Sermon - 2014-08-03

Isaiah 55:1-5

Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21

Romans 9:1-5

Matthew 14:13-21

The feeding of the five thousand is a story that we hear time and time again.  It reminds us of how God provides for all our earthly needs.  Giving to us all that we need, but that there is enough left over.  There is an abundance of food as well as an abundance of God’s grace and mercy for the people.  For us, we have heard the story so often that we can simply say “the feeding of the five thousand” and for many people they know what you mean.  

Yet, I want to remind you today, what it meant for the people, who were hearing it for the very first time, some 2000 years ago.  The people who were gathered there to hear this Messiah, this Chosen One of God, to hear a message from God. To be filled with hope for the future.  The people sacrificed by leaving their home, their work, and in doing so gave up those days earnings.  Remember, there was not a bank where they kept their money, there was not a stock market in which people invested to yield returns.  If you didn’t work, you didn’t eat.  They would live, paycheck to paycheck. It was only the rich and powerful that held the abundance. They did not need to worry about food, or anything else, but that was because they would take it from others.   

When the people fell upon hard times of sickness, a broken leg, or something else that held them back, they would rely upon the generosity of others.  That was there support system.  They relied upon one another. They relied upon the good weather, that they would be sustained because of their faith in God, and the work that they did.  It was so contradiction to the world in which the people lived in.  Living in a world of scarsity and fear and only the very wealthy, the leaders of rulers and royalty would have enough wealth because they had it from the weak and poor majority of people.  

We may think, oh, that was so long ago.  I am glad that we live in an age in which there is food in our homes, banks to place our money, and a health care system to care for us.  However, there have been years including this one when we have experienced more water than we needed to the point where we could not plant some of the fields that we would have liked.  In California, they are experiencing drought, to the point where the crops are dying.  We still rely upon the generosity and abundance of God’s grace and mercy for us every single day, year, and throughout our life.  We gather together as a community to work together for the care of one another.  

So, we should never forget that foundation, that truth that God is our sustainer.  We hear this echoed throughout other parts of our worship, and times that are shared with the disciples.  Within the Lord’s Prayer, we say, “give us this day our daily bread” to remind us that our physical sustenance and so much more are given to us by God. God gathers us together and binds us together in community to care for one another.

Jesus calls all of his disciples together, shares with them all that they need, and even his own self.  He calls them to gather at the table.  He shares with them not only what they physically need, but gives to them the very spiritual food for which they have been searching.  They receive the body and blood of their Messiah so that they may have a relationship with God just as God had intended the relationship to be.  

This is why we celebrate communion, to be reminded of how God gathers us together, God provides for us in ways for which we have been longing and searching in so many other things.  Thanks be to God, God has shared this with us.  Amen.