Feed
Them

Matthew 14:16

a sermon by Rev. Sonja Dalglish, M.Div.

for Weslaco First Presbyterian Church

Genesis 32:22-31, Isaiah 55:1-5, 2 Kings 4:42-44,
Psalm 17:1-7, 15,

Romans 9:1-5, Matthew 14: (3-12)13-20;

 

 

Introduction

What would happen today if Jesus came
back and we all went to hear him?  We
would be so excited and happy to see him.
Knowing all the Bible stories, we would be anxious to see him heal the
sick and feed the thousands.  We’d listen
with anticipation.  And when he turned to
those disciples next to him and told them, told US
to feed the crowds, would we do it?

 

Among the twelve disciples, three are
good tea party Republicans, would object to feeding those who had not earned
it.  After all, if those people had
worked hard and prepared, they wouldn’t need the food.

 

Four good moderate Republicans, would
want some assurances that this would not happen again.  We would want a limit on how much food Jesus
would ask us to give.

 

Another four, being good Democrats would
say, we have to feed the hungry but since we don’t have enough food, let’s go
out and get it from others and redistribute it – but I’m not giving what I
have.  We’d be happy because we’ve found
a way to do this without sacrificing anything of our own.

 

And the last disciple would stand
looking over the scene, congratulating herself that she is not a Democrat or a
Republican, but an Americans and this is the greatest country in the
world.  She is so busy patting herself on
the back, she cannot use her hands to serve.

 

Jesus would have been puzzled by this
response because God has been feeding people since the dawn of humanity.  Jesus said, “Feed them.”  He didn’t tell them how, but when they
brought him the food they had, he blest it.
And the disciples took it out into the crowds and fed them.  And aren’t we glad that the disciples were
not Americans, not Republicans or Democrats, but disciples who followed
orders?*

 

Feed them.  And, the disciples did.  Have you wondered just how God had that
happen?  My theory about this miracle is
that it is a miracle of a change of heart, a miracle of example.  Have you ever noticed that when one person
does something, whether it is good or bad, that it makes it easier for others
to do it as well?

 

On our vacations each year, we go to a
park where people jump from the cliffs into the river.  We go to the cliffs and see someone jump in
and survive, then another and then another.
It can make the less brave feel braver.
But, go and see someone jump in and get hurt, and how many will want to
follow suit?

 

I also think that this is a miracle of
generosity and overcoming fear.  When the
people saw that someone was giving what they had without fearing that they
would go hungry themselves, more and more was given and passed around until the
remains were larger than the original meal.
I think this is why it is important to practice tithing and also giving
offerings.  When you are able to give to
others, then you realize that you have enough.
Generosity is a gift of the Spirit.

 

Barth said that we should preach with
the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.  Our newspaper today says that the world is in
trouble.  And our country is in trouble.  It is a mess.
Washington is a mess.

 

In Washington, the Congress is stalled
and not doing anything – which in most days would be a good thing.  If they are not passing new laws, as my high
school civics teacher said one day, at least they are not doing anything to
hurt us.  At the time, I thought that was
a bit cynical, but I understand it better now.

 

However, if our nation defaults on our
loans, we will be in a worse depression than a century ago.  And if we choose to balance a budget by
giving to the rich and taking from the poor, then we are directly in conflict
with God and the scriptures.  In protesting
the cuts to the poor, the disabled, the neediest ones among us, The Reverend
Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, director of the PCUSA Office of Public Witness, was
arrested along with ten other church leaders for protesting the cuts to the
poor.  They even arrested a rabbi in a
wheelchair.  The Stated Clerk of the
PC(USA), Gradye Parsons, has sent out a letter protesting the budget cuts to
the poor.

 

We must speak and pray during this time
in our history.  You are free to
speak.  And pray and tell others about your
God, the creator of all that exists.
Tell about what you know about your God and how God loves us and
provides, how God blesses and asks for a faithful response from us.  Tell about the God who calls us to work for
social justice for everyone, even those despised by other people.  This God has been calling us to do justice
for four thousand years.  Our God is not
popular these days and probably never has been except with the faithful.

 

Other gods are more popular in
America.  Many Americans worship Mammon -
the god of Wealth.  He is pretty popular
in these days and always has been.
Others worship Bacchus – the god of physical pleasures.  He, too, is very popular to many people in
America who are this morning sleeping off a night of pleasure seeking and would
not consider rolling out of bed and worshipping in any synagogue, church, or
mosque.  Believers in God are in the
minority.  And each year we get smaller
in number.

