This week, more than any other week in America, is a week of food! All across the land, home cooks have already begun the preparation of a menu, the procurement of ingredients, the planning of where and how all foods shall be consumed on the ONE day we collectively set apart for gratitude…which typically ends in a food coma on a couch somewhere with a football game or holiday movie playing the background. It’s quite poetic really!
But I suspect one thing is true for all of us in some form or fashion. Thanksgiving and all its traditions are centered around food and family and friends. Granted it will look different this year. There may not be a family gathering, or it might be much much smaller. Or it might be virtual – with meals being shared on multiple screens. Or your ‘family’ may now be the neighbors or friends you’ve hunkered down with these last few weeks. There might not be AS much food consumed, but I’ll venture a guess that whatever your plans are for Thursday, there will be some familiar, comfort food involved for you and for those you love – even if you are not together.
Food upon food upon food. It’s central to our celebrations. And whatever your holiday looks like this week, I wish comfort and good food for you in abundance.
But our story today begins with a different situation around food! There were a whole lot of people, and they didn’t have enough of it!
As we travel back to the “Room Where It Happened,” we hope to stand in closer proximity to some of the miracles of Jesus. What was it like for those who saw these things happen? Do the miracles still mean anything for us now?
But today, in this story, Jesus wasn’t in a room. Matthew tells us that he had taken a boat to get to a deserted place. His intent was to be alone – but he wasn’t so lucky that day.
Now, anytime somebody climbs in a boat and sails away to try to be alone – it begs the question, “why?” What has just happened that would send Jesus out to sea and to another shore by himself?
If we back up a few verses in Matthew 14, we find out. And it isn’t good. Jesus had just received word that John the Baptist has died. John the Baptist was a forerunner, a prophet, the one who had done most of the work to prepare people for Jesus’ entry onto the scene. So there was certainly a professional and communal connection there. But John was also family. His mom, Elizabeth was cousin to Jesus’ mother, Mary. They were pregnant at the same time and even stayed together before Jesus was born.
The Gospel of Luke tells us that John leaped within his mother’s womb when Mary arrived, bearing Jesus in her own. The two men are bound by blood and by spirit. And now John is dead.
It was likely surprising to hear that he had died, but certainly shocking to hear how. I’ll spare you the gruesome details in case there are kids in the room – you can read the account for yourself starting at the beginning of Matthew 14. But let’s just say that King Herod had a birthday party. It was an abundant, excessive, overindulgent affair, as I suspect most kings’ parties were. Things got out of hand, promises were made after too much wine, frivolous demands had to be met – and at the end of the night John the Baptist was the collateral damage.
Jesus heard the news. And he needed to be alone. It feels like one of those moments where we can fully appreciate Jesus’ humanity, and he fully felt the weight of ours. I suspect he was rattled. In shock. Deeply sad. Maybe even angry. What a tragic end for his bold, young, faithful cousin and friend. Grief had come running at him headlong, and now he needed to get away. Maybe to clear his head. Maybe to cry out to God. Maybe to put some physical distance between himself and Herod the madman who just murdered his cousin. So he took a boat to a deserted place.
He sits quietly, for a few merciful moments of solitude – his head in his hands murmuring his prayers to God - before he hears the voices in the distance. He looks up to see the rise of the hill morph and take the form of a mass of people making their way across the grassy field toward him. When they see him looking at them, the movement stops. He is alone. They are suddenly unsure if they should be here.
He notices among their number a woman with a twisted foot, unable to walk with ease. He sees a father carrying a boy who is sweating with fever. He catches a glimpse of a man being led by his friends, his own eyesight too poor to find the way himself.
The grief that had flooded Jesus’ heart as he sought his solitude now takes a backseat as compassion begins to well up and overflow. He takes a deep breath, rises to his feet and walks across the field to bring healing to those who need it.
A little girl, clings tightly to her mother’s hand jostled about by the crowd pressing forward around her. She had been excited this morning when her mother suddenly dropped the laundry she had been scrubbing as a neighbor raced by yelling something about “Rabbi” and “Jesus!” They had scrambled to find their sandals and then headed out, following an ever-growing group of people leaving the city going into the countryside.
Her mother told her that this was the rabbi everyone had been talking about. He had healed people. He had cast out demons. And he was so easy to listen to. What a chance they had to see him – today!
