The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost ---- 6 August 2017

Matthew 14:13-21

13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." 16 Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." 17 They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." 18 And he said, "Bring them here to me." 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. 

Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish."

·       Five loaves and two fish is not the way to start a picnic. The loaves are not loaves of bread as we know them – not long slabs of fluffy white bread, but individual pieces of flat bread, something like pita or a tortilla. The fish is fish, probably smoked for preservation. This sounds like someone’s lunch and John’s version of this story says that a young boy brought the loaves and fishes forward; maybe his mother packed him a lunch.

·       What can be done with so little for so many? Well, we know the end of the story. There was enough and more than enough - they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. Quite a surprising thing; in fact, a miraculous thing. There are those who say that the miracle is the sharing of the food everybody brought for themselves. The text says that only a little tiny bit was available for all to eat.

·       The real idea here is that the Kingdom of God is present and is signified by the abundance of food. Our reading from Isaiah says the same thing: Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food…

·       The other important reference here are the words used when Jesus takes the bread and fish: Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples… The words, take-bless-break-give, are found in the narrative of the Last Supper and the prayer of our celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The Kingdom and the Meal –both meals- are connected.

·       So we are here in this place, hearing the Word and waiting for the serving of the Supper. In a certain way, we are like the people Jesus fed. We are in a “deserted place”, a wilderness if you will, and we wish to be fed… because we’re hungry. We want what Jesus wishes to give and what we bring to the table hardly ever seems to be enough and might not seem worthwhile. Yet, as if it were the five loaves and two fish at that lakeshore, Jesus says "Bring them here to me." And we all know what comes next. Took… Blessed…. Broke… Gave… And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.

·       We need to talk about a few serious things. Not finances or congregation size and things like that, but faith and grace.

·       At this point in our history, our congregation is moving into uncharted territory in a particular way. Our past is behind us, and the future is not clear… and it’s scary. I feel it; maybe you do as well. We may well ask what we bring to the table at this time and place.

·       We bring a history, a history that has shown the power of faith to overcome adversity. We bring a faith that has nurtured and sustained us for many years. We carry along an odd sort of courage, one that has seen us through the unknown before. We bring a hunger for God’s Word, for God’s presence, for God’s peace. As in Matthew’s Gospel, And all ate and were filled, and with more to give.

·       It is grace we celebrate here and grace we have received, for ourselves and to give away.

·       With all that’s going on, what do we bring? The answer is basically the same as the Gospel’s story today; not loaves and fishes to be sure, but the things I pointed out before. As always, it isn’t really about us. So it isn’t so much of what we bring, but what Jesus can do with it.