The Rev. Neale L. Miller

Sermon for August 3, 2008

Texts: Isaiah 55:1-5/Matthew 14:13-21

Title:  “You Give Them Something!”

              The lessons read on Sunday morning sometimes have an ambiguous beginning. A case in point is the lesson I just read.  The lesson began, as you may recall, “Now when Jesus heard this.” As I read those words a question undoubtedly arose in the minds of some of you. “What did Jesus hear?”

              I can satisfy your curiosity.  What did Jesus hear? Word had just reached Jesus that king Herod had beheaded John the Baptist.  Matthew leaves us to imagine how Jesus might have greeted the news, telling us only that upon hearing it the Lord “withdrew from [where he was] in a boat to a deserted place by himself.” 

              That deserted place may well have matched the mood in which Jesus found himself. Solitude is sometimes the only company we want when we are burdened by a heavy heart. A change of scene.  Get in the car and drive. Take the phone off the hook. Distance is what we crave. Distance, not to outrun the emotional consequences of an event, but distance that we might shape some sort of response to what we have experienced, that’s what we want, that’s what we need.

              If Jesus had, in fact, sought the solitude of a deserted place to sort things out, his solitude was short lived. People in the countryside got wind that Jesus was in the neighborhood and converged on the place where he was.

              Life’s obligations sometimes take precedent over personal preferences, even when one is emotional unavailable to face those obligations. A partner in solitude with memories of John, Jesus may not have been at a place where he could offer his best to the crowds who sought him out, but moved with compassion by the needs of those who came to him, he offered what he had. Matthew gives us little information concerning what transpired as the crowds gathered around Jesus, stating simply that he “cured their sick.” 

              A reputation for curing the sick, teaching and preaching preceded Jesus as he made his rounds in Galilee.  The gospel’s frequently use the word “authority” to describe his appeal.  He taught with an authority the religious leaders of the day did not possess.

              It was a particular kind of authority Jesus summoned in our morning’s lesson.  It was an authority that allowed Jesus, and his disciples [we will get to them in a minute], to feed “five thousand men, besides [Matthew tells us] women and children” on just five loaves and two fish.

              Having repeatedly witnessed Jesus’ authority on display, the capacity of the Lord to do just about anything would hardly have surprised the disciples. But on this occasion with a crowd of “five thousand men, besides women and children,” gathered around them, the issue of authority would be presented to the disciples in a different way.

              The scene is recreated in our lesson. It appears that Jesus was so caught up in healing the sick that time had slipped away on him.  The disciples, somewhat less consumed by their duties, saw a problem arising.  You see, some of the people who had gathered around Jesus had come great distances, and with night approaching their access to food was very limited. Jesus needed to be informed, and inform him his disciples did.

               “This is a deserted place [they declared], and the hour is now late, send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” It was a practical enough solution to a potential problem, except they hadn’t reckoned with the issue of Jesus’ authority. Jesus was prepared to act as circumstances dictated, but how he would act had yet to be disclosed to his disciples. What the disciples could not have predicted was that Jesus would turn to them for help. “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”

              Jesus must have realized that the cupboard was bare.  The disciples could only lay their hands on five loaves and two fish. Yet it was quite clear that the message wasn’t getting through to Jesus.  Five loaves and two fish was all they had.

              “You give them something.” Was he joking, or was he challenging them to assemble foraging parties to go out and find provisions? “You give them something.” Perhaps Jesus was too wearied from a trying day to think straight. The disciples’ imaginations lacked sufficient breadth to see beyond the objects at hand, those five loaves and two fish.  Five loaves and two fish to feed five thousand, “plus women and children.” Impossible.

              Jesus had proven to be a man the likes of which people had never seen before, and his disciples were privileged to watch as his reputation expanded. Each of his deeds bore the stamp of authority that was his special gift. What the disciples were slow to appreciate, and would only fully grasp after the Lord was resurrected and they were on their own, was that extent to which Jesus’ authority had been extended to them. What the disciples were slow to grasp was that their vocation to follow Jesus entailed more than merely witnessing the master at work, but was in fact an apprenticeship that would see them continue, and even expand; the work the master had begun.

