July 29th, 2012 “It is
Enough” Rev. Heather Jepsen
John 6:1-21 with Ephesians 3:14-21
We will be leaving Mark behind for a
while and spending the next few Sundays in the gospel of John. In fact, we will be spending the next five
Sundays simply working our way through chapter 6 of John’s gospel. You will find that John is a lot different
from Mark, much different. In fact, John
and Mark are probably two ends on a gospel spectrum. Mark has a relatively low Christology (or
view of Jesus as God) where John has a very high Christology (making very clear
that Jesus is God). Mark writes in very
short snippets and John’s stories are longer and more complicated with lots of
hidden meaning. Together they offer different
yet complimentary views of who Jesus the Christ is.
This morning’s reading from John
covers two of the most famous miracle stories about Jesus; the feeding of the
crowds and walking on water. The writer
of John spends a lot of time discussing signs that Jesus does. These signs are ways of showing those in the
story and the reader just who Jesus is.
In the feeding of the 5,000 Jesus is
being followed by a large crowd. Jesus
asks Phillip how they are going to feed everyone. It is a trick question really as the writer
of John tells us that Jesus already knew what he was going to do, he already
knew that this was an opportunity for one of his signs. Poor Phillip looks around, does the math in
his head, and finds that it would take at least 6 months wages to feed
everyone, as if they could even find a market that could handle such an order. Phillip is practical, there is just no way to
solve this problem.
Andrew seems to have already
anticipated such trouble and has gone through the crowd looking for a possible
food source for sharing. All he finds is
a small boy’s lunch, five barley loaves and two fish. “But what are they among so many?” Andrew has examined the resources and what
they need simply is not available.
Jesus instructs the crowd to sit,
blesses the food, and distributes it.
Unlike some other tellings of this story, the disciples do not help with
distribution. The food passes through
Jesus’ hands alone, as this miracle is about his ability to multiply the
offering. All are fed, all are full, and
the disciples gather up 12 baskets of crust and fish tails; much more than they
even began with.
Right away the crowd senses that Jesus
is something special. The writer of John
tells us that they try to seize Jesus and make him king. And why not?
If this guy can make a free lunch, let’s put him in charge and see what
else he can do! Jesus withdraws from the
crowds and the scene changes.
The disciples are in a boat on the
water without Jesus when a storm arises.
The writer of John tells us that they are not afraid of the storm, but
they are afraid of Jesus when they see him walking towards the boat on the
surface of the water. Jesus cries out,
“Ego emi” or “I am, be not afraid”. He
is basically saying, “It’s me” and “I’m God” at the same time. Unlike other boat stories Jesus doesn’t calm
the storm. In a mysterious twist the
disciples try to take him into the boat when suddenly they are at the other
side of the lake. It is as if they see
Jesus, they reach out to him, they blink their eyes, and the boat ride is over.
The writer of the gospel of John tells
us these stories so that we will know who Jesus is. The feeding story is easy to understand,
Jesus is the one who sees the needs of the people and is able to feed them all
with a meager offering. The boat story is harder, as Jesus appears to be the
one who can manipulate time and matter.
The writer of John wants the reader to know that Jesus is not like a
man, rather Jesus is like God. In fact,
Jesus is God; hence the “I am” statement so reminiscent of God’s voice from the
flaming bush.
As modern believers I think we sometimes
struggle with these miracle stories.
What once was used to draw people into the faith, or to convince them
that Jesus is worthy of their belief, now is actually a bit of a turn off. The Jesus who feeds thousands and the Jesus
who walks on water is sometimes harder to believe in than the Jesus who heals
or the Jesus who challenges authority. It
is easier to relate to Jesus the man than it is to Jesus the God.
I have found that modern people of
faith, especially Presbyterians aren’t really interested in telling stories about
miracles. What they are interested in is
making a real difference in the world.
They aren’t really interested in convincing people to become
Christians. They are really interested
in helping where they perceive there is a need.
