Matthew 14:13-21 [1]

The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, ca. 1545–50
Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti) (Italian, Venetian, 1518–1594)
Francis L. Leland Fund, 1913 (13.75)
========================================================

            It’s rare in the Gospels for a story to be repeated in all four Gospels.  Yet, this story is.  You know the story.  You’ve heard me preach on this text in 1999, 2002, and now again this Summer.  It’s one of those stories that we can hear again and again…with freshness.  So what should we hear today from Jesus feeding the 5000?  In 1999 I focused on the abundance left over and said there would always be more of Jesus than we can absorb.  In 2002, I held before you a new $20 bill and asked who wanted it.  You all did!  Then I soiled it and crumpled it up.  I made it filthy and still you said you’d take it.  You knew it had value no matter what happened to it or how it looked.  In 2002 I said that this is how Jesus sees people and how he wants us to see others.  So what should we learn today from this familiar story?  Are there new nuggets of truth to be mined?

            As I’ve been studying passages of Scripture lately, I’ve been paying more attention to the context.  What’s around the passage?  What’s before it?  What follows it?  How is the text connected to what’s before and what follows?  How is it disconnected?  Thinking in terms of context is not just a biblical exercise.  We live life in context.  Joy and sadness happen in the midst of events that bring both.  How we respond to circumstances is often dictated by the life events around that response.  If you think about this story in context, there are some powerful themes and connections.

            First, think about Israel coming out of Egypt during the exodus.[2]  Where were they when God fed them manna?  Yeah, they were in the wilderness.  This story happens in a deserted place.  People are often experiencing some kind of deserted place or wilderness event when a God-thing happens.  And it’s not just geography I’m talking about here.  Second, think about Elisha.[3]  In Elisha’s story, one hundred people were hungry and there didn’t seem to be enough to go around.  Elisha said, “Start passing the plates.  There will be enough…and even leftovers!”  This story of Jesus feeding people has deep connections to Old Testament heroes.  Third, speaking of leftovers, how much did the disciples pick up after feeding the 5000?  Twelve baskets full.  How many tribes in Israel are there?  Yeah, that’s right…twelve.  Stories like this, familiar stories are always bigger than we imagine.  This is not just a story of Jesus feeding folks, it’s much bigger than that.

            So what kind of bigness does this story have for us today?  The bottom line in this story is that people were hungry, Jesus had compassion for them, and charged his followers to feed them.  If we unwrap these simple aspects of this story, there’s deep challenge for all of us.

            Are you hungry today?  Yes, I know it’s close to noon but expand your definition of hunger for a moment.  Include many dimensions of hunger.  I believe we are a hungry culture.  David Myers has written, “We have bigger houses and broken homes, higher income and lower morale, more mental health professionals and less well-being.  We excel at making a living but often fail at making a life.”[4]  Not many of us are physically in want but most of us are hungry on other levels. 

            If you’re hungry today, Jesus knows your hunger and is ready to fill you.  We could talk for hours about different hungers.  We don’t have hours so let me just stop with, if you’re hungry, Jesus can fill you.  Name your hunger to Jesus, and get ready to eat.  Surrender that hunger to Jesus right now and get ready to be filled.

            Let’s talk about compassion for a moment because this is huge in this story.  Are you compassionate for those around you?  Most of us are compassionate when there’s time and space to be compassionate but what about the phone call from a friend in need when you’re headed out the door late for a meeting?  What about the email requesting food for a needy family when your week is already jam-packed?  What about the inconvenient request that messes up your day. 

            If this story teaches us one thing about being compassionate, it’s that the need for true compassion often arises at the most inopportune times.  Just ask the disciples about this.  They can tell you.  Compassion is not something to be scheduled.  But it does require great timing because those moments that call for compassion have very narrow windows in which we can respond.  Either you respond with compassion in the moment when the situation arises, or you end up missing that moment. 

            The stories I hear about you folks being compassionate toward others are often about timing.  You dropped everything and responded.  You were there when needed.  If I could choose between a church filled with outrageously gifted people and a church filled with outrageously compassionate people, I choose compassion every time.  Jesus challenged his followers to mirror his compassion in this story.  The same challenge faces us. 

            Lastly today, let’s look at the feeding itself.  When the disciples come to Jesus with their suggestion to send the people away, Jesus says, “You give them something to eat.”  They reply in objection, “We only have five loaves and two fish.”  It’s a perfectly logical protest.  But then Jesus blesses the food, and it ends up being enough.  One of the powerful lessons from this story is that Jesus asks us to use what’s available, and then he steps in to take care of the rest. 

            Some of you remember the television show MacGyver.  For those who don’t, MacGyver was this scientific super-hero type guy who constantly was getting out of jams using common stuff.  MacGyver didn’t have a cape.  He didn’t carry a big gun and blast his way out.  He simply used what was around him. Anybody who watched the show in the 80’s probably remember him getting out of a tight spot with duct tape, chewing gum, an ink cartridge and some nail polish?  From everyday stuff in small quantities he’d somehow build an airplane or an amazing tool to accomplish the job.  I know MacGyver is TV but I think that’s what God wants us to do – use what we have available and then let him take over. 

            If we have that mindset – where we simply use what resources we have available and let God do the rest – then we’d better watch out!  Small churches like ours would be changing communities across the nation.  This church can change Orange Grove! 

            If you’re hungry, Jesus can feed you.

            Pray for a compassionate heart.

            Use what’s available, then let God take over.

            Amen.