July 28, 2024
Rev. Mary Erickson
Hope Lutheran Church
Ephesians 3:14-21; John 6:1-21
Gather up the Fragments
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
“Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.”
Leftovers. I’m a fan of leftovers and look forward to them. First of all, leftovers require much less time to prepare. I don’t need as much time and energy to get dinner ready. Dale and I also look forward to eating a good dish for a second night. And further, there are certain foods that are actually better on the second day than they are on the first. Soup, for instance. The flavors marinate and cure overnight, leading to a more rounded and complex palate.
Some people can’t stand leftovers. If anything remains after their meal, in the trash it goes. And I have to say, this is a response that you will only find in a wealthy nation. This would never occur in a developing nation.
In our gospel reading, Jesus seems to value leftovers, too. Today we hear the miracle of Jesus’ multiplication of the loaves and the fishes. This is the only miracle of Jesus (well, besides his resurrection) that occurs in all four gospels. When we consider these four miracle accounts together, a picture emerges.
Jesus and his disciples are in an isolated, rural setting when they’re surrounded by a huge crowd of people. They number about 5000 people, and that’s just the men! Jesus spends the day teaching them. As the day marches on, the disciples urge Jesus to dismiss the crowd. They’re approaching the dinner hour, and people will need to be on their way.
But Jesus has another plan. In the other three gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus tells his disciples, “They don’t need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
But John tells the story a little differently. Jesus uses the situation to test his disciples. He asks them a question he already knows the answer to: “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”
John then includes the detail about the boy in the crowd. Andrew has connected with him. “There’s a boy here who has five loaves of bread and a couple of fish,” he says. But when he considers the size of the crowd he backpedals. “But what’s that compared to a crowd of this size?”
But Jesus seizes upon it. He takes the boy’s lunch and blesses it. The food is distributed throughout the crowd and everyone eats their fill. Jesus has multiplied the food to provide for everyone. The miracle demonstrates the proportion of divine abundance.
Jesus insists that the leftover fragments be collected. When all the scraps are collected, there’s far more left over than what they had begun with.
“Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.”
We can take Jesus’ words on a couple of different levels. First, the literal meaning. The amount left over will demonstrate the power of this sign he has made. That’s one literal implication. But I wonder if Jesus also doesn’t want the food to be wasted?
Food waste has deep financial and environmental implications. It won’t surprise you to learn that the United States wastes more food than any other country in the world.
• The US sees a whopping 60 million tons of food waste each year.
• Somewhere between 30-40% of all our food supply is wasted.
• That amounts to about 325 pounds of food waste per person per year, or just shy of a pound a day.
• The financial value of this food comes to about $218 billion per year.
• Most of this food ends up in landfills. In fact, food waste is the single largest component in our landfills. It comprises about 22% of our municipal solid waste.
• This waste has a greater environmental impact, too. This decomposing food generates greenhouse gasses the equivalent of 37 million cars.
These are sobering statistics. There are many causes contributing to our food waste. A whole matrix of dynamics coalesce to create this problem – what we do in our homes, restaurants and stores, the supply chain, agricultural. It behooves us to do better. Can we be more efficient in our food usage? Can we direct these food resources to feed those with food insecurity? Jesus’ words inspire us in a literal sense: “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.”
But I believe his words get at something on a deeper level, too. Jesus’ words convey that he intends no one should be lost.
For Jesus, there are no discards. No one is so insignificant or unworthy that they should be left outside of the reach of his grace and salvation. He demonstrates this throughout the length and breadth of his ministry:
• He includes despised tax collectors like Matthew and Zacchaeus.
• He reaches out and touches those society keeps at a distance: lepers, those possessed with mental illness, like the Gerasene demoniac and Mary Magdalene.
• He extends his reach to the socially outcast, like the Samaritan woman at the well.
• No one is excluded, including Gentiles. He gives healing to the household of the Gentile centurion, the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter.
Jesus intends that no broken ones, no discarded people be left behind. And his checkmate will be in his cross. He declares, “When I am lifted up, I shall draw all people unto myself.”
“Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” On this hillside, Jesus performs the sign of his divine abundance in the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. But at this sign, his declaration about the gathering of lost things foreshadows another hillside and his greatest sign to come. On his cross he will gather all things unto himself.
In this tired and cynical world, we’re a disposable society. And that includes tossing away more than just food. Our disposable mindset leads us to discard people as well. But Jesus’ words reject this false notion. You are not a discard! You are not discounted! Jesus doesn’t overlook the value of the boy and his gift. They are not insignificant. Within them lies the foundation for his miraculous works.
The same can be said for you and for me. In all that you are, you are valued and worthwhile. You and I, we are part of the valued broken fragments that Jesus will not leave behind. He claims us as his own.
“Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” In these words, Jesus calls us to seek out the lost and gather them in. He urges us to seek and find the lost, the discouraged, the isolated. He impels us to befriend and welcome those who have been despised and scorned by society. We gather them up in the warm embrace of Christ’s compassion.
All four gospel accounts of this hillside miracle tell us that, when all the leftovers had been gathered up, they filled 12 baskets. Biblically speaking, twelve is a number of wholeness. There are 12 tribes of Israel; there are 12 disciples. The gospel writers are telling us that the complete number had been gathered in. Nothing was left behind.
Perhaps this is the greater miracle that occurred on that day. Yes, the bread and the fish were multiplied. But 12 baskets reflect the fullness of Christ’s reach, that all are gathered in. All our fragmented and broken souls, none are lost. This sign on the hillside points to Jesus’ greatest sign, his death and resurrection.
This is the sign we contemplate for a lifetime, the scope of his grace and mercy, his love and salvation. In this sign we marvel at how high and how wide is his love. We ponder how deep and how long is the reach of his saving arms. It surpasses all our knowledge. How great is your love, O Lord! May we meditate upon it, that we may be filled with the fullness of God.
