St.
Paul’s United Church Sunday June 28th, 2009
Baskets
Full! John 6:1-12
This Sunday’s message is abbreviated because of our outdoor service, held this year at the Visual Arts Centre grounds in Bowmanville.
We
worship together, then have a picnic. Here’s hoping
and praying that the weather cooperates!
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Did everyone bring something to eat this morning? What
did you bring for your lunch?
We are here for our annual outdoor service and
picnic but this year is a little different. Our hard working congregational
committee couldn’t reserve the barbeques for today’s event so you were invited
to bring your own food.
We Canadians are a hardy lot, don’t you think? We
will eat out-of-doors even though we must contend with suspect weather, and insects
that are trying make us their lunch, and the joys of balancing food on our laps. Our family has been avid back-country
canoeists and campers through the years and we have huddled under tarps, trying
to cook meals when the rains poured and the winds blew. Afterward we tell
people what a great time we had!
Today we listened to the second biggest picnic story
in the bible. The exodus from Egypt with thousands of people waiting on manna
and quail every day for years on end is probably tops on the list, but the
loaves and fishes story in the New Testament is impressive as well.
Do you know that there are only two miracle stories
which make it into all four gospels? One
is the resurrection, the ultimate miracle, and the other is this one, the
Power-assist Picnic.
The disciples would probably say “miracle, smiracle
– what a headache!” They were presented with a major logistical problem, trying
to feed a huge crowd with virtually no money and no food on hand.
People came to hear Jesus because they had a deep
spiritual hunger, but they had stomachs as well, and thousands of grumbling
tummies can drown out the most important message. What we heard today says that
a miracle happened.
Now we know that there have been many explanations
for what happened in this story of the feeding of the 5000-plus people on the
shore of the sea of Galilee. It has been suggested
that when the crowd realized that some people would go hungry, they were moved
by a spirit of generosity to share what they had brought with them with
others. But John’s gospel is the only
one which actually says that the source of the food that Jesus blesses and
breaks is a young boy in the crowd who shows up with five loaves and two fish.
It seems to me that a bunch of miracles happen in
this story. The obvious one is that from what appears to be next to nothing
there comes enough to feed a multitude. But another minor miracle is that there
was no angry mob fighting over
Last Sunday morning I mentioned that St. Paul’s was
going to provide some financial assistance to the Salvation Army foodbank through our Benevolent Fund. Thanks to your
generosity, we have a fair reserve at the moment and it makes sense to share
what we have with others. The next morning I received an email from the
Salvation Army officer thanking us for our generosity so far this year and
appealing for support through the summer. I could respond to her saying that
help was on the way. We could say that
this was just a coincidence or celebrate that it was providence. I responded immediately and said that our
treasurer, Cindy, would have a cheque for the next day.
The Army responded with gratitude and noted that we
have already been very generous in 2009. All during this anniversary year our
children have been leading the rest of us, encouraging us to donate 175 food
items a month to the foodbank for the benefit of
others. They are learning about generosity, in a practical way, and discovering
that this is the Jesus Way. What an
important message in a year when we are expressing thanks for all that God has
provided through the generations of our life as St. Paul’s.
There is a writer and theologian by the name of
Walter Brueggeman who has written about the gift of
abundance and the myth of scarcity. He suggests that we live in a culture that grasps,
and hoards, and resents – in fact we are told that being selfish and
self-absorbed is the way we should be. While we never really hear these words,
there is plenty of encouragement to live a “me first” lifestyle. Life consists
of buying and selling, weighing, measuring and trading, and then it’s over. These
are my loaves and my fish, so just back off! When we experience an economic
downturn the message is amplified and we begin to believe it, even in the
church.
Brueggeman
tells us to read the bible from the beginning to get God’s perspective. From Genesis onward God is generous and the
message of so many scriptural stories is that God is good and God will provide.
So as Christ’s people we choose which story we will live by and, more than
that, we remember that we don’t do this on our own. Generosity is a gift of God.
In John’s gospel it says that when the disciples
bring the boy to Jesus he doesn’t just fling his bread into the crowd and say
“fight over this.” He takes the bread, he breaks it, he blesses it and he gives
it. What does that sound like to you? This ritual is like what we call
communion in our Protestant tradition and what Roman Catholics call the
Eucharist. That word eucharist actually means grateful or thankful. Jesus is offering up gratitude and so can we.
There is a fine old hymn, a true oldie goldie, Great Is Thy Faithfulness,
whose chorus says:
Great
is thy faithfulness, great is they faithfulness,
Morning
by morning new mercies I see
All
I have needed thy hand hath provided---
Great
is thy faithfulness, ever to me!
Let’s live as though Christ has filled our baskets
to overflowing.