Mark 6:30-44 --- --- --- Posy Jackson
July 20, 2003 --- St. Matthew's, Austin
Now this is a really familiar story, so lets review the scene for a minute:
there are 5,000 men (which means probably 7 or 8 thousand people counting
women and children) who were so intent on getting a glimpse of Jesus and
hearing a word from him that they followed him and his disciples all the way
to some deserted place miles away from their towns and villages.
It's late in the day and Jesus has been teaching "many things" until it
has grown late (which in a culture without electricity means that it's
near dark).
The disciples are concerned that all these people haven't eaten and
that they would need to walk some considerable distance to get back
where they came from and where they can find food - they're in the
middle of nowhere remember - so they tell Jesus - they actually command
him to "send them away", dismiss the people so they can head back to where
they came from and their needs could be met. They could get
something to eat.
And how does Jesus respond to this demand? He turns to his disciples
and says "You give them something to eat". In other words, "I'm not going
to ask them to turn around and walk miles back to their towns. You solve the
problem."
And so it starts - the familiar litany of the advisor...that's us too,
by the way, you know, that part of us that knows just how someone else
ought to tackle a problem. And the disciples sound like every committee
you've ever heard when they don't want to do something themselves. "Us?"
they're thinking, "you want us to do something about it? No, not us.
We're telling you to deal with this. We don't have that kind of money.
You're talking about nearly a year's wages. Surely you don't really
expect us to pay for enough food for all of these people and then just
give it away to them, do you? It's getting dark and we don't know the
territory...we wouldn't know where to get food... we can't imagine how
to do this... how could you expect us to do something this impossible?
What are you thinking?
Instead of addressing these specific objections and the rising
incredulity and panic in the disciples voices, Jesus simply says "How
many loaves have you? Go and see." So they take off among the throngs of
people to find out if anybody has anything. You can imagine the
grumbling, the wondering if Jesus has been out in the sun too long, or
if this is some exercise in faithfulness that he's going to turn into a
parable when they get back. They certainly don't go out there expecting
to find much of anything at all.
But they actually come up with five loaves of bread and two fish - for
seven or eight thousand people. Five loaves and two fish would feed four
people, at best (if they weren't teenagers that is). But Jesus orders
them to them to get the crowd to sit down in groups. Again, you can
imagine the eyes rolling as they go about this task, wondering what the
point is since there isn't even enough food for all of them to eat and
be satisfied. But they did it, to their credit. They didn't have a lot
of faith but at least they were obedient.
And Jesus, without saying another word, took the offering from the crowd and
performed the familiar actions we know as the Eucharist with the food. He
took the bread and the fish, blessed them, and broke them into pieces and
gave them to the disciples to feed to the assembled hordes. And lo and
behold, there was enough for everyone. And there were twelve baskets
left over. Food in abundance, from unbelievable scarcity. All ate and
were filled. (Even the women and children who weren't counted as being
in attendance in the first place).
Now we could talk about this story as the miracle that it surely is. And
we could talk about it as an apt metaphor for the church, because Jesus
becomes their leader, their shepherd, teaches them with the Word and
then finishes with a eucharist of bread and fish. But I'd like to
concentrate on the disciples...because that's what we are. We are the
followers of Christ, commissioned by our baptismal rite.
Lets review some of the vows that make up that rite: "Do you turn to
Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior?" You answered "I do" to
that, or someone did on your behalf.
"Do you put your whole trust in His faith and love?" You said "I do" to
that one too.
"Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord?" You agreed to that
one also.
So, if you said you would trust and obey, then you'll do whatever Jesus
tells you to do, right?
Well let me review for you what he asked you - as his disciples - to do
in this morning's Gospel reading.
He said "You feed them." Not him, not the people themselves, you - the
disciples, the close followers of Jesus, the ones who believe.
"You feed them."
Do you understand what that means? It means that its up to us to take
care of the problems of scarcity and lack in this world. Not alone, mind
you, not with the very meager resources that we bring to the problem.
But with the help and support of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
It is not acceptable for us to distance ourselves from other peoples'
needs. It is not acceptable for us to say we don't have the time or the
money or any of the resources to solve the problem. It's not acceptable
for us not to care and to turn away or to assuage our guilt with
solutions offered in an advisory capacity. Jesus doesn't need our
advice. He doesn't need our excuses, whether they're given out of
laziness or insecurity or fear of failure, or an honest assessment of our
abilities and resources. Jesus turned to his disciples and said "You feed
them."
In other words: "You stand up and become a part of the solution to this
problem. You make yourself available to be my agent, my helper. You be
willing and compassionate enough to want to take care of people who are in
need yourself. Your self. I'm not asking you to do it all. I'm asking to
have faith that together we can do it, that I can empower you to do what
needs to be done, that between us we have more than enough resources to
get the job done. I'm asking you to care enough not to back away from
need and get out of your responsibility as a human being to another
human being by asking somebody else to take care of it."
"You feed them." Jesus is saying "I'm asking you to to be willing to serve
your fellow human beings, yourself, no matter how large a task it seems, no
matter how late in the day it is, no matter how tired and hungry you are."
Jesus is telling us to feed the hungry and needy of this world. With
our own hands and feet and heart. He said it plainly and clearly - "You
feed them." I'm asking you to give what you have, your time, your
willingness, yourself. You feed them. Get out of your homes and your cars
and your safe insulated lives, put down your cell phones and your pet
projects, put away your fears and your resentments and your lack of interest
and feed them. Clothe them. Visit them. Help them through the rough times.
Talk them through the sad times. Hug them when they feel alone and
abandoned. Care what happens to them enough to takecare of their needs
yourself.
Let's make being a Christian a reality. Let's stop processing and
contemplating and lets get out of our pews and do something with all
that piety we've been working on. As The Epistle of James says, "If a
brother or sister is naked or lacks daily food and one of you says to them
'Go in peace. Keep warm and eat your fill' and yet you do not supply their
bodily needs, what is the good of that?" What is the good of that? \
We are the richest and most powerful country in the world and there is no
good reason why a single man, woman or child should go hungry in this
country for even one night. It is an abomination against God and each other
that we let this poverty and lack go on day after day.
We call ourselves Christians and we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord. So lets
do what He tells us to do. Feed them.