 

This is the House of the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob.  This is a place where
we worship Jesus Christ, Son of God who gave his life for this world that all
who believe in him should not perish.  If
you want to follow Jesus, then feed them and work for a country that God can
smile upon.

 

Blessings from God are freely given to
us, and much is expected in return.  When
Isaiah calls the people to an abundant life, he says that God calls all to
eat.  When Elisha was given food, he
returned it to the hungry people.  And we
know the response was to love God and follow God’s commandments.

 

The people who went before us in this
country established a nation of laws, a place where taxes were used to build
roads and bridges, educational systems, halls of justice, and places to confine
those who want to hurt others.  What took
generations to build can be brought down in less than a generation.  It is shocking to see how Hitler destroyed
Germany in such little time.  And those
that do the destroying don’t have to be evil like Hitler, but can be evil in
other ways, ways that make them think of themselves and the rich first.

 

Who are the heroes of this society?  The wealthy and privileged.  And who did Jesus say would have the hardest
time getting into heaven?  Exactly
those.  Life is not about winning!  It’s not about seeing who can end their life
with the most toys.  Life is about living
in community, loving God and loving each other.

 

It seems our national hero would be the
reverse of Robin Hood.  We don’t want to
rob the rich to give to the poor.
Instead, we want to rob the poor to give to the rich.

 

I
am thankful that we read from a real Bible and not one that Thomas Jefferson
removed all miracles from.  Jefferson did
a lot of good for this country, but in one of his letters to John Adams, he
even said that Christianity would die because Jesus rising from the dead was as
silly as thinking that Minerva sprang from the head of Zeus.  Fortunately, we still have the whole Bible.

 

The Text

Just before this feeding of the five
thousand is another banquet and a celebration that ended with John the Baptist’s
head being cut off.

 

He was killed because he told the king
that the actions of the king were immoral.
In some countries, even today, proclaiming God’s word and Jesus Christ
to be Lord will get you killed.  News of
the death of John came to Jesus who withdrew to pray.  Can you imagine his grief that his cousin, a
true prophet from God, was killed because he spoke the truth and rebuked the
ruler for his immorality?

 

Ah, but the people followed.  They wanted to be near him, this prophet who
spoke of God’s love to the poor and forgotten ones, who rebuked the
religious.  They wanted to hear him speak
and sought his healing touch.

 

And, Jesus, when he went ashore saw
them, he had compassion on them.  He
healed their sick.  And when the
disciples thought that they needed to send them away, Jesus said, “No – you
feed them.”

 

This is a generous church, but we live
in a stingy, selfish country.  There are those who want you to believe that it is right for the wealthy to withhold and let the poor go hungry and without not only food but housing and health care and education, as if being wealthy means you are in some way better than the poor.  But God has said no to that a
thousand times.  All people are loved by
God.

 

The only answer I know out of our
present dilemma is prayer.  I do not
write legislation but I pray.  And I
depend upon you to pray as well.  I do
not care what this world tells you – I tell you that
God is your God – not America, not money, not security
or the military, not physical pleasure.

 

God is your God.

And if you want to be able to say
honestly those words of Psalm 17 with which we began worship, you must not be
like the rest of America.  Save your
bulletins and reread that psalm.  That is
who we are supposed to be.  I don’t care
if you are Republican or Democrat or Independent – first and foremost you are
people of God.  God has more claim on us
than any party or country.  Our greatest
comfort in life and in death is that we do not belong to ourselves, but belong with body and soul, both
in life and in death, to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.* [Heidelburg
Catechism]

 

Next week, we come to the table where
all are fed.   No matter what happens in
this country, we know that God will be with us and will strengthen us.  I know I can be too earnest in my delivery -
so I want to show you how someone wiser than I in the art of humor gets across
this point today.  Let’s go to the sheep
of Agnus Day for a little wisdom and levity.

 

The first sheep says, “It would be nice
if Jesus’ feeding miracles could happen today.
Think of the problems it would solve!”

 

The second sheep says, “But they
do…  Every time we gather for communion,
Jesus himself feeds us.  It’s always
enough!”

