7th Sunday after Pentecost

Matthew 14:13-21

“It’s About Serving Others”

How many times do you have to be told something before you remember it?  One of the things I’m still trying to learn is that if something is important then it’s important to tell it over and over again.  The early church must have thought it important that we know the account of the feeding of the multitudes.  This is the only story told in all four gospels.  Two of them included two stories of 4000 and 5000 being miraculously fed.  This must be important.  There has got to be something we dare not miss, so listen again as Matthew tells the story of the feeding of the multitudes.

13Now 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. 14When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15When 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.” 16Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19Then 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. 20And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. (Matthew 14:13-21 NRSV)

First you need to know that what Jesus heard was that John the Baptizer had been killed as the result of a foolish promise by King Herod following his step-daughter’s dance that would have made even Nigel Lythgoe happy.  Some believe that John had served as Jesus’ mentor and spiritual guide during his formative years.  Jesus may have even been a disciple of John before he was baptized and heard God call him his own beloved Son.  At the least we’re told that John is Jesus’ cousin.  His death was bad news.

But you also need to know that before Matthew told us about John’s death he told us about Jesus’ trip to his home town of Nazareth.  He’d been on a teaching/healing trip and things were going very well until he stopped to visit his family and old friends.  They started remembering him as the little boy who hung around his father’s carpenter shop.  They couldn’t believe that Jesus was someone special and so, “he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.” (Mattew 13:58)  Rejection is a difficult pill to swallow.

Have you ever received bad news?  How did you respond?  Have you ever been rejected?  How did you feel?  Jesus felt a need to talk to God and so decided to go to a deserted place by himself.  Matthew reports that Jesus went away by himself to pray often.  Jesus learned during the wilderness temptation that God was a source of wisdom and power.  If anyone needed wise advice and a source of power at that moment it was Jesus.  You know how he felt.  You’ve been there.

But after he arrived at the deserted place it didn’t stay deserted very long.  Others heard he was there and searched him out.  And before anyone knew what was happening there were 5000 men plus women and children.  I realized this week how many 5000 is.  There aren’t many towns in Missouri with 5000 residents.  How many can you name within 50 miles of Kennett?  That’s a lot of people and they all came to hear him teach and be cured.

This kind of work was the farthest from Jesus mind when he left that morning.  But we learn an important character trait.  Jesus looked at the crowd and had compassion for them.  Compassion is the word that often describes what Jesus is feeling right before he makes a difference in someone’s life.  He saw the crowd “with passion” and decided to do something to help.  Compassion is defined as “to be moved as to one’s bowels, hence to be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity)”  We carry this understanding on today when we talk about “gut feelings”. 

How do people see your compassion?  I know about the sports teams and the children and the schools.  You’ve displayed your passion for those things and Delta Children’s Home, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, even 1st UMC.  Are there other experiences that drive you to action?  The news has recently been reporting about a little girl in the northwest who heard about children without clean drinking water.  She decided that instead of getting birthday presents she’d like her guests to give money to a program that works to provide clean water.  She’d raised a little more than $300 for her cause.  Shortly after her birthday the young girl was killed in an auto accident.  Her parents decided that the best way to honor their daughter was to continue her cause.  Last I saw they’d raised more than $600,000.  Now that’s compassion.  Jesus had compassion for those 5000+ and acted even though he’d come to this deserted place for other reasons.

It was a good day.  Many were healed but Jesus’ disciple noticed the sun going down.  They went to Jesus and asked him to dismiss the crowd so they could go find themselves something to eat.  Can you imagine their surprise when he responded, “They need not go away, YOU FEED THEM.”  Say What?!  I can imagine them taking a quick inventory of their resources; five loaves and two fish.  I wonder if Jesus had to repeat himself.  I wonder if they asked for clarification.  I certainly would have.  Five loaves and two fish weren’t really even enough for the 12 disciples plus Jesus.  The words echoed in their minds, “you feed them.”

When they reported their resources (probably with a frown) Jesus asked that they give the five loaves and two fish to him.  They did.  Then he looked to heaven because Jesus knew that the source of all things is God and he blessed, then broke, then gave the feast back to the disciples.  Wait, I forgot something.  First Jesus had the crowd sit down on the grass.  I’ve often told others that even Jesus couldn’t do anything until everybody sat down and shut up.  (but I doubt Jesus used the words “shut up”)  Before the miracle happened he organized the crowd.  Then he looked to heaven, blest, broke, and gave the Disciple’s back their five loaves and two fish.  Except it wasn’t five loaves and two fish.  It was more.

Many scholars have spent time trying to explain what happened next.  I guess that’s why I’m not a scholar.  I don’t care how it happened.  I don’t want to try to explain the miracle.  Like the gospel writers who told this story six times, I just want you to know today that 5000 men plus women and children were fed that day and afterward twelve baskets of leftovers were gathered by the disciples.

I also want you to notice that the Disciples didn’t give Jesus a half a loaf of bread and two-tenths of a fish.  They didn’t even offer two and a half loaves and one fish.  They gave it all to Jesus.  I know we often talk in terms of a ten percent tithe when we talk about our offerings to God.  But the truth is, if we want to be part of something miraculous we have to offer it all to God.  But notice what happens to the all Jesus received.  After looking to heaven, blessing, and breaking Jesus gave it all back to be distributed for the needs of those for whom he had compassion.  And after everyone had been fed there were twelve baskets left over to feed the disciples where before there had been only five loaves and two fish.

The disciples were called to be the carriers of God’s miracle that day on the deserted hillside.  I believe the early church wanted all those who would become followers of Jesus Christ to claim that role for all eternity.  Too often we see a need, our gut churns within us with compassion and a desire to make a difference but we’re stopped after a quick inventory of our resources.  The problem is so big and what we have is so small.  We ask ourselves what difference we might make and in that question our problem is revealed.  Because the truth is that with our resources we can do very little.  But when we offer those resources to God miracles occur.  The world is changed. People are fed.  Clean water runs free.  Peace begins to break out. And God’s Kingdom comes near.

Why was this story so important to the early church?  One of the essential components of Christian faith is the understanding that God has decided in God’s great witness, to use us to perfect the world.  But we can’t do it by ourselves.  But with God all things are possible.  Become aware of what your gut is telling you this week.  What needs to be done to make Kennett a better place to live?  Who needs help and what  will change the circumstance?  Become aware of your passions, take inventory of your resources, offer it all to God and wait.  The Church tells us that something special will happen.

Advertisement