Year B
2 Kings 4:42-44
Psalm 145:10-19
Ephesians 3:14-21
John 6:1-21<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth, O God, speak your truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Passover\u2026 the festival of the Jews was near<\/em>\u2026 and why is Passover relevant in this story\u2026 because it reminds us that on the night of the last plague in Egypt\u2026 the Angel of Death passed over the Israelites’ homes\u2026 it reminds us of their release from bondage\u2026 but particularly\u2026 it reminds us of how God provided for them during their wilderness journey\u2026 gave them food to eat\u2026 manna\u2026 and quails\u2026 and those who had much did not have too much\u2026 and those who had little did not have too little\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And speaking of eating\u2026 I wonder\u2026 when you go out for a few errands\u2026 do you think about where you’ll be at lunch time\u2026 and whether you’ll need to stop and get something to eat\u2026 if you’re invited to someone’s home “at around” dinner time… do you wonder about whether you’re going to be fed\u2026 or not\u2026 if you’re planning an all-day-drive to visit relatives\u2026 do you bring food to eat in the car\u2026 or just plan to get off the highway when you get hungry and find a drive-through somewhere\u2026 when you fly somewhere \u2026 do you eat airport food\u2026 if you go to a convention center for a workshop\u2026 do they ask whether you have any dietary restrictions\u2026 you see\u2026 eating accompanies so many of our activities\u2026 it’s almost impossible to separate the two\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And our story from 2 Kings gives us a foretaste of God’s abundance\u2026 Elisha the prophet served in a time of great strife\u2026 during a time of war between Syria and Israel\u2026 when scarcity was the rule of the day\u2026 and there were many reasons to live in fear\u2026 Elisha’s name means\u2026 God has granted salvation<\/em>\u2026 but it was difficult for the people to hear this in the midst of their troubles\u2026 but in a demonstration of great faithfulness\u2026 a man came from Baal-shalishah\u2026 a region fifteen [ Roman ] miles north of Lydda\u2026 bearing an offering of first fruits… Elisha chose not to receive them himself\u2026 as was his right\u2026 but he instructs his servant to give it to the people so they may eat\u2026 the servant balks\u2026 because it won’t be enough\u2026 so Elisha invokes the Word of the Lord\u2026 that they shall eat and have some left over\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s no effort to explain the mechanics of how this happened\u2026 but what is clear is that in the midst of human need\u2026 a man generously offers the best of what he has\u2026 and the prophet offers it instead to God’s people\u2026 the result is beyond expectation\u2026 and that is the point\u2026 God is at work beyond our expectation\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Gospel\u2026 this large crowd\u2026 these five thousand men\u2026 plus uncounted women and children\u2026 saw what Jesus was doing for the sick\u2026 and they kept following him\u2026 and he went up the mountain because speaking from an elevated place was not only a way to improve the acoustics\u2026 but it was also the place from which to seek God’s word\u2026 as in Exodus 19:3a\u2026 The Lord called to Moses from the mountain\u2026 and he went up to God\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And being drawn to the mountain may be the fulfillment of what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman in 4:21\u2026 Jesus told her that the time was coming when they would no longer worship in Jerusalem\u2026 and because John’s Gospel was written after the destruction of the Temple\u2026 that may be why the narrative tells us that the crowds are no longer seeking him in the Temple\u2026 but on the side of a mountain\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the crowds follow\u2026 and Jesus asks Philip\u2026 Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat<\/em>\u2026 intending to test him\u2026 and we don’t know for certain\u2026 the text doesn’t say whether the boy held out his hands offering up the food he had\u2026 which is so like what a child would do\u2026 or it may be that Andrew just happened to see what he had\u2026 but Jesus had in mind what he was going to do\u2026 and all the text says\u2026 is that he took the loaves and fish\u2026 and gave thanks\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again\u2026 there’s no effort to explain the mechanics of how this happened\u2026 we’re not privy to the cosmic apparatus with which Jesus did this\u2026 though John 1:3a affirms that\u2026 all things came into being through him\u2026 and without him\u2026 not one thing came into being<\/em>\u2026 and everyone ate as much as they wanted\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The number twelve\u2026 a number of completion\u2026 occurs 187 times in the Bible\u2026 it’s the number of Jacob’s sons\u2026 who became the twelve fathers of the twelve tribes\u2026 Jesus chose twelve disciples\u2026 and Revelation\u2026 written by John at about the same time\u2026 tells that the New Jerusalem has twelve gates guarded by twelve angels\u2026 its walls are 144 