The Eliot Church of Newton

I grew up with a mother who didn’t waste much in the kitchen. She could get more peanut butter sandwiches out of a seemingly empty peanut jar that would give anyone a run for their money.  She could get at least  four or more good meals out of a ham—ham dinner, then scalloped potatoes and ham, ham and mustard sandwiches for lunch, and then when hardly anything was left on the bone, there would be ham and dumpling soup. Our suppers were always sit down meals of meat, potatoes, vegetables…and the next day, for lunch, there was always an array of leftovers from previous meals that we would eat up. Mom would not throw much out—partly because she was a child of the depression, and partly, I suspect it was strategic cooking—when you were the one to be in charge of the meals for five people daily, well, it just sounds smart to have to cook one big dinner a day, and stretch it out creatively for the others. 
My family was very working class, and there weren’t a lot of extras, but there was always abundance when it came to sitting down at the table.  
Whatever we had, leftovers or otherwise, was just good, filling, and nourishing. There was always more than enough.

Jesus knew that there would always be more than enough in his ministry.  It had been a long day of crowds following him—chasing him wherever he went, longing for healing and hope. As he looked over the mob, Jesus had deep compassion. In his heart, he knew what he wanted to do, but he saw this as a teachable moment for the disciples. “Where are we going to buy bread?”  Jesus asks.    “Impossible! It can’t be done!” Philip notes, as he adds up the cost of food for all of those gathered, and Andrew mentions that there is a little boy with five barley loaves and two fish, not really anything, in the light of the situation.

But when Jesus takes those few loaves, and two fish, and gives thanks to God for them, those few loaves and fish stretched to feed well over 5,000 men, plus even more women and children. All ate as much as they wanted.
As much as they wanted. 
And Jesus makes sure the fragments of leftovers, so that nothing would be lost.

What was left, was still good. Nourishing.
I have always wondered what they did with those leftovers.

How on earth did everyone eat until they were full when they started out with so little? It was a miracle!

In our modern reading of these miracle texts, we have a tendency to rationalize about the ideas of miracles. With this story, especially, some will say the miracle was that a single act of generosity (the boy with the fish) inspired the crowds to take out their own lunches to share with everyone, and then, of course there was more than enough. 

Biblical scholar, Karen Marie Yust, takes issue with this modern reading, as she argues that it takes away the point that John is trying to make.   She writes, “Instead of fostering an exploration of God’s ability to act in surprising ways and transform human expectations, the shame based version of the story focuses on the ability of person to solve their own problems and justifies shaming as a means of motivating proper human behavior. God is no longer a miracle-worker unbounded by human laws, but a social manipulator who reminds people to share. Behavioral modification replaces amazing grace as the core of the story.” 

Once, I suggested how this miracle was about sharing to a confirmand. The confirmand looked at me and shook his head.   “Jesus was God. He had the power.! “I shut my mouth. Knowing that God can be a surprise and believing the power of God, is a good thing, I learned that day.

The miracle, the sign, points to Jesus and the power of God.
The miracle teaches us, as God’s disciples, that “there is a way out of no way”
The miracle reminds us, that there is indeed, Amazing Grace, with more than enough to go around. 

What if we lived like this?
What if we lived as if there were more than enough, and really trusted God’s providence?

As a community of faith, what hopes do we have, in spite of perceived shortage and scarcity? 

Kari Yust asks us, “Do we see our ministry as a venue for God’s glory and mercy to break forth in the world?” or “as a means to facilitate the congregation’s survival as an organization?”[i]

Obviously, these are really important questions during a time of recession, when we are concerned with shrinking endowments and rising costs. We are tempted to think of survival and maintenance, which can distract us from our true mission.

And what is our mission, as a church? Yust suggests that the focus of our ministry “is not what good people decide is reasonable to undertake in order to meet basic needs, but ministry is about multiplying resources so that what we offer is not a social handout, but becomes a revelation of amazing grace.”

Our story today reminds us that in the hands of Jesus, little can become much, the few can become many, and the weak become strong.[ii]   God is responding to our prayers for the least of these, for the needs of the world, by asking us, “What do we have?”

What do we have? What do we have that is good news, amazing grace, welcoming love to offer our corner of Newton, and the world…What is the hope we have for our lives of faith, as individuals, and as a congregation?

What is it that the crowds are looking for today? What hunger are people looking to fill when we see crowds streaming to shopping malls, athletic centers, clogging up traffic on the way to the Cape? 
What is it that they need? What is it that you need?
What are you hungry for?

My friends, we have what they need. Community. Hope. Safe sanctuary. The love of God.

The disciples, so long ago, saw scarcity, where Jesus saw abundance and possibility. Twelve baskets left over, much more than enough, and nothing was lost.  

When discussing this story, a colleague told me about an experience she had:

“We were having an evening Vacation Bible School that year, with a supper planned each evening before our lessons. However, no one stepped up for the last evening, so someone suggested that we do a Loaves and Fishes potluck, have everyone bring a bag supper, and put them all together to share. When the time came to open up all the bags, one little girl had taken a great big bite out of her peanut butter sandwich, because she was afraid that she would not have enough if she shared.”

I get that little girl’s fear. Her experience, however, showed her, that there was more than enough for dinner that night, as all of the bags were unpacked.

At the root of scarcity thinking is fear. The end of our reading teaches us a little bit about fear, too. Fear makes us feel like we’re sinking, sinking in debt, sinking in despair, sinking in depression, sinking in being overwhelmed with it all. Fear makes us grab onto what we think we can do to save ourselves,
And when we are busy doing that, we miss the hand that is held out to us,
Telling us to not fear, not to struggle,
But to realize that God is God,
And we are not,
And that we can float, in trust, on top of the water, relaxing, as Kierkegaard said, on the buoyancy of God, knowing there will always be a way out of no way, and that there will always be more than enough, with leftovers to boot.[iii]  

Amen.