Readings: Romans 9: 1-5, Matthew 14: 13-21
Let us pray. May the words of my mouth and the
understandings of our hearts be acceptable to you O God, our rock and our
sustainer.
I wonder how today’s online media would
have reported on the story of the feeding of the 5000. Would the headlines have shouted out ‘Miracle
feeding reported on Galilean hills’ or more likely ‘Outrageous claims from
extremist sect’ or even more likely ‘Reported gathering of terrorists in
Galilean hills? tweets roving reporter’.
Interesting thought – we would have a whole bunch of blurry quickly
snapped photos, a selfie or two with at least a disciple in the background and
lots of comments on what it was all about from rather opinionated non-engagers.
And whilst I know without doubt that the
ODT would have sought to place this gathering in its context and talked to some
key people, I am not sure that many of the roving paparazzi would have been
bothered.
For you see, it’s all about context. Jesus is hurting – deeply disturbed and
needing the peace of the hills to mourn, to remember and to pray. His cousin has been murdered by Herod, his
head chopped off - on a whim you might say. And all day they have been
surrounded by people, unable to get away from the demands of teaching and
healing and caring. I have no doubt the
well had pretty much run dry for Jesus and to hear that there was a huge crowd
needing his attention again. Well,
enough, we might have said – as the disciples did!
Paul too is in despair - in the passage we
heard from Romans– he is devastated, heartbroken at the closed ears and the
division of the Jews, that his own people are refusing to receive God’s gift of
the Gospel, to accept the reconciliation with God offered through Christ. He is so distressed that he even says
something he knows is silly – he tries to solve it himself; offering up his own
relationship with Christ, bargaining with God as if that will make a
difference.
And then Paul reminds himself and the
people that God’s mercy and compassion in the person of Jesus are greatest in
our heartbreak, that in the midst of this pain ‘Christ is over all, God blessed
forever.’ The compassion and love of Christ
will triumph over the hard hearts of the unhearing
There is a special was of putting this
found in Jeremiah where the Rabbis note that God writes the Word, the Law on
our hearts rather than in our hearts, so that when he heart breaks the word
falls into it.[1] We
come to know God more fully when we come to share in the heartbreak of God’s
love rejected. A powerful analogy.
So Jesus, battered and bruised, hunting
sanctuary, heartbroken at the death of John, pursued by people who have need of
him – contrary to our expectation, he overrides the disciples who try to turn
the people away and turns in mercy and compassion to the needs of the
people. He shows us the miracle of
plenty that comes from compassion, in the midst of heartbreak.
And the early church must have thought this
a powerfully important message – it is the only miracle story found in all four
Gospels and it pointed to the very heart of the Gospel message – God love and
compassion for the world.
We find this story in three strong messages
for us today:
Firstly God is love. Jesus, despite incredible pressures to the
contrary, showed us that compassion for the people was his prime
motivation. And it was a compassion that
cares deeply about the most basic needs of all of us. Here it was food for the hungry, but it
equally could be shelter, equality, justice, peace, spiritual wholeness – all
the things that the needy of the world, have a basic right to. In the midst of all the strife of our lives,
compassion for others is the gift most needed and the gift most valued by
Jesus.
Secondly Jesus teaches us what it means to
be a disciple. Jesus did not feed the
five thousand – he fed the twelve and they fed the five thousand. He gave it to the disciples to do. God has entrusted us to be the body of Christ
– to express our faith in concrete acts of love, justice and compassion towards
others, to reach out to the least of our brothers and sisters – the hungry, the
thirsty, the imprisoned. We have been
nourished – how are we passing that on?
Are we with the disciples before Jesus blessed the food, refusing to see
how what they had could feed such a multitude, or are with them after, hands
and baskets full to overflowing with the generosity of Christ in our lives?
Thirdly this Gospel story reminds us that
God will provide. Not necessarily in the
things that we think we need before we start, but rather in what we need as we
are on the journey. It is as if we are
asked to plant that small seed of beginning and see the power of love and
compassion that will make it grow beyond our wildest imaginings. Too often we use that excuse don’t we? I do anyway!
My small contribution isn’t going to make a difference so I will just
pass on. A story – a few weeks ago I was
walking along George St – probably a Sunday evening I think. And I passed a young man who got as far as
saying ‘excuse me’ before I had passed out of hearing. I walked two blocks of the street in debate –
probably just begging, spent it all on booze or games or drugs, I have money, I
am called to give, to be generous to those who have need, and not count the
cost, silly to go back, don’t be a wally, but...but...I turned back, I talked
with the young man, discovered he wanted $4 for the bus back to Mosgiel but was
only asking for $2 so he wouldn’t put too much on one person. I gave him $4, asked him to use it well and
continued on my way. I don’t know what
he did with it – and you know I don’t care.
It was an incredibly small thing to do, as was my refusal to engage, but
the act of giving was one of the most rewarding and special God moments I have
had. I smiled all the way to wherever I
was going.
And the last point to make today from this
story of the miracle of compassion.
Special things will happen when we do this
in community – as the body of Christ working together for the healing of the
world. When the disciples worked together and followed Jesus urgings, something
happened, something bigger and more powerful than their individual
efforts. If we work together, in all of
our diversity, as the one body seeking to bring Christ’s abundance to the
world, then miracles can happen. It is
not a promise for the absence of pain or struggle but it is a promise that God
is with us and that the love of God will prevail against the closed ears and
the hardened hearts of the world and that the compassion of Christ Jesus is
known most deeply in the pain and the suffering of the world.
The story of the loaves and fishes set on a
hillside in Galilee is indeed at the very heart of the Gospel message – a story
of compassionate love, trusting discipleship and the power of ministry anchored
together in the promise of Jesus. For
this we say thanks be to God.
Margaret Garland
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