It's great to be with you here today. Stephanie and I thank you for the warm welcome you have given us since we moved here several months ago. We're enjoying getting to know a lot of you and the great ministry that happens here at Christ Lutheran.
For the last 26 years we served a church in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania--though the definition of mountains back there is just a little different! We moved here to be close to our grandson Reed and our son and daughter-in-law, Matt and Gretchen.
A few weeks ago in his sermon, Pastor John said that if we want to be content, we have to watch the content of what we fill ourselves with. And he made reference to Jesus feeding the 5,000 in Matthew's gospel. And that got me thinking--I'm sure you've noticed that Pastor John has a good way of doing that! He got me thinking about food and eating and it wasn't just that I was ready for lunch!
My background is PA Dutch. Many times people think of the Amish as the only PA Dutch group, but many were German Lutheran like my family. My grandparents spoke PA Dutch, a dialect of German. Food is always a part of PA Dutch life. Stephanie will tell you she was shocked when she first came to eat at our house--the variety and quantity of food was not what she was used to. But she turned out to be a quick learner and our 3 sons will vouch for her ability to provide lots of great food!
That feeling of contentment after a good meal is great--but does it last? No--if we're talking about the merely physical aspects of food, they are gone as quickly as hunger returns and we start thinking about our next meal. But most cultures, not just PA Dutch, put a lot of emphasis on food and eating. I heard not too long ago that the 2 best selling types of non-fiction books are cookbooks and diet books. Maybe they should just publish them together and get it over with.
Along with our emphasis on food go many problems, not just being overweight but being underweight. Various eating disorders plague too many of our young people. Our culture's obsession with appearance has created a serious health problem. And for those without eating disorders there is still a constant barrage of information, some helpful and some not, about what is healthy to eat. There is also the important issue of family mealtime being eroded by busy schedules so that families seldom sit down to eat together. And of course there is the problem of poverty-- local and worldwide --people who are in serious need of food.
I read something a few weeks ago that I had never thought of before--with all the problems related to food and eating, why didn't God create us differently? Kenneth Myers asks the question--why didn't God create us like plants who just photosynthesize? That's a strange thought! You know, just stand out in the sun a little while and get all the energy you need. If you go to City Beach, you can see people trying that! God could have created us that way. So there must be a reason that he didn't.
God certainly had many reasons but perhaps one is that the act of eating --of depending on something outside of ourselves for our survival--is meant to remind us that we are not self-sufficient. Sitting down to a meal should help us learn that we are limited creatures who rely on our creator for life! Saying grace before meals is not an empty ritual, it is a statement of fact that without our gracious God, we can't survive.
The theme of eating and feasting is a frequent one in the Bible. Out in the wilderness God provided the miraculous manna from heaven and water from the rock. (Exodus 16-17) At Mount Sinai after the golden calf episode, God graciously renewed his covenant, calling Moses, Aaron and his sons to a meal in God's presence. (Exodus 24) And there is the Passover meal itself, the central feast for the Jewish people to help them remember God saving them from slavery in Egypt, a feast which every generation of the Jewish people celebrates even to the present day.
In the New Testament, the theme of eating continues--in fact Jesus becomes known for eating with all kinds of sinners to bring them the good news of God's forgiveness and new way for life. Meals with religious leaders, meals with tax collectors and prostitutes. Meals with his own disciples--especially the Passover meal that Jesus transforms into the Lord's Supper that we celebrate still.
They were all meals that confronted people with their human need for food, but also with the fact that it was God who provided for their need. And---this is crucial--that the Lord was present with them in those meal times.
Which brings us to one of Jesus' most famous meals--our Gospel reading for today, the feeding of the 5,000 in John 6. (Note that this is the only miracle of Jesus' that is in all 4 Gospels--must be something important about it.)
On the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee is a place where seven springs of water come out of the ground and flow into the Sea. In Greek its called Heptapegon, in Arabic, Tabgha--that's easier to say! At Tabgha, archeologists have uncovered the remains of a church from the 4th Century AD. The floor of that church is a beautiful mosaic. The mosaic depicts birds, flowers and other plants and near the altar is a mosaic showing a basket of bread and two fish.
Tabgha is the site that early Christians identified as where Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the 5,000 took place. The mosaic in the floor of that 4th century church commemorates that event.
Providing dinner for 5,000!! Stephanie has fed some large family gatherings over the years but nothing like that! How would you like the job of feeding that guest list with no notice? But Jesus recognizes the need and he says to Philip “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”
Maybe Philip was used to these test questions from Jesus but this was a tough one. Philip said, “eight months’ wages wouldn’t buy enough bread for each of them to get a bite.”
He didn’t really answer the question, did he? All he did was point out the immensity of the need, dinner for 5,000 and no Costco where they could buy in bulk and no Visa Card to pay for it. Then Andrew gets involved, “There’s a boy here with five barley loaves and two fish-- but what are they among so many people?”
