Christ Church + Washington Parish
Judith Davis, Rector ©

Proper 12B, John 6:1-21 July 30, 2006

These last two weeks have seen unimaginable horrors in Lebanon and Israel. Thanks to 21st century technology, we have seen the battles unfold, the innocent people bleed, the children cry, spouses in shock, and homes crumble in real time. News commentators have been heard to ask – "is this the beginning of World War III?" Bishop Chane sent a pastoral letter about the war in the Middle East. Copies are in the safe room. Please take time to read it.

While our news networks are bringing us these images almost constantly, we hear other tidbits of news – tsunamis in Indonesia, volcanoes erupting, earthquakes, wild fires, devastating heat waves, possibilities of pandemic viruses, worsening violence in Iraq, new threats from Iran and North Korea, a crime wave in our metropolitan area.

Some of our more fundamentalist sister and brother Christians suggest that we have reached the end times – Armageddon – and that soon God will establish a new kingdom on earth. That there will be much travail and tribulation beforehand.

What is a good mainstream Episcopalian to do? The news is devastating, depressing, and down right demoralizing.

Well, in this particular morning’s gospel, Jesus had crossed the Sea of Galilee and climbed up a mountain, sat down to catch his breath; he looks up, and can you believe it? Here they come. They would not let him alone. The crowd had somehow found their way to Jesus. Following hard after Jesus they come scrambling up the mountain--men, women, children, young, old, middle-aged, healthy, the sick, the lonely, the confused. Some come for a touch. Some come for a word. Some come skipping along. Some come limping along. Some carry others, and all of them climbing up the mountainside to be with Jesus.

John’s account of the feeding of the multitude starts out as a story of failure. In spite of having the good sense to be interested in Jesus, this crowd is, otherwise, a pretty ordinary crowd, almost a mob. And, like a lot of crowds before and since, it had much more enthusiasm than good sense. So, when Jesus finished up where he was and moved on to the next county, the crowd just up and followed right along, with no apparent thought for the necessities or the consequences. There wasn’t a Boy Scout or Girl Scout among them; no one was even close to being prepared.

The crowd following Jesus just sort of wandered along until their stomachs started growling and it slowly dawned on them that it was dinner time and it would sure be nice if they had made a plan or packed a lunch or something. Jesus points this situation out to the disciples (who probably should have seen this coming and made some kind of arrangements) and they are completely overwhelmed.

Philip misses the point so completely he tries to give a speech on economics; and Andrew attempts to find a way to shift everybody’s attention to some stranger – "this kid doesn’t have enough to fix it either." There seems to be no where to go but downhill.

It’s clear that the disciples were ready to announce that everyone had to go home, get their own stuff, and maybe come back another day. (After all, hungry crowds had a long history of getting downright nasty.) This little story was over. Somebody, the crowd or the disciples or both, had blown it, and that was the end of that.

But that’s not what happened to that hungry crowd. And the word of God is simply that the story is not over – the story of God’s love is never over.

In this morning’s gospel, the crowd doesn’t suddenly wise up and figure out how to manage a quick lunch; and the disciples don’t get any bright ideas about what to do either. They all just stand there, dumb as a post, while Jesus, using exactly what Andrew has said will not work, makes sure that the story continues. Once more, issues of "deserving" and "fair" and their own best efforts have nothing to do with it.

So what does this famous story which is repeated in all four Gospels have to do with the heart-rending violence in the Middle East? This is what I take from this morning’s gospel lesson – when things seem the most impossible, the gloomiest, the most overwhelming and all reasonable advice would be to close up shop, send everyone home, and give up, Jesus finds a way out of no way. He feeds a mob of people with only a bit of food and none of them go away hungry.

The disciples are ready to send everyone away. But Jesus gives thanks and feeds people. In these past couple of weeks, it has been tempting to turn off the television, stop reading the newspaper. It is tempting to turn our attention back to the distractions and comforts of daily living in middle America. It is tempting to give a shrug and say – well that region has always been in turmoil; earthquakes, storms, and fires will always be with us; there will always be some new medical threat on the horizon. Complacency is ever so much easier.

Yet, when faced with no food to share, Jesus feeds those considered unfeedable. He gives them all hope and wonder. And instead of giving up, people are inspired to go out into the world and do their part. The disciples, I expect, were truly amazed and more than a little scared.

So, that’s where our baptism fits in this day. Remember that in our baptismal promises, we promise to: "strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being" (BCP, p. 305). Today, we commission Owen to go out into the world and be an example of Christ’s love to the world and we commission him along with all those we baptize, to work for justice and peace in the world—at playgroup, in school, and when we’re grown-ups out in the world. Owen, you can wait until you’re walking and talking, if you want to. But there is hope for the world from people of faith who care about justice and peace for all of God’s people—all of God’s people of faith who are Jewish and Muslim and Christian, and I believe all people of faith in the world—people of Eastern religions as well. All of us are called to help our world end violence and war, to work for that peaceable kingdom of God, and to care for each other. I pray that Owen’s generation will bring hope to the world that we seem not able to bring in our day, and I pray that his children’s children will finally beat all swords into plowshares and all spears into pruning hooks of their day and that the world will live in peace and justice for all. We believe that when we baptize each other in the name of the God of love and justice and peace. Jesus believed that in the feeding of the multitude.

Along with the story of the feeding of the 5,000, we also hear of the disciples getting into the boat and going ahead to Capernaum. Jesus walks out on the water to meet them and scares the heck out of them. And, Jesus says, "it is I. Do not be afraid." Now, one thing I have noticed in scripture is that when Jesus or God or an angel says "do not be afraid" there are big reasons to be afraid! (After all, an angel said that to Mary and look what happened to her!) Generally, the utterance of the words "do not be afraid" means things are about to change big time. It signifies that the people who hear the words "do not be afraid" are about to be called into service, are about to be made partners in the bringing about of God’s kingdom, are about to do more than they ever thought could be done.

It is in times like this that we find people empowered to go out into the world and do God’s work. And that is where the events of the last few weeks – both natural and human-made – come into play. We say to Owen today, "Don’t be afraid, little buddy, to go out into the world and work for God’s justice-love," and we also say it to those of us who are grown-ups.

With God, the story is never over; our story is never over; your story is never over.

God will not allow the story to be over, God will not allow your story to be over. God’s love is simply bigger than we are. We are never granted the certainty of total defeat, or the luxury of despair.

As Bishop Chane has reminded us in his letter – as Christians we are called to work and pray for an end to violent conflicts throughout the world and to become ambassadors for peace. Jesus fed 5,000 people out of a poor boy’s offerings of bread and fish. We are called to go out and do what we can to serve a broken world, bringing hope where there is no hope, food where there is no food, and peace where there is no peace. The story is never over.

Now I invite you to listen to and pray this interfaith prayer with the peoples of Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine, written by the staff of the Board of Global Missions of the United Methodist Church this past week.

"Creator of us all – Father, Adonai Elohenu, Allah:

The people whose faith and covenant with you began with Abraham offer our prayers for the people living in Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon today.

We pray for peace and for cease-fire as a first step toward peace.

We pray that all our sisters and brothers may live in the way of peace, even while violence rips their lands and tempts them to act with violence in return.

We pray that we may teach peace, not only with our lips, but in our lives, to those all around us.

We pray that we may have the courage and compassion to walk with those who suffer violence, terror, and death, together with their families and communities.

We pray that we may find the generosity to act with goodwill even toward enemies, those who wish or do us harm, that the fullness of your compassion, mercy, and justice may shine in our lives and in the lives of our sisters and brothers around the world.

Around you we are one. Guide us all in the way of peace. Amen!