Dear friends in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive your Word. Silence in us any voice but your own that in hearing we may believe and in believing we may obey your will revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
This famous event, Jesus’ Feeding of the 5,000, has the distinction of being the only miracle story found in all four Gospels. For that fact alone it’s important for us to know it well. But it’s also important because of the differences that distinguish John’s version here from those of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It’s a distinction, I think, that we should pay attention to, for it’s often true that what make us unique is also what makes us interesting…more about this later.
Let’s see how the other three Gospel writers tell the story. Jesus, moved by concern for hungry people, tells his disciples to give them something to eat. They, of course, cannot—can’t, in fact, even imagine why Jesus would suggest such a thing. I can picture his followers’ laundry list of complaints (mainly because I would’ve been the one whining the loudest!):
Well, as you heard, in spite of these bona fide barriers and reluctant reservations, the Lord receives this boy’s meager, minute, measly meal. Then offering to God a prayer of thanks, he offers to the people a feast that fills their bellies—besides 12 baskets of leftovers!
Now I’m guessing that 90% of the sermons or teachings you’ve heard on this lesson fall into one of two camps. The focus of the first is on God’s mighty miracle of multiplication: how Jesus was able to take so little… and turn it into so much…for so many.
It’s a page straight out of the “Jesus-the-miracle-worker handbook.” God honors his prayer, blesses his efforts, and multiplies those meager supplies to make a meal of magnificent amounts. Short and sweet, it’s a dynamic demonstration of God’s abundant goodness, power, and love.
The spotlight of the second highlights the “stone soup effect” of the boy’s generosity. In this modern-day parable, travelers arrive in a town with nothing but a large empty pot; they’re hungry, but times are tough and no one offers them food. Still, they fill their pot with water and set it to boil right in the village square. Inside the pot, they drop a large rock, and then prepare for supper.
One villager asks, “What’s cooking?” “Stone soup,” is their reply. “It’s very tasty,” they assure him; then add, “but it needs a little…something.” He runs home and returns with a few radishes and a rutabaga.
A neighbor lady hears about the soup, and offers up a few potatoes and carrots. One more brings salt; another, various spices; a third comes with a little butchered meat. More villagers walk up, each adding an ingredient or two. Finally, a nourishing meal is enjoyed by all.
This second or stone soup version illuminates the power of humanity to make a difference, when motivated by the right hook.
Now I’m guessing that elements of both are true—that with God, anything is possible…and one such possibility is that people will sometimes actually live in the way that God intends! But…I want to suggest that, especially here in John’s account, there may be a third version to ponder.
The first two clues that John’s story is different are found in the second verse of today’s Gospel lesson. It reads: A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick (6:2). What words here make you wonder if something ELSE is going on?
– kept…it almost has a nagging quality about it, don’t you think?
– signs…maybe they’re more eager to be entertained than to be changed.
The third clue is what I mentioned earlier: something is missing here. The other gospels refer to Jesus’ sense of empathy: Matthew and Mark use the word compassion; Luke says that Jesus welcomed the people. Here there is no reference like that—certainly the Lord feeds them, but, unlike the other three gospel writers, John’s Jesus seems to have another focus in mind.
Finally, in v. 15 we see a fourth clue to ponder. Says John, the mob is so amazed by the miracle, that Jesus has to sneak away like a thief in the night because they wantto take him…and force him…to be king!
What does that say to you? What were the people’s priorities?
They wanted a miracle worker in office. You can almost picture the people with their pom-poms chanting: Jesus, Jesus, he’s our man, if he can’t do it…NO ONE CAN! (I’m glad to hear that some of you haven’t lost your school spirit!!)
But in this point, I confess for myself and, I think, for you, as well as for the rest of the world—that’s exactly who we want Jesus to be for us: a miracle worker, a Mr. Fix-it, a Fairy Godmother who can wave her wand, say bibbity, bobbity, boo! and make our difficulties disappear, fix the economy, bring world peace, heal the environment, provide affordable health care… and…clean-up the litter along the highway!
I think we have a great portrait here of Jesus as…(don’t laugh!)…a community organizer! Now, I’m not talking about the caricature—the do-gooders that do stuff for people until they burn themselves out.
I’m talking about our AFACT model of community organizing. We wholeheartedly embrace what is commonly called The Iron Rule of Power:
Never do for others what they can do for themselves.
Here’s a question for you: Why is that rule important?
– It promotes self-sufficiency, as in the proverb: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day…Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
– And without it, people
▪ become dependent on others.
▪ lose their sense of self-esteem.
▪ will hope for more miracle workers…who will fail them.
▪ will then become permanently hopeless and helpless.
I see both sides of this equation hard at work in today’s gospel. On the negative side: after feeding these strangers, they respond not with thanks, but with a plot to kidnap Jesus, overthrow the government, and force him to be their king. They have no interest in fending for themselves; they want a miracle worker, a mighty maitre d’, a magician as their ruler.
On the positive side, instead of snapping his fingers to fix the problem, Jesus first shares the dilemma with his friends, the people with whom he has a relationship—he helps them see the problem. Then he enlists them in the solution by putting them to work distributing the food and gathering the leftovers. It’s a hands-on lesson of that iron rule of power.
The good news, which is also challenging news, is that truly, Jesus is our man. Yet, Jesus loves us far too much to use a wand to wipe away our problems. He will help us; he will lead us; and he will bless us—in ways that we can’t even imagine. But often, he will help and bless us by helping us help ourselves and by helping us help others help themselves. That, I firmly believe, is how you and I are called to be the Body of Christ in the world. Thanks be to God for that calling. Amen.
Pastor Scott Fuller