Philip and Andrew respond as we do so easily in the face of need, they make excuses. “It’ll cost too much. It’s impossible. We don’t have enough to do it.”
But Jesus said “Make the people sit down.” And then they knew he had a plan. And what is the basis of his plan? A small boy with five loaves and two fish. Jesus takes the loaves, gives thanks and distributes the food. And after all had eaten he told the disciples to collect the leftovers. And they filled 12 baskets with what was left.
Jesus created this great banquet, this astounding miracle. In trying to understand this miracle sometimes people attempt to explain it away saying something like--"it wasn't really a miracle--it was just that after the little boy shared, it inspired others to share and there was enough for all." Now that would be great in itself--but I believe something far more happened here. Something that Jesus made happen. After all, if it was just people sharing, why did the crowd react as they did, wanting to make Jesus king because he could feed them? The crowd knew that something incredible had happened.
Jesus was very concerned for the people's physical needs. Christ's people must be concerned for the physical needs of others--- but that's not all.
Notice that the Mission Team that is in Ecuador right now is very concerned about the people's physical needs. There is an update in the today's bulletin about their progress. Service projects, bringing shoes, clothing and medical treatment to meet physical needs--but also teaching Christ's love, sharing the Gospel through VBS in several villages and building a church--a place of worship where the people can grow spiritually.
So the meal was over in Tabgha. But the event didn't end with the collecting of the 12 baskets of leftovers. The people saw the miracle and said, "This is the prophet we've been waiting for!" But Jesus knew what they meant--they intended to come and make him king by force. So he quietly left for a mountain hideaway.
The people misunderstood. You and I never misunderstand the Lord's ways do we?
They misunderstood the meaning of Jesus feeding all those people. They had full bellies and liked the feel of that. "If Jesus could do that--he should be king!" But that was not Jesus' purpose. Jesus was concerned with their physical hunger--but even more with their spiritual need.
When hearing what happened at Tabgha, our temptation is to see Jesus — who can walk on water, heal the sick, raise the dead and apparently calm not only the seas but fill my stomach — to see him the same way that crowd did.
The temptation is to see a Savior who’s here to simply meet our needs and make our earthly troubles disappear. Bob Kaylor suggests that one can easily begin to see Jesus as a short-order Savior, here to quench all our earthly cravings. Perhaps the 5,000 were thinking, “Hey, with this guy as king, life will be a nonstop buffet!”
If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that many of us consider Jesus with precisely the same attitude. Our lives are filled with cravings--sometimes for good things, sometimes not. We try the secrets to satisfaction touted on magazine covers and we devour the latest self-help books, hoping it will provide the satisfaction we hunger for.
Many of us shop for fulfillment like we shop for groceries. We walk through life loading our cart full of stuff that we hope will cure our cravings for the good life. And at some point, after hearing rumors of his power and talk of his miracles, we make our way to Jesus. Just like everything else, we throw him into our cart, too, attempting — just like the hungry crowds of John’s gospel — to anoint Jesus as the ultimate means to all our temporary, earthly hungers. In the process, even Jesus becomes just another ingredient in a game we play where the goal is simply to get what we want. It’s a journey that, in the end, proves unfulfilling.
John tells us that Jesus sensed the crowd’s desire to throw him into their cart and anoint him as their miracle-working king. This forced him to the mountains until the crowd made its way home. What Jesus knew was that while the people marveled at his miracles, they misunderstood the message. Jesus didn’t come to help people get what they want. No, he came because he himself is exactly what we need. He didn’t come to be a sort of “short-order savior,” there to simply crank out whatever it is that will satisfy our earthly needs. He came to be the spiritual food that we feast on.
Jesus didn’t come as a temporary fix to earthly problems. He came as the perfect answer to eternal questions.
He came to lay down his life and take it back up again, as he himself said (John 10:18). His life, death and resurrection sustain our souls, bringing wholeness, healing and growth. When our souls are fed and filled by the work of Jesus, we may still go through times of illness, unemployment or even a lack of food. But one thing we will never, ever be is — empty.
Furthermore, when we fill ourselves with Jesus the true bread of life, we find that many of our other cravings in life, such as a need for purpose and meaning, become satisfied, freeing us to see the problems that affect our day-to-day lives with contented eyes, inner peace and an eternal perspective. When you see the Lord's purpose in your life, when you see the big picture of life's meaning--all the lesser disappointments and frustrations just don't matter so much.
God created us as creatures who need to eat. Eating reminds us that we are not self-sufficient and that we need the Lord. He provides an incredible bounty of food to enjoy. But all the healthiest foods, all the freshest produce, all the strongest and fittest bodies will not fill the hunger of the human spirit.
Jesus said, "I am the Bread of Life." John 6:48
May we feast on the Bread of Life that offers true nourishment for our souls. May we follow Jesus not so that he can meet our needs but rather knowing that he is all we need.
In the words of the prophet Isaiah : Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare (Isaiah 55:2 NIV). AMEN
