Grace and Peace from Jesus to you all today!
In God there is more than enough—not just for you and me, but—for everyone! But there’s more… First, let me say it another way: In a world where things run out—famine, drought, flood, poverty (unequal distribution of wealth and resources)—Jesus, the Bread of Life, is providing; he is here with us providing what we need. The story starts with Jesus and his disciples trying to hide away a bit from the crowds. Jesus has been among the people, healing and helping those who were sick. Now he takes his crew across the sea and heads up a mountain to sit down for a bit. As soon as they get settled, the story moves right along. They look up, and—Woah!—a large crowd is headed their way. Why is this crowd so big? John mentions that the Jewish festival, Passover, is near; maybe there are extra people headed to the area to go to temple on Passover—or maybe that’s what they’ll be discussing when they all sit down together. But also, “a large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.” These are people in need of something. Jesus has what the people need to feel like they are whole again. Sometimes we feel like what we have, what we are isn’t enough. For the people around Jesus who are sick, or hurt, or the like…they find that Jesus gives something that makes them enough again, makes them have value in the world—what he gives them is his kingdom; he lets them into his kingdom. Anyway, so the crowd is coming and Jesus looks at one of his disciples, Philip. Philip must have been the one in charge of food runs or something—You know, how everyone has their own area, their own job in the class—this must have been Philip’s. “Philip, where are we going to get food for all these people?” Philip probably checks with the class treasurer, Judas, then does some calculations (5000 sandwiches, plus 12 for us, oh, and a few bags of chips…) “Um, Jesus, we don’t have enough money for that—not if we worked for 6 months.” As far as they’re concerned, they’ve got nothin’. But here comes Andrew, he’s a problem solver. “I found 5 loaves and 2 fish!” Then he says those words, “But what are they among so many people?” OH! Those words! They ring with significance from 2nd kings, where there is a huge famine in the land but this one guy comes with an offering to the “man of God”, the prophet Elisha—this guy from Baal-shalisha, the City of Giants! (which is San Francisco if you’re into baseball, or New York for football I think.)—he comes with a bit of food—but not enough for the 100 people it’s meant to feed—for the church staff and volunteers. So what do you tell him? “Thanks for your offering, but it’s not really enough.”? Do you ever wonder if what you have to offer is enough? Does it even make any difference anyway? There are a bunch of people out there who can make a big difference in the world. There are people with so much more money to give to help people—makes my little bit look like nothing. There are people with so much more time or energy, people more talented than I am. There are so many churches that are larger, more exciting, bigger budgets… But us…but me and what I have…what is that among so many? So here’s Andrew: some loaves, a couple fish…but what is that among so many? In Ephesians today we read this: “[God,] by the power at work within us[,] is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine…” “By the power at work within us, [God] is able to accomplish abundantly FAR more than all we can ask or imagine.” Jesus is about to show what that is among so many. What’s that expression now, before you’re about to do something big? Is it still, “hold my beer”? Jesus said—have them sit down. Then he does something amazing, something that puts every one of those people present right into the inbreaking kingdom of God. Just like when he healed all those people before, setting them free, making them whole and valuable—he brought his kingdom to everyone in that multitude. And in Jesus’ kingdom, he takes that question of “is there enough”, or “am I enough?” and blows it out of the water! When I think of the world economy that I experience in my own life, it doesn’t even come close to this picture we see of Jesus today feeding the multitude. He offers this bread, not to anyone based on how hard they work or arbitrary measure of worthiness, but freely and to all. And it’s not just literal carbohydrate rich bread that he offers—rather he offers himself, he offers everything one needs for abundant life. He even takes it to death on a cross when the world around him resists his message. And God’s answer to that: Jesus lives again! His kingdom WILL come, IS coming—and it will not be stopped. That’s the Good News! Now, even as I say that I had that question—"How does one find, how does one see this gospel active in the world?” Then it hits me—we say it at the end of the service. “You are the body of Christ”. It’s through us! Jesus is at work, bringing his kingdom in which there is abundance, in which you have so much worth, in which your gifts, your skills, your abilities are indeed “enough” and so much more than just “enough.” Now: What if that abundance was something we were meant to enact as Jesus’ body in the world? What if Jesus doesn’t invite us to a “just-wait-until” kingdom? What if Jesus invites us to a kingdom that takes root, right now? That would have some spectacular consequences on our lives! For how we live, for what we expect from the world and from ourselves, it’d affect how we vote, how we structure society, how we give…amazing transformation in our lives, in the world right now! These texts aren’t just some religious stories meant to make us know about God or make some cognitive assent that secures afterlife salvation or what-have-you. This is the life changing, world transforming, Word of God we are encountering today! In God there is enough—YOU are enough! Jesus, the Bread of Life, gives himself for you; he is here, making us his body, sharing his kingdom with the world. Comments are closed.
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AuthorRev. Chris Sesvold is currently the pastor at Halfway Creek Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Holmen, WI. Archives
October 2021
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