Big Miracle Series

“Big Miracle”

Luke 9:10-17

A sermon for 1/16/22

Second Sunday after Epiphany

Pastor John Bright

Luke 9 “10 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. 12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.”

13 But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.” 14 For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.” 15 And they did so, and made them all sit down.

16 Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17 So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.”

This miracle story has a special place in my heart because of something that happened almost 20 years ago. I was at a District clergy meeting. The DS was leading a devotion. He read this story and asked us to break up into small groups and discuss the reading. My little group went right to power of God Almighty to create an abundance out of just a little. We talked about the God who created the whole universe with a word. Jesus’ miracle of multiplication was that same power in Him.

When we were called back together, the DS asked each group to share. One of the ministers in my group spoke up first and shared our view of the power of God in this miracle. Without comment, the DS asked another group to share. They mentioned that in John’s account of the Feeding of the 5,000, there is a boy who shares the five loaves and two fish(John 6:9). So, they explained, when everyone saw the boy sharing his food, the other people shared what they had and there was enough for everyone.

This is what we call “The Stone Soup Analogy”. Since not everyone understands that reference, let me tell you a story that dates back to the early 1700s.

The Story of Stone Soup

Once upon a time, there was a great famine. The people in one small village didn't have enough to eat, and definitely not enough to store away for the winter. People were afraid their families would go hungry, so they hid the small amounts of food they did have. They even hid their food from their friends and neighbors. One day a wandering soldier came into the village. He asked the different people he met about finding a place to eat and sleep for the night.

"There's not a bite to eat in the whole county," they told him. "You better keep moving on."

"Oh, I have everything I need," he said. "In fact, I would like to make some stone soup to share with all of you." He pulled a big black cooking pot from his wagon. He filled it with water and built a fire under it. Then, he reached slowly into his knapsack and, while several villagers watched, he pulled a plain gray stone from a cloth bag and dropped it into the water.

By now, hearing about the magic stone, most of the villagers were surrounding the soldier and his cooking pot. As the soldier sniffed the stone soup and licked his lips, the villagers began to overcome their lack of trust.

"Ahh," the soldier said aloud to himself, "I do like a tasty stone soup. Of course, stone soup with cabbage is even better."

Soon a villager ran from his house into the village square, holding a cabbage. "I have this cabbage from my garden." he said as he held it out for the soldier. "Fantastic!" cried the soldier. The soldier cut up the cabbage and added it to the pot. "You know, I once had stone soup with cabbage and a bit of beef, and it was delicious." The butcher said he thought he could find some beef scraps. As he ran back to his shop, other villagers offered bits of vegetables from their own gardens--potatoes, onions, carrots, celery. Soon the big black pot was bubbling and steaming. When the soup was ready, everyone in the village ate a bowl of soup, and it was delicious.