This is my 9th sermon preached at Faith Lutheran in Bagley, and the first time I preached since Minnesota started dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. In a mostly-empty and dark sanctuary, it was nice to be in the pulpit once again.
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Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21
Grace and Peace to you from God our Loving Provider, and the Food For All Who Are Hungry, Jesus the Christ, Amen
It's been a while, friends. And what a time it's been. Times of a horrific global pandemic, social upheaval and tremendous uncertainty about the world, we find ourselves in a familiar and life-giving Gospel text. It doesn't start out that way, however. It's probably because the scholars who developed the Revised Common Lectionary were focused on a Northern Hemisphere audience, but it’s kinda fun how some of these texts line up with summer. This text, and a few others this summer begin with a note about Jesus wanting to retreat away from the crowds. Jesus was busy and popular and people wanted to hear the Messiah speak. For good reasons, of course, but Jesus would need time away, and attempt to find rest. While seemingly never getting it for long, even when he finally goes off into a boat and a storm brews, but that’s another sermon for another day.
This time, Jesus wants to socially distance from the people because in the passage just before this, he learned of his cousin John the Baptizer’s brutal death. He was probably exhausted from the grief and the people, and needed time away. Now and again, people need time away from the world, especially these days. Some may receive it. There are so many stories from the last few months of healthcare workers working nonstop since March, day in and day out, to combat the Covid-19 virus. They surely need rest from the unfathomable stress. We can hope that the mask wearing measures help slow the spread of this horrific disease, allowing essential workers the time and space for rest.
So after resting for seemingly not long enough, Jesus returns to the shore where a crowd of sick and hungry people have gathered. Jesus cures their sick. That simple statement is life-giving in a time of pandemic. The disciples ask if the hungry people should leave, so they could find food on their own in the city. Jesus says that they should stay, and that they will be fed. Seeing a couple loaves of bread and some fish, the disciples weren’t sure how the crowd of over five thousand people would be fed with so little food.
Jesus sees the sick people, and cures them. Jesus sees the hungry people, and feeds them. With very little food. Jesus sees the problem, and jumps into action. Taking what little resources they had, Jesus gave the people what they needed, and at the end, when everyone was full, they still had leftovers.
I feel like many of us may be feeling like all we have to offer the world is a small pile of food. Maybe our work has increased so we’re at wit’s end with too much stress, or maybe just the opposite. Maybe some of us haven’t had much for work because of the pandemic, and we’re still at wit’s end trying to make ends meet. For so many Americans, rent was due this week, and with an end of the federal moratorium of evictions, I wonder how many Americans will end up on the streets? I wonder how many people in this area, this state, this country, who have lived by the skin of their teeth, and the pandemic was the straw that broke the camel’s back? How many metaphors and idioms can I use to exemplify that this Covid-19 pandemic has destroyed the lives of millions of Americans, putting so many people in the same place as the people in the Gospel: Tired, sick, and hungry, and desperate to hear a word of Good News from our Savior.
For Black, Indigenous and People of Color, for people with disabilities, people with health problems, and people living in poverty… this pandemic has exacerbated every social and economic problem. The protests that have been happening since this spring have shown the power of protest in the pursuit of justice for George Floyd, but we still await justice for Breonna Taylor and Tony McDade and too many others like them.
People have been left with a hunger for justice, a need for social change, and a will to enact that change. Leadership with Grace in action like Jesus shows in our Gospel lesson, is the catalyst that we need to maintain the energy of this social change. Compassion, Grace, and Mercy are so desperately needed in this world. Putting that Grace into action is desperately needed right now.
Even when likely grieved by the death of John the Baptizer, Jesus returns from rest with a desire to help all who need it. The people are sick, and Jesus cures them. Without asking why or how or how they'll pay for it, the problem is solved. When the disciples try to solve the problem of a hungry crowd by asking if they can send the crowd away, Jesus takes what limited resources there are and feeds the people, solving the issue at hand. Jesus shows Compassion, Grace, and Mercy, when the disciples would rather the people figure it out for themselves.
Grace in action is what was needed then, and what is needed now. Grace is the daily bread that each of us need, what each of us pray for in the Lord’s Prayer, and what the world needs to get back on track. Last year about this time, I preached a sermon about our need for daily bread, and what that daily bread looks like. Daily bread is the basic necessities that we need to survive every day, and the sources that provide them. Without our daily bread, our lives are unfulfilled, and we cannot live our lives for very long in need of our basic needs. With the current state of the world, those realities are far too common for millions of people in this country. The need for Grace in action is abundant.
Jesus feeding the multitudes with limited resources is Grace in action. Local schools providing thousands of meals per week to families in need is Grace in action. Local organizations providing grants to businesses and families is Grace in action. When we are able to ensure our neighbors have their daily bread, that is Grace in action, and what we are all called to do. Because Jesus feeding the multitudes with limited resources exemplifies for us all what each of us is called to do - whatever we can with whatever resources we have available - love one another, and show that love by ensuring we all have our daily bread.
Even if all you have is a little, Jesus shows us that we can serve one another by sharing what we have for the betterment of others. A young family with little ones used to go to different churches in the area based on whether or not the church had a potluck. Because even if it was one meal out of the week, the family could spend what little they had on a bag of chips, a pan of bars, a bag of buns, and share it with the community and eat with their neighbors while sharing a meal in which many people contributed. They may not have had enough to pay for an entire meal for their family, but they were able to contribute to the potluck so that many people could benefit from their limited resources.
When we’re able to use whatever resources, energy, or willpower for the betterment of our neighbors - we’re living into our call to serve one another, as Jesus the Christ routinely shows us in the Gospels. This same Jesus that came from humble beginnings, lived a life of preaching, teaching, healing, feeding and serving the people, and died on a cross - all the while saving us all from ourselves, to live again with us, by the Grace, Love and Mercy of God.
We are all called to love and serve our neighbors. Jesus exemplified this calling by leading and showing the disciples how to solve the problems of sickness and hunger. Cure the sick and feed the hungry. Those are the mandates that Jesus exemplifies. Leadership through Grace in action for this ever-changing world is desperately needed, and the problems are only getting worse. Cases of Covid-19 are rising across the country, with hopeful new ways of treating it, but also with implementation of a vaccine many months away. According to data collected for Second Harvest Heartland, before the pandemic, 1 in 11 Minnesotans were facing food insecurity. They are now predicting that the number will be closer to 1 in 8 Minnesotans facing food insecurity next month.
And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. (Matthew 14:20 NRSV)
Whenever and however we come out of this season of pandemic, I hope that on the other side of it, we get to a place where people are filled with their daily bread, and we have plenty of leftovers, so that future generations may have their fill as well.
Amen.
Video of the service -
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