cubits high\u2026 which is 12 squared\u2026 and the walls are adorned with twelve jewels\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And this is where John may have taken contemporaneous scriptural truths\u2026 to tell another kind of truth\u2026 the truth of God’s abundance\u2026 because even everyone ate and was satisfied\u2026 the left overs filled twelve baskets\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n St. John Chrysostom… the fourth-century archbishop of Constantinople\u2026 is known to have said that feeding the hungry\u2026 is greater work\u2026 than raising the dead\u2026 which opens another way to understand this story\u2026 and which makes it no less a miracle\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps the women in the group knew that they were headed out into the middle of nowhere\u2026 knew they’d be away from home\u2026 but not for how long\u2026 and so they brought provisions\u2026 much like we do\u2026 maybe good Jewish mothers said\u2026 Look\u2026 if we’re going to follow this Jesus fellow who knows where\u2026 wait a minute while I pack something for us to eat<\/em>\u2026 and maybe enough women did this\u2026 and when Jesus had everyone sit down\u2026 where there was a great deal of grass\u2026 it brought to mind that verse in the 23rd Psalm which says\u2026 you make me lie down in green pastures<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it may be why\u2026 when Jesus took the loaves and fishes and gave thanks\u2026 he did what he often did\u2026 he embodied the deeply spiritual truth of the heavenly banquet\u2026 and it touched something within the people\u2026 who thought\u2026 Well\u2026 I wasn’t going to share\u2026 I don’t have enough for all<\/u> these people\u2026 but I brought a little extra\u2026 and so I’ll share with those right around me\u2026 <\/em> and before you know it\u2026 everyone who had too much\u2026 shared with everyone who had too little\u2026 and everyone ate as much as they wanted\u2026 and it’s another reminder of the 23rd Psalm verse which says\u2026 you spread a table before me\u2026 and my cup is running over<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But however we understand this story\u2026 Fr. John Shea writes\u2026 we acknowledge our spiritual selves as gifts from our Source\u2026 we are not our own\u2026 but we are sustained at each moment by the Spirit who is beyond us\u2026 this fills us with gratitude\u2026 and our gratitude overflows to others\u2026 and it is in this distribution that growth occurs\u2026 but the physical law of scarcity can understand “giving away” only as a process which leads to having nothing\u2026 while the spiritual law of abundance understands “giving away” as a process which leads to a sacred fullness\u2026 so the test that Jesus set up\u2026 was to see whether the people were able to gather up that abundance\u2026 or whether they would be controlled by a consciousness of physical scarcity\u2026 but the crowds of people\u2026 even though they shared what they physically had\u2026 did not receive this spiritual teaching\u2026 they saw the sign\u2026 but could not follow it to its Source\u2026 and so it’s no wonder that they tried to use force and make Jesus king\u2026 so he could be like the goose that laid the golden egg\u2026 so they wouldn’t need to change\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the Gospel continues\u2026 so Jesus is up on the mountain\u2026 and we’re not told why\u2026 but the disciples can’t wait any longer\u2026 and they get in a boat and start rowing\u2026 and a strong wind blew\u2026 and the sea became rough\u2026 and quite a ways out\u2026 Jesus walks out to them\u2026 and says\u2026 do not be afraid\u2026 it is I AM<\/em>\u2026 and it’s almost as though someone whispers another line from the 23rd Psalm\u2026 you lead me beside still waters<\/em>\u2026 but however we take truth from these stories\u2026 however we understand that Jesus feeds us… with bread and wine\u2026 or with his very Being\u2026 we can agree\u2026 that when Jesus is with us\u2026 really\u2026 truly\u2026 fully with us\u2026 in the boat with us\u2026 we immediately get where we’re going\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year B2 Kings 4:42-44Psalm 145:10-19Ephesians 3:14-21John 6:1-21 May the words of my mouth, O God, speak your truth\u2026 The Passover\u2026 the festival of the Jews was near\u2026 and why is Passover relevant in this story\u2026 because it reminds us that on the night of the last plague in Egypt\u2026 the Angel of Death passed over the Israelites’ homes\u2026 it reminds us of their release from bondage\u2026 but particularly\u2026 it reminds us of how God provided for them during their wilderness journey\u2026 gave them food to eat\u2026 manna\u2026 and quails\u2026 and those who had much did not have too much\u2026 and those who had little did not have too little\u2026 And speaking of eating\u2026 I wonder\u2026 when you go out for a few errands\u2026 do you think about where you’ll be at lunch time\u2026 and whether you’ll need to stop and get something to eat\u2026 if you’re invited to someone’s home “at around” dinner time… do you wonder about whether you’re going to be fed\u2026 or not\u2026 if you’re planning an all-day-drive to visit relatives\u2026 do you bring food to eat in the