 

The first, with folded arms and a bit of
sarcasm replies, “Sure! And we
could all take the leftovers and feed the
hungry!
Like that’s
gonna happen!”

 

Thank God for humor!

 

Let us pray!

————————

References

The illustration idea of the present day
disciples was developed by the Rev. Dr. Doug Dalglish after our discussion of
the scripture.  My presentation is most
assuredly different than his, but the thought is the same.

 

The arrest of the Rev. Dr. Herbert
Nelson and the letter from the Stated Clerk for the General Assembly, Gradye
Parsons was sent to me in emails from the PC(USA).  I followed up on the internet and found the
story and pictures.

 

The quote is derived from the Heidelburg
Catechism is from our Book of Confessions.
Heidelburg Catechism Question and Answer number one:

What is
your only comfort in life and death?

That I am not my own, but belong with
body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free
from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that
without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head;
indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy
Spirit He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready
from now on to live for Him.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday,
July 31, 2011,

the
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

with
two OT Additions and extension of the Gospel

 

 

Gospel
Matthew 14:3-21

Herod’s
Banquet, John Beheaded, Feeding the Five Thousand

³For
Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of
Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, ⁴because John had been telling
him, ‘It is not lawful for you to have her.’ ⁵Though Herod wanted to
put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet. ⁶But
when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company,
and she pleased Herod ⁷so much that he promised on oath to grant her
whatever she might ask. ⁸Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me
the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.’ ⁹The king was
grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to
be given; ¹⁰he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹The
head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her
mother. ¹²His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then
they went and told Jesus.

 

¹³Now
when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by
himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the
towns. ¹⁴When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had
compassion for them and cured their sick. ¹⁵When it was evening, the
disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now
late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food
for themselves.” ¹⁶Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you
give them something to eat.” ¹⁷They replied, “We have nothing here
but five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸And he said, “Bring them here to
me.” ¹⁹Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking
the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke
the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the
crowds. ²⁰And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was
left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. ²¹And those who
ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Isaiah 55:1-5  An Invitation to Abundant Life

Ho, everyone who thirsts,

come to the waters;

and you that have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and
without price.

Why do you spend your money for that
which is not bread,

and your labour for
that which does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to me, and eat what is
good,

and delight yourselves
in rich food.

Incline your ear, and come to me;

listen, so that you
may live.

I will make with you an everlasting
covenant,

my steadfast, sure
love for David.

See, I made him a witness to
the peoples,

a leader and commander
for the peoples.

See, you shall call nations that you do
not know,

and nations that do
not know you shall run to you,

because of the Lord your God, the Holy
One of Israel,

for he has glorified
you.

 

 

2 Kings 4: 42-44  Elisha Feeds One Hundred Men

A man came from Baal-shalishah,
bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley
and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, ‘Give it to the people and
let them eat.’ But his servant said, ‘How can I set this before a hundred
people?’ So he repeated, ‘Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says
the Lord, “They shall eat and have some left.” ’ He set it before them, they
ate, and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.

 

Psalm
Psalm 17:1-7, 15              A Plea for
Justice

¹   Hear
a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry;

give
ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit.

²   From
you let my vindication come;

let
your eyes see the right.

³   If
you try my heart, if you visit me by night,

if
you test me, you will find no wickedness in me;

my
mouth does not transgress.

⁴   As
for what others do, by the word of your lips

I
have avoided the ways of the violent.

⁵   My
steps have held fast to your paths;

my
feet have not slipped.

⁶   I
call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;

incline
your ear to me, hear my words.

⁷   Wondrously
show your steadfast love,

O
savior of those who seek refuge

from
their adversaries at your right hand.

¹⁵  As
for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.

Second Reading Romans 9:1-5

¹I
am speaking the truth in Christ — I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by
the Holy Spirit — ²I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my
heart. ³For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off
from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh. ⁴They
are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the
giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; ⁵to them belong
the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who
is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

First Reading Genesis 32:22-31  Jacob Wrestles with God

²²The
same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven
children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³He took them and
sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. ²⁴Jacob
was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵When
the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip
socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. ²⁶Then
he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let
you go, unless you bless me.” ²⁷So he said to him, “What is your
name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸Then the man said, “You shall no
longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with
humans, and have prevailed.” ²⁹Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me
your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed
him. ³⁰So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen
God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” ³¹The sun rose upon
him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.