One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother,
said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But
what are they among so many people?” (John 6:9)
Do
we ever really think about what God is capable of doing? The Gospel lesson
assigned for Pentecost 10, Year B (John 6: 1-21) tells the tale of a whole bunch
of hungry folks who’ve come to hear what Jesus has to say. At dinner time Jesus
throws a question to his buddy, Philip: Where are you going to buy food for
this crowd? You’ll notice he doesn’t ask Phil if he should feed this
horde. He asks him how he plans to do it. Can’t you just see Phil
scratching his head saying, “Gosh, Boss, I dunno. There are a lot of people
here, and we just don’t have the cash to take care of them.”
Of
course, our evangelist John tells us that Jesus already knew what he was gong
to do. He was just having a little fun with Philip—jerking him around a little
to remind him that living here in this world and being obedient followers of
Christ is always going to be something of a test. We are called always to see
poverty, hunger, injustice, need, and sorrow, and we have to figure out how to
address it.
So,
what happens? In a detail unique to John’s telling of this miracle story, a
young lad comes forward who is willing to share his lunch. A tiny, almost
infinitesimal act of kindness causes an enormous outflow of grace.
Do
you know the story of Alex Scott? She’s the little girl who was diagnosed with
cancer when she was a year old. At age four, having spent her whole life
dealing with doctors and hospitals and medicine, Alex decided she wanted to
help other kids who were living with the same circumstances which were defining
her world. She told her folks she wanted to collect money to find a cure for
pediatric cancer. With the help of her big brother Patrick, Alex opened her
lemonade stand, selling lemonade for fifty cents a glass. With the compassion
and generosity of her neighbors, the tiny cancer patient raised over $2,000 in
a single day.
Alex continued her philanthropic efforts until
she succumbed to her disease at the age of eight. But her compassion inspired an
international movement which has raised over $300 million since that first
fifty-cent glass was sold in 2000. Alex’s Lemonade Stand, Inc. has created over
1,500 cancer projects in North America and Europe and assisted over 30,000
families battling pediatric cancer.
In
our Gospel story, Jesus runs from the crowd because, having been fed their
fill, they want to make him their king. Jesus never seems to have time for
people who just don’t get it. Sure. You’d really want a leader who can promise
you an unending supply of all good things. But what would your contribution
be? Jesus wants to fill the soul and not just the stomach. He wants our
faith to be tested so that we grow and mature and learn love and empathy. A
little boy shares his lunch, a little girl makes lemonade—these are things
small but significant acts of faith which come from godly hearts.
We
so often find ourselves cast adrift in a sea of seeming scarcity and a storm of
chaotic uncertainty. There’s an awful lot of need and, so it seems, never
enough resources to meet that need. My little congregation in Northeast
Philadelphia is dealing with an aging building and a shrinking congregation. It’s
really easy for us to feel overwhelmed. Nevertheless, we can’t simply close our
eyes and pray for a miracle. We may have to be the miracle ourselves.
Since
the compilers of the Revised Common Lectionary have stranded us for the next
four weeks in the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel—that dreaded month of “Bread
of Life” readings—I’m going to challenge my peeps to fill a shopping cart for
our local food bank every week for the next four weeks. If everyone makes a
tiny sacrifice, we can make a big donation for our hungry neighbors.
The
Gospel reading for Pentecost 10 ends with the story of the disciples in the
boat on a dark and stormy sea. Personally, I’d think experienced fishermen
should’ve known better than to shove off on the Sea of Galilee at twilight, but
hey! People do dumb things all the time, right? Maybe John wanted to illustrate
that—just like everybody else—the disciples could quickly forget the goodness
of God. I mean, these guys just saw a miraculous work, but already
they’re starting to panic. That’s typical of all of us. I like the way John
ends the tale by saying, after Jesus has identified himself, “then they
wanted to take him into the boat.” The Greek word[i] implies a wish or a desire
for something. John ends this part of the story with the disciples wanting the
presence of Jesus, but wanting Jesus in our lives is really a beginning, isn’t
it?
Just
think: if all of us insignificant little people had the desire for Jesus in our
hearts, how do you think the world would change? What kind of miracles could we
do?
[i] The
word is ‘hethelon, which is the verb form of thelo meaning wish,
desire, want, or will. Just thought you might be interested.
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