Now, with crowds all around her, the girl strained to see where this teacher might be. Finally the movement stopped. There he was. He was coming toward them. She darted away from her mother to get to the edge of the crowd where she could see. Quiet as a mouse, she watched as he approached the woman who lived down the street – the one who walks with a limp. He leaned down, bowed his head like he was praying and touched her foot. The little girl heard the woman gasp and then all that followed was laughter. Pure, unhindered, joyous laughter. The woman’s limp was gone. Her foot wasn’t twisted anymore. The girl couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
She found a cool flat rock in the shade of a tree and settled down to watch what else this man could do. Her mother finally spotted her and came over to sit and take in the scene too. They heard the rabbi telling stories, they listened as he talked about the Torah, the Law in a way that made it make sense in real life. They saw him touch people and pain would vanish. The girl couldn’t have been more surprised than when she saw her friend, a little boy, who had been so sick for so many days, dart past the very rock she sat on, chasing his brother around the tree! Certainly this was the most unusual and most exquisite day of her life!
The light was beginning to change though, as the sun made its afternoon journey toward the horizon. All of a sudden the girl felt her stomach rumble. Granted it was never very full. But all the excitement of the day had made her forget that she hadn’t eaten a thing. At that very moment, she noticed that a group of men had pulled the rabbi off to the side. They were gesturing, pointing back toward the town. She thought she heard the word “food,” which made her stomach growl again.
She noticed the men seemed quite agitated, but the Rabbi appeared unconcerned. She saw him shrug and point at them. His words she heard clearly that time, “You give them something to eat.”
Two of the men gestured toward a basket nearby – she wondered what was inside – then they carried the basket to the rabbi. He turned to the crowd then, catching her eye and smiling as his told them all to sit down. She watched as he reached into the basket and lifted up a loaf of bread, then another, and another – 5 whole loaves. He reached in again and pulled out two fish. Hands and arms full of this food, he raised them up and thanked God for them.
“That’s not enough for everybody,” she thought. Certainly it wasn’t – there would’ve been close to 10,000 people there. Is it just for those 12 men? Does he want us to watch them eat?? She saw that each of the men now had their hands full of food and they began to walk among the crowds. The man walking toward her and her mother stopped and broke his loaf of bread. He gave half to a man sitting nearby. The man looked at the bread, which seemed significantly more than half a loaf now. So he broke it and passed half to the boy sitting next to him. The boy followed suit and handed half to the girl’s mom. The girl watched in amazement as each person broke the bread, and had more than a full share. How could that be? There was only one loaf to begin with.
She glanced around her at the crowd and saw other peoples’ eyes wide in disbelief. There was plenty of food. There was enough. Everyone was getting a full portion of bread and fish – and it tasted delicious!!
Her mom broke the bread, with tears streaming down her face and handed her daughter the most filling and nutritious meal she had had in months. The girl hugged her mother before sinking her teeth into the miraculous meal in her hands. She ate both the fish and the bread way faster than she intended to, but as she let out a sigh of contentment, she noticed the rabbi smiling at her again as he too finished off his helping of bread.
She smiled back shyly and waved at this wonderful man who could fill their hearts and stomachs with such goodness. Then she noticed his 12 friends. They were standing all around the edge of the crowd now, everyone had eaten. Each one of the 12 stood with utter astonishment written on their faces – and each one of them held a basket, FULL of leftover food. She laughed out loud then, and licked her fingers savoring the very last of this miraculous day.
This is a miracle story about people who were hungry, and then they were not. God’s story throughout scripture is a story that insists that God’s hungry people should be fed. Jesus is bringing the vision of God to life – the vision they knew from the prophets, from the psalms, from the story of Moses they had known since they were children. The manna in the wilderness had become bread and fish here in this deserted place today. Hungry people should not be hungry.
The reality is that the people gathered there likely experienced hunger on more than just that day. Food insecurity in the ancient world, particularly in the Roman Empire, was common. The vast majority of people lived in a state of subsistence, producing or procuring just enough food to get by – sometimes less. The Empire used food distribution as a means of power and control. The people listening to Jesus, most likely knew hunger in some form on a daily basis. They certainly weren’t used to eating their fill.
So this miraculous meal born out of scarcity and insufficiency stands in stark contrast to the lavish banquet that had come just before. The one that had cost Jesus’ friend his life. There are the feasts of the world, and then there are the feasts of God. Abundance and excess for a few result in the oppression, and even death of many. Simplicity and blessing with little lead to fullness and satisfaction for everyone.