              Again, the disciples would only come to appreciate the full significance of what their vocation under Jesus entailed after they had faced the challenges, threats and persecution that would be their lot as they took Jesus’ gospel into the world. It was only through seeing their faith and courage repeatedly tested that the disciples would arrive at a place where they could at last claim the authority that had been the Lord’s legacy to them.        

              All that, however, would come later.  Now was now.  “You give them something.” Fact of the matter, in that particular stage of their apprenticeship the disciples weren’t really prepared to give the crowd of five thousand plus much of anything.  Left to their own devices the disciples would have sent the crowd back to their villages and homes unfed.  But they weren’t left to their own devices, Jesus was with them to demonstrate how his authority, an authority he was eager to grant them, could be applied.

              And so as the crowds spread out in all directions nearly as far as the eye could see, Jesus invited his disciples to partner with him in what he would do next. Matthew reports, “[He took] the five loaves and the two fish,…looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, AND THE DISCIPLES GAVE THEM TO THE CROWDS.”

              “You give them something.”  As it turned out the disciples had something to give. Now what they had to give may well not have originated with them, but you better believe that as participants in the feeding of that crowd of over five thousand plus the disciples obtained a new grasp on the power, and, yes, the authority that the Lord chose to display through them. 

              “You give them something.”  Giving is a recurring gospel theme. Jesus gave truth, hope, and healing.  Moreover, giving was the theme to which he constantly returned when describing the central attributes of a life in the Spirit.

              Some of Jesus’ most revered parables focus on giving.  “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and…left him have dead. First a priest, and then a Levite, witnessed the man blooded and suffering chose to pass on by.  A Samaritan, the most unlikely benefactor, moved by pity, bandaged him, and delivered him to an inn where he could be cared for. The Samaritan established his enduring reputation in Scripture as a giver.

              A father gave his younger son the inheritance he requested.  He went out and promptly blew it on a spree of wild living. When the young man came to his senses and returned home, the father gave him a new suit of clothes, a ring, and a banquet that would be talked about for years. Much more importantly, he gave his son the gift of forgiveness, reinstating his son to his place in the household.

              A young man of upstanding reputation approached Jesus asking what he must do to enjoy eternal life.  You might remember Jesus’ response.  He was to give away all he owned and follow the Lord.   

              When Jesus began to lay out for his disciples the path that would eventually lead him to the cross, he charged them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him. The denial of oneself, this giving of oneself, was the cost of discipleship.

              Giving is a recurring theme of the gospel.  When Jesus was at the table for what would be his last supper with his disciples, he took bread, and after having broken it, he gave it to his disciples, “this is my body broken for you, do this in remembrance of me,” and then the cup, “this is the new covenant in my blood,” drink this in remembrance of me.” The communion in which you are invited to participate today memorializes the supreme act of giving. “This is my body broken, this is my blood shed, for you.” 

              “You give them something.”  The disciples were to model their lives, their giving, on Jesus.

              Giving is at the heart of the gospel.  Giving is the very essence of discipleship. A life in Christ is very little else but giving. Yet like Jesus’ disciples you and I often lack sufficient imagination, faith, or will to use the gifts at hand.

              Religious consumerism plagues the church. There are many people in our churches who appreciate and support the church for the services it provides, worship, music, the sacraments, fellowship, and Christian education, but resist almost entirely the whole giving dimension of life of faith. The religious consumer enjoys the privilege of picking and choosing the various church offerings he or she will support, leaving it to others to do the giving, to do the things that are necessary to maintain the offerings they value.

              Three fears plague the religious consumer.  They fear the time requirement a church commitment might entail. There are only so many hours in the day.  They fear the responsibility a church commitment might entail. “I will help but I don’t want any leadership responsibility.”  They fear the personal inconvenience a church commitment might entail. “If I do that I will have rebalance the other parts of my life.” 

              Jesus’ ministry on earth did not begin and end with all the wonderful deeds that bear his name. Much of what he did was done to equip his disciples and other followers for ministry, and at the heart of all that equipping he taught them how to give.         

              Many of you have been approached to take on specific roles in this ministry.  A number of you have been approached to serve on the session.  Some of you have been asked to serve as greeters and ushers.  All of you have been invited to participate in work and clean up days. Yes, we can give through participation. The invitation to sing in the choir, host a coffee fellowship, and participate in a Sunday school class has been extended to everyone. You have been asked to give input on a vision for the church, or to suggest a mission thrust in which the church might engage. There are options for giving around here suited to every talent level and every age group.

