciple out there in the wilderness. And so for all of these Jesus followers, it must have been a very dark and anxious time. And so they go to follow their Christ; they go to follow their teacher; and to seek his comfort.

We also know from the gospel story tonight that Jesus' disciples, his very close 12, his confidantes, his "squad" if you will in today's terminology ... they do what all close friends I hope would do. And they try a defensive maneuver to protect their Jesus. They end up telling Jesus, "There's just too many people, and they must understand his grief and his anxiety and his sadness." And, well send the people away.

But Jesus doesn't. Jesus doesn't send the mass of people away. Rather, when he does reach shore, and he sees this multitude of people, we're told 5,000 in scripture ... 5,000 men. But, of course, that doesn't enumerate the women and the children who were there. So it was probably more like 10,000 or 12,000 people. ... Imagine as Jesus comes ashore and he sees this 10,000 or 12,000 people ...

I know my very human reaction would have been to get right back in that boat, and go back out to that quiet place. But not Jesus. Rather, Jesus turns to his followers, and the gospel tells us that he has compassion for them. Even in one of Jesus' early darker moments of his ministry, we know that they get darker later on, but this was some of the first turbulence that he encountered.

He comes ashore, and he sees the multitude of people, and those who are sick and he heals them. Our gospel tonight tells us that he turns that compassion into action and he heals the sick, even in the midst of his dark hour. And then later, but not that much longer, it becomes evening, and in the story, the disciples go to Jesus, and they say, "Jesus, you know, there's like 10,000 people standing up here, and it's evening. And we have no food for them. We should send them into town, Jesus. We should send them away so that they can go buy something to eat."

Again, Jesus doesn't send them away. But instead, he looks at his disciples, and he says, "You feed them."

The astonished disciples ... I imagine they look to each other, and think, "Ahhh, OK, Jesus. ... We've got these these five loaves and these two fish. If that's what you're talking about. But other than that, we have nothing."

We know the story: They hand those five loaves and two fish over to Jesus, and he multiplies them. Jesus multiplies them all; and he tells the people to sit down; and they are all fed; and they are all full. We know this story because it might be Jesus' greatest miracle that we read about in the gospels. He most likely is his most well known miracle that he performed.

What I find interesting in our gospel tonight is Jesus doesn't dwell in this miracle himself. Jesus doesn't just share his talents to feed tens of thousands of people himself. Oh no, Jesus orders the disciples in on the action. Our Christ, who is there with all of these people, could have very easily stuck out his hands and fed these people himself. Or he could have walked around and did the delivery himself. But that's not what our Jesus does. This isn't just his miracle. He gives the food to the disciples, who at that point become the crowd's waiters and serves. ... They are the ones who bring the food around, and then they are the ones afterward who are picking up the leftovers, and filling the baskets.

You see, just as the disciples in their time, Jesus is inviting us into his miracles too. Notice throughout all of the parables, and in the miracles that Jesus performs, it's never about Jesus.

We are no doubt in dark times now. ... Just as on that evening when Jesus and his disciples, and his followers, must have felt as well. After all, they were being pursued and persecuted as Christians, as Jesus followers. Just as today, we have the weight of the world on our shoulders as well.

But what we do know from our gospels is that Jesus is still creating miracles today. We don't read about them in a new, updated Bible every year. There aren't new gospels that we are sharing amongst ourselves. But we most assuredly know, as Jesus followers, that those miracles continue to happen. We tell each other about those miracles when we encountered them. We read stories about them in the news. Or we have other people who share their miracles with us. So we know that Jesus is active, and we know that Jesus is still inviting his disciples -- and that's us -- into the miracles that he is creating today.

I wonder tonight if you've thought about this. ... I wonder how often it is that I have had the same feeling over and over again, when I asked myself in a situation that I've found unjust, or in a situation where I've found people hurting, "God can you please help that person?"

I thought back over times that I've witnessed people standing on the street corners. Those of you who frequent Fargo-Moorhead know that we do have a homeless population that is on our street corners. And may times they are looking for help.

I've also seen news stories when I thought, "Oh, someone should help that person."

And isn't interesting in those very moments, when we feel sympathy, or better yet, when we feel the compassion, that very same compassion that Jesus had when he rowed ashore. And Jesus looked at this group of 10,000 or 12,000 people, and saw the sick and acted out of his compassion.

Isn't it interesting for us, how often we too feel that compassion, and our immediately response is to turn toward God. And ask God what it is he can do. Or worse yet, when we think, somebody ... meaning Somebody ELSE ... really ought to do something.

But what I think tonight's text is telling us, guess what? ... We are that somebody! ... We are those somebodies! In our gospel text tonight, when the disciples turned to Jesus and said, "We don't have any food. We should send the people away." Jesus doesn't say, "Yeah, you are right."

Jesus looks at his disciples and says, "You feed them." ... In other words, feed them yourselves.

I wonder during this hard time, when you see a situation that is unjust, or when you see a person who is hurting, or when you see a family that needs to be uplifted, or when you see a rift that needs to be mended. ... I wonder how many times we think to ourselves, "But we don't have enough. We have no food, Jesus. I have no food to help in this situation."

I think Jesus is telling us in the gospel tonight, "Yes, actually Devlyn, you do. You live out of abundance because you live in me."

And I think that is the message he leaves with his disciples in the "Feeding of the 5,000." And I think that is the message that he leaves in us tonight. That in those darkest moments, in those moments when we have compassion for people we actually do have enough to step in and be the hands and the feet of Christ ... because we live in him.

And that is the Good News for this Tuesday, July 28, and Sunday, Aug. 2, the ninth Sunday after Pentecost. ... Amen.