Jesus’ miracle demonstrates the will of God for people who are hungry not to be hungry.
This may seem like an ancient story, in a different civilization and reality. But I find it striking to think about how amazing this miracle still would be today.
Our world may be very different. But there are still hungry people in it. We can speak about hunger metaphorically of course, but we can also speak about it literally. To bring it close to home, Platte County, where our church is and where many of us live is the wealthiest county in the entire state of Missouri. #1. The most money is concentrated here. Most of us have more than enough to eat.
And yet, every night 10,000 people (about the size of the crowd gathered that day) in this same county go to bed hungry, or without certainty that there will be enough food tomorrow. The miracle of a meal where EVERYONE has enough – would still feel like a miracle today.
The part of this miracle that gets me every single time is what Jesus says to his disciples. They have come to him in the middle of his busy day – he’s teaching and healing people right and left – and they pull him aside to point out the obvious problem that people are hungry. Their solution of course is not to have to deal with it. They want the people to fend for themselves. Let them go back to town to buy food for themselves, they say.
Jesus responds – there’s no need for that. YOU give them something to eat. You do it.
The people closest to Jesus – the ones who have committed their lives to following him – are the ones he wants to address the problem. Notice that HE provides the food. HE makes sure there is enough – but it’s up to them to figure out how everyone gets their share. And to bring his point home without question – that this is the abundant vision of God’s kingdom, the scene ends with each of them standing there with a basket, still full of food – as if to say, ‘who else is hungry? YOU give them something to eat.’
Is this not the scene we might find ourselves in today? As followers of Jesus, are we not the ones standing here with our hands full of abundance and provision with his words echoing in our ears, “you give them something to eat?” You do it.
Where we are living in abundance and excess, each in our own different ways, are we remembering God’s vision for our world that hungry people should not be hungry – physically, spiritually, emotionally, figuratively, literally? Where are we the hands that distribute the provisions God has supplied?
It’s not always as simple as offering a single meal to someone who hasn’t eaten. (Although sometimes it is.) There are systemic roots to the problem of hunger, starting with unequal access to education which determines whether you’ll make a living wage – or not. Untreated mental health disorders keep people from having enough. Access to food itself in economically depressed areas means families in our community don’t get enough to eat. And some of you are in positions and have influence to address these systemic issues. You do it, Jesus says. Hungry people should not be hungry.
But the majority of us meet the problem out on the branches. And to keep life easy, we’d like for people just to go take care of themselves. But Jesus says, “No, YOU do it. You give them something to eat.” So where does our abundance meet someone else’s scarcity?
This, of course, is a season where we are naturally inclined to think outside of ourselves and make sure that others have enough. I wish it were more popular to do so year round. But maybe this week is a first step. I’ll invite you to put your faith into action in a very practical way. When Jesus says, “you do it,” we should do it. Platte Woods Church has a whole list of ways that you can provide from your own resources to meet someone else’s need. Take a minute after worship, before you shut down your phone or computer and go to our website. You’ll see all of our Christmas missions listed there and I want you to sign up for one thing. So many of these have to do with food. You can provide a meal. You can adopt a family. You can supply stocking stuffers. You can take one small step to take the basket you are holding and share it with someone who doesn’t have enough.
If you’re not local here in Kansas City, I am certain there’s no shortage of ways you can share your abundance in your own community. Take a moment to consider where the world is hungry around you, and hear Jesus speaking to you, “You give them something to eat.”
I hope that each of us in this week full of food and thanksgiving ahead, will give thanks for the blessings in our lives. But more than that, I hope we’ll ask ourselves how our abundance can become God’s provision for those who need it. Some of you have just enough to take care of one more person. Some could feed a whole family. Some could provide for an entire school. And some of you COULD feed 5,000 people.
God’s kingdom is summoning; Jesus is speaking to us with a smile: “You do it.”
Will you pray with me?
O God, when we have food,
help us to remember the hungry;
When we have work,
help us to remember the jobless;
When we have a home,
help us to remember those who have no home at all;
When we are without pain,
help us to remember those who suffer,
And in remembering,
help us to destroy our complacency;
provoke our compassion,
and be concerned enough to help;
By word and deed,
those who cry out for what we take for granted. We pray in the name of Christ, who himself is our daily bread, and who taught us to pray…Our Father…
