|
First
Reading
|
Psalm |
Epistle |
Gospel |
| Joshua 24: 1–2a, 14–18
|
Psalm
34:15–22
|
Ephesians 6:10-20 |
John 6:56–69
|
It is sometimes called the feeding of the multitude and other times the miracle of the loaves and fishes, but it seemed to have occurred (perhaps on several occasions) in a lonely place, after Jesus had finished teaching what was considered a large crowd. It was likely that no one had anticipated how late it would be. Jesus realized that the people were hungry and asked the disciples to feed them. The disciples gave the same customary responses that we might have given. “Send them away, let them with all due haste go back into town, refer them to the Salvation Army or welfare office, but let’s get them off our backs”.
Jesus said no! Examples of discipleship are not necessarily easy tasks. Disciples must face situations, not avoid them or explain them away. You give them something to eat, Jesus insisted. Again the disciples tried a second time to make it easy on themselves. “We don’t have enough food, just a few loaves of bread and fish. Even if we try, we will fail and all will starve.” Jesus replied, remain calm, make the people sit down, and begin to share what you do have. Later as the story was retold it was seen as a miracle, a sign of God feeding a multitude from a paucity of resources.
It has been observed that humanity has advanced the most, not by the discovery of fire or the invention of the wheel, but by the learning of sharing and cooperation. Indeed even in our age that we consider so sophisticated and technologically advanced, it is cooperation and sharing that is both the most difficult and most rewarding. Yet the children of the merger of these two are usually far greater prosperity, peace, and understanding than initially anticipated.
Some of you know that I just returned from Singapore, a small island nation of 4 million. Forty years ago it would have been considered a developing nation, but no longer. World famous architects like I.M. Paye, the architect for the Johnson Art Museum, design its shopping malls. Its public transportation system is more advanced and comfortable than any in the United States. It is a truly multicultural society, and if you were dropped there and didn’t know, you would find it difficult by the faces you met, to identify the country. Signs are not only in three languages, but three different alphabets. Its people think of their home as a global city. They welcome the responsibilities of the world and do not fear the hard process of working with other countries. They know the traditional barriers of race, religion, nationalism, and geographical distance are no longer insurmountable or serve as excuses for isolation. In some sense Singapore is a sign that the hard work of cooperation, mutual respect and openness to others pay off for progress and welfare of the larger society.
In a sense the world is still a lonely place and people are still go hungry. Over two thousand years ago, Jesus gave his disciples an example, a way that would feed the forces of cooperation and sharing, and produce a healthy and promising heritage for the world’s children. Today’s lessons do not minimize the difficulty of this task. Embarrassingly today’s Gospel lesson (like last Sunday’s) reveals the arguments and fights early Christians were having among themselves in assuming the hard tasks. Yet now as then, if we face the hard issues, deal with the difficult situations, and not try to sweep or dismiss them, the miracle of God’s abundant grace will be repeated again and again.
And I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.