car\u2026 or just plan to get off the highway when you get hungry and find a drive-through somewhere\u2026 when you fly somewhere \u2026 do you eat airport food\u2026 if you go to a convention center for a workshop\u2026 do they ask whether you have any dietary restrictions\u2026 you see\u2026 eating accompanies so many of our activities\u2026 it’s almost impossible to separate the two\u2026 And our story from 2 Kings gives us a foretaste of God’s abundance\u2026 Elisha the prophet served in a time of great strife\u2026 during a time of war between Syria and Israel\u2026 when scarcity was the rule of the day\u2026 and there were many reasons to live in fear\u2026 Elisha’s name means\u2026 God has granted salvation\u2026 but it was difficult for the people to hear this in the midst of their troubles\u2026 but in a demonstration of great faithfulness\u2026 a man came from Baal-shalishah\u2026 a region fifteen [ Roman ] miles north of Lydda\u2026 bearing an offering of first fruits… Elisha chose not to receive them himself\u2026 as was his right\u2026 but he instructs his servant to give it to the people so they may eat\u2026 the servant balks\u2026 because it won’t be enough\u2026 so Elisha invokes the Word of the Lord\u2026 that they shall eat and have some left over\u2026 There’s no effort to explain the mechanics of how this happened\u2026 but what is clear is that in the midst of human need\u2026 a man generously offers the best of what he has\u2026 and the prophet offers it instead to God’s people\u2026 the result is beyond expectation\u2026 and that is the point\u2026 God is at work beyond our expectation\u2026 In the Gospel\u2026 this large crowd\u2026 these five thousand men\u2026 plus uncounted women and children\u2026 saw what Jesus was doing for the sick\u2026 and they kept following him\u2026 and he went up the mountain because speaking from an elevated place was not only a way to improve the acoustics\u2026 but it was also the place from which to seek God’s word\u2026 as in Exodus 19:3a\u2026 The Lord called to Moses from the mountain\u2026 and he went up to God\u2026 And being drawn to the mountain may be the fulfillment of what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman in 4:21\u2026 Jesus told her that the time was coming when they would no longer worship in Jerusalem\u2026 and because John’s Gospel was written after the destruction of the Temple\u2026 that may be why the narrative tells us that the crowds are no longer seeking him in the Temple\u2026 but on the side of a mountain\u2026 But the crowds follow\u2026 and Jesus asks Philip\u2026 Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat\u2026 intending to test him\u2026 and we don’t know for certain\u2026 the text doesn’t say whether the boy held out his hands offering up the food he had\u2026 which is so like what a child would do\u2026 or it may be that Andrew just happened to see what he had\u2026 but Jesus had in mind what he was going to do\u2026 and all the text says\u2026 is that he took the loaves and fish\u2026 and gave thanks\u2026 Again\u2026 there’s no effort to explain the mechanics of how this happened\u2026 we’re not privy to the cosmic apparatus with which Jesus did this\u2026 though John 1:3a affirms that\u2026 all things came into being through him\u2026 and without him\u2026 not one thing came into being\u2026 and everyone ate as much as they wanted\u2026 The number twelve\u2026 a number of completion\u2026 occurs 187 times in the Bible\u2026 it’s the number of Jacob’s sons\u2026 who became the twelve fathers of the twelve tribes\u2026 Jesus chose twelve disciples\u2026 and Revelation\u2026 written by John at about the same time\u2026 tells that the New Jerusalem has twelve gates guarded by twelve angels\u2026 its walls are 144 cubits high\u2026 which is 12 squared\u2026 and the walls are adorned with twelve jewels\u2026 And this is where John may have taken contemporaneous scriptural truths\u2026 to tell another kind of truth\u2026 the truth of God’s abundance\u2026 because even everyone ate and was satisfied\u2026 the left overs filled twelve baskets\u2026 St. John Chrysostom… the fourth-century archbishop of Constantinople\u2026 is known to have said that feeding the hungry\u2026 is greater work\u2026 than raising the dead\u2026 which opens another way to understand this story\u2026 and which makes it no less a miracle\u2026 Perhaps the women in the group knew that they were headed out into the middle of nowhere\u2026 knew they’d be away from home\u2026 but not for how long\u2026 and so they brought provisions\u2026 much like we do\u2026 maybe good Jewish mothers said\u2026 Look\u2026 if we’re going to follow this Jesus fellow who knows where\u2026 wait a minute while I pack something for us to eat\u2026 and maybe enough women did this\u2026 and when Jesus had everyone sit down\u2026 where there was a great deal of grass\u2026 it brought to mind that verse in the 23rd Psalm which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1326,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/loavesandfishes-e1627237653215.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1318"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1327,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318\/revisions\/1327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}