              A current emphasis, and you will hear more about this in a moment, is our rotation workshop Sunday school for children and youth.  To make that program happen we need a great deal of help. We need people who are willing to commit to providing leadership in the new Sunday school asking for just a two week commitment in any five week period. Can you read a story, help out with a craft, help with the computer, or are you comfortable in the kitchen perhaps.  You can help us.

              This church is at one of the most vulnerable periods in its history.  We cannot afford the luxury of waiting to see what tomorrow or the next, next month, or next year might turn up.  Nothing will turn up unless each of us show up, not merely to worship once a week and leave, but show up to do what needs doing. Bottom line, we need givers.

              We have been made stewards of wonderful facilities, facilities that have generated an enthusiastic reception among the numerous visitors who have come here to visit since the storm. Gifts numbering tens of thousands of dollars, literally, have been directed to this church by our denomination, churches, and individuals.  People gave, for they believed by giving they could help us become a flourishing ministry.  What we do with the resources we have been given is ours to decide, “ours,” meaning each one of us.

              Peering out to the crowd numbering well over five thousand, Jesus said to his disciples, “You give them something to eat.”  Their response? “Five loaves and two fish” won’t do it. Jesus’ response, “watch me.”

              Jesus never instructed his disciples to do something for which they lacked the tools.  Nor does he expect us to do something for which we lack the tools.  Oh yes, we HAVE the tools.  But will we use the tools? There is a gift each one of you holds in trust from God.  Do not hoard that gift, use it.                

PRAYER

              Eternal Father, whose holy purpose it is that all should live the abundant life, we gather in your presence seeking to learn what it means to live such a life.  Grant that each of us might be open to the lessons you would teach. Grant us relief, dear God, from the preoccupations that undermine and distract us that in these moments of calm we might see ourselves and the lives we are living from a new perspective.

              It is a new perspective, you have taught us to seek, O Lord, sending your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, into the world to model the outlook and response to life that you would have all your children adopt. Yet slow, O Lord, to embrace his example, we live from misadventure to misadventure resolved to charting our own course.  Though we admire
Christ and his teachings, we lack the conviction that mortals like us can live as he lived. Open us to our true potential, O Lord, the reality that we were created for more than we are so often willing to accept.

              Loving God, we are prone to diminish and undervalue our gifts.  We lack both the imagination and courage to fully use what we have been given. We decline opportunities fearing the burden of responsibilities we might be asked to accept.  We fear the inconvenience we might incur should we accept a commitment. We rely upon others to assume responsibility, cultivating excuses to justify our own inaction.

              “You give them something!”  “Lord, we have nothing to give.” Even as Jesus challenged them to expand their horizons, to dare and to take risks, his disciples repeated the refrain, “We have nothing to give.”  Lord, source of all good gifts, have mercy on us for valuing so little the gifts and aptitudes you have given us. Help us, we pray, to amend our attitudes and use that which we have been given as you desire.          

              Lord, abide with those who face stark choices, food or medicine, the doctor or a house note, school tuition or further indebtedness.  Brace those who are consumed by anxiety and stress, who feeling overwhelmed see no options available to them, no place to turn. We pray for those who live with depression, who in their despair can find no relief.

              We lift into your presence those who serve in harm’s way today, the women and men who serve on the nation’s police forces, fire departments, and in other public services where danger lurks.  We pray for teachers, counselors, and coaches who serve as guides and mentors to our youth, praying that they may perform their work with sensitivity, integrity and a generous spirit.

              Lord, abide with those who are incarcerated, those who reside in our nation’s prisons and correctional centers.  May the experience of imprisonment not serve to further isolate and estrange them from the rest of society, but equip them with the means to become contributing members of society.

              Support, O God, those who face personal trauma in whatever guise it may present itself.  Be with those who are fighting illness, those who are in the midst of divorce, those who experience the daily trials of physical rehabilitation, and those who mourn the death of loved ones.  Brace those who are poised to make decisions they will regret, or having made those decisions live in despair.  O Lord, we pray your special intercessions for our own. We pray for Pam, Mary Ann, Rudy, Joyce Peacock, Bob Held Judy Serou.  We pray for Harper that she may gain strength...