We want to give people real bread, and if they get spiritual nourishment
as well, that’s just a bonus.
I think these miracle stories can speak even
into this mindset. When we are looking
to address the needs of the world around us, we find that those needs are
great. In fact, there is a vast yawning
chasm of need here in our own community.
From the Food Pantry to the homeless project, from survival house to
hospice, from those looking for a job to those struggling to make ends meet,
from the sick to the dying the need here in Warrensburg is vast. If we look beyond our community the need
simply grows. From the ravages of drought
to the scars of gun violence, from the broken economy to the lies of another
election cycle, from the endless wars overseas to the unrest here at home; our
country is a grand canyon of need. In
the whole world we find hunger and pain; in famine and war, crippling poverty
and corrupt governments, broken systems and broken people. It seems as if the world is nothing but one
great downward spiral.
The Christ the author of John shows
us, the Christ who is more God than man, is a Christ who can address this
need. When we look at the needs around
us, and we look down at our meager loaves and fish, we are tempted to say “But
what are they among so many people?” I
have such a small offering to give, what difference will it make in the face of
such suffering? The author of John tells
us that such a meager offering will make all the difference in the world, for
in the hands of Christ, this offering will grow to fit the need, in the hands
of Christ, our small offering is enough.
I think it can be easy for us as
individuals and as a church to loose heart.
We are like Phillip, we look around and calculate the need, and then simply
state, we can’t do it. We are like
Andrew, examining the budget and declaring that there is a limit, this is all
we have for mission. If the Christ is
not among us to multiply the offering, we would have to give up.
I am going to jump to the letter to
the Ephesians now. Here we find a prayer
for the church, and I think it is just the prayer we need to hear. The writer prays that the church would be
filled with the power of Christ. Our
inner being would be strengthened through his Spirit, that we would be rooted
and grounded in love, that we would be filled with the fullness of God.
This is not a prayer of scarcity; it
is a prayer of abundance. If Christ is
among us we will be OK, we will have enough to give, we will give enough, and
we will make a difference. If we are
rooted and grounded in love we will be like a tree reaching deep into the soil. Nothing, not even the limits of our own
offerings will be able to blow us down.
When we look at the deep hunger of the crowds, what better prayer is
there than that we would be filled with the fullness of God? We can then go out into the world and share
that fullness with those who hunger.
You see the church is more than what
it looks like on paper. And it is more
than what it appears to the eye. We are
more than the budget we draw up or the amount of interest we earn on our
investments. We are more than this
worship place with its stained glass windows and comfy pews. We are more than simply those that attend
worship and those who didn’t make it today.
In Christ the church is more than the sum of its parts, in Christ we are
filled with the fullness of God, in Christ we can do anything.
When we look at the hungry crowds
around us, when we look at the world’s need, and Jesus asks us what are we
going to do, we should confidently offer up all that we have. For the Jesus of the gospel of John already
has big plans for our meager loaves and fish.
Through our small offerings, of time and money, big differences are made. Big differences are made in Malawi, and big
differences are made in Warrensburg.
When we give what we have, our money and ourselves, to those in need, we
find that even the smallest offering can make a huge impact. In the hands of the Christ our loaves and
fish can feed thousands. In the hands of
the Christ what looks like nothing becomes something. In the hands of the Christ, not enough
becomes enough.
As we spend a month reading John
chapter six we will discover that this is who Jesus the Christ is. Jesus is the one who can walk on water, the
one who can manipulate time and space.
Jesus is the one who can multiply matter, the one who can turn five
loaves into five thousand. Jesus is the
one who creates abundance from scarcity.
Jesus is the one who takes what we have to give and makes it
enough. The writer of John wants us to
know that Jesus is the one who performs miracles and signs, so that we might
see who he is and come to believe. It is
this belief and hope which helps us make a difference. It is this Jesus the Christ who makes our
small offering into enough. Thanks be to
God for miracles. Amen.
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