As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick...Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied (Matthew 14).
As I look ahead to the task of preaching on Sunday, I am struck at the scandalous, counter-cultural message of this story. I don't think this is a tame story that can or should be watered down. In fact, if we're doing diligence with this or any of the gospel stories, we cannot escape the cosmic transformational message of a God who has come to turn our world and our priorities upside down.
This is not a harmless story where some sick folks are healed and some hungry folks are fed. This is nothing less than a story of radical hospitality devoid of counting costs. In the midst of collective brokenness, notice what Jesus does not do.
For starters when sick people are brought to him, he doesn't ask for insurance cards. Nor does Jesus inquire as to any pre-existing medical conditions. All we are told is that he sees the brokenness, has compassion, and heals. By the way that word "compassion" in the Greek implies "gut wrenching". Jesus' gut is literally turned upside down to the point of nausea as he lovingly yearns for the crowd's healing.
It's one thing for Jesus to heal the sick, but feed the hungry too? Jesus' followers can't begin to imagine how five loaves of bread and two fish will feed thousands. They know what empty pews on Sunday morning look like. In their "numbers-crunching" ledger, it is clear to them that there are way too many people to feed for the amount of food they have. "Send them away" they tell Jesus. "Let someone else feed them. We can't be expected to feed everyone can we?"
You and I know that they stand in the presence of Jesus; the embodiment of the God of abundance, so their talk of scarcity seems ludicrous. It's a no brainer for us to see that in Jesus' presence all will get fed. But I guess the question for me is this: Do we see that same Jesus in our presence today? And if so, do we trust that all will be fed and that God will use us to do the feeding? Do we trust the call to throw caution to the wind, feeding and healing at whatever the cost?
Again, notice what Jesus does not do here. He doesn't force the hungry to sit down and have a Bible study before they can be fed. He doesn't check their communion cards to see if they are "in" or "out". He doesn't make them join the Jesus on the Hillside Church. He doesn't make them pass a theology litmus test. He simply commands his followers to feed everyone. Did you get that? He commands. Jesus doesn't make a polite suggestion of something nice to do. If you are going to follow this guy, you better get your feeding hands ready, because there's actually work to do.
I'm not totally sure where my sermon will end up on Sunday, but these are at least a few thoughts that have been guiding me this week in my prayers and preparations.
Oh and in case you need some reinforcement of the idea that where Jesus is, food will be there also, join us this Sunday morning for Breakfast Church at 9:30 in the downstairs auditorium where worship and breakfast will be combined.
Let the journey begin,
Pastor Doug
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