The following is not a repeat but very similar to a sermon I preached in 2008 based on Matthew 14:13-21. Thank you.
As some of you know, over the 4th of July weekend my sisters and I had a celebration for my father who celebrated his 81st birthday and 50th year of ordination. We celebrated the events in various ways. One way was to have a gathering with family from around the United States here in San Antonio.
Now there are many joys about meeting those that one has not seen for awhile. One of the joys is catching up on what has happened in their lives and sharing about our experiences during the absence. But I have to admit that one facet of getting together again that I both enjoy and dislike is telling and hearing those old stories.
When we get together with certain people, the conversation will get around to a story that may begin with, "Do you remember that time when...." and people will start to groan or chuckle.
The gospel for today is a much loved event about Jesus and his disciples that was and is told over and over again. We can say that because there are some events and lessons which are told only one time in the gospels.... such as the story of the Good Samaritan, told only once; the story of the Prodigal Son, told only once; the story of the Sheep and the Goats, told only once.
But today's miracle, called the feeding of the five thousand, about the five loaves and two fish, is not told merely once, not twice, not three times, but four times in its variations. It is the only miracle outside of the resurrection which is told in its fullness in all four Gospels.
Now, why is this story told over and over again?
First let's review, according to the Gospel of Matthew, John the Baptist had just been beheaded. John was a moral force, a spiritual force, a prophet in the land of Israel, one that some suggested had not been experienced for four hundred years. He was the person that many looked to for moral and religious inspiration and had his own disciples … and he was just beheaded by King Herod. Many were stunned by this tragedy, including Jesus, who had been baptized by John.
Not surprisingly, Jesus wanted to get away by himself to grieve, to pray, and to remember. He wanted to get away to a lonely place and the fastest way to do that entailed getting into a boat to sail across Lake Galilee to a remote point, to be alone and grieve.
Well that did not happen because the crowds followed along the shoreline, keeping a determined eye on his boat. An unanswered question is if the crowd could follow Jesus along the shore, Jesus must have been able to see the people. So why didn't he somehow avoid the crowd? Either way, when Jesus' boat landed, we are told that many of the crowd had already arrived, with more to follow, up to 5,000.
What was Jesus' reaction to the thousands who had shown up? Jesus' first response, after getting off the boat, was to look on the massive crowd with compassion. He taught them and he healed them. Well as you can imagine, to work through a crowd of thousands meant that the day quickly passed. It got to the point, evening, when the disciples encouraged Jesus to end the time and disperse the crowd.
Instead, Jesus responds by replying "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." At which the disciples reply: "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish." With that Jesus gathers that donated food, directs the crowd to sit down, gave thanks for the food and broke the loaves which are then given out to the people. The miracle is that everyone has something to eat ending in leftovers.
Again, that miracle with minor variations (outside of the resurrection miracle) is the only miracle that is found in all four gospels. Why? This miracle seems hardly to match the importance of the resurrection. What is it about this event that meant this repetition? Let me give you several suggestions that I have found thought provoking.
First, is the interesting statement and question asked of the disciples "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." In another gospel the giver of this food is identified as a young child. That detail simply leads to an important reminder --- the strength of simple gifts.
"You give them something to eat." The disciples immediately begin to think practically as they do the math and realize that they don't have the resources to do the job. Their own food supply donated by a young child, is pretty meager, just five loaves and two fish, even for the traveling group with Jesus, which basically amounted to "nothing" in the face of such a huge crowd.
The disciples had crunched the numbers, added up the logistical formula, and it just doesn't work. But there is more to the statement from Jesus than that. In the training manual for Ritz Carlton Hotel employees, there's a maxim that says, "If you see a problem, you own it." To say, "It's not my problem" or "It's not my job" is not acceptable. If you see it, you own it — you take responsibility for solving it.
Take responsibility even when the odds are impossible! Jesus seeks to teach them a different kind of math based not on addition, but on multiplication. However, to have the multiplication happen not only takes the power of simple gifts and responsibility, but it takes surrender to God.
How did Christ feed all those people with so little food, with merely five loaves and two fish? One possibility is that the loaves continually multiplied, endlessly, so that the loaves themselves experience transformation and become an endless supply of bread. But another possibility is that what was transformed was not the bread and fish but the hearts of thousands; that when these thousands saw the example of Jesus trusting God, giving thanks and dispersing five loaves of bread and two fish, these people were inspired to look inside their coats and share the food that they brought with them, food that had been hidden inside their clothing, just for themselves. Either way, the mechanics of the miracle are not as crucial as use what is given, responsibility and surrender to the work of God in our lives.
A second reason why this miracle is recorded in all four gospels could be because the memory of this miracle helped the disciples understand a later meal, the Last Supper. The liturgical references seem clear. Jesus took the bread...looked up to heaven ... gave thanks ... broke the bread ... gave it to his disciples ... who gave it to everyone ... and they all ate and were satisfied. These actions seem parallel to Holy Communion.
But there's even more than the obvious wording. The verb used in Matthew verse 19, translated as "gave them" suggests not once but many times. In other words, Jesus "kept giving" broken bread and fish to his disciples. So that small amount of bread and fish multiplies into a feast that feeds the whole crowd, and there is even some left over — no scarcity, only abundance! A meal that keeps giving!
A pastor was used to breaking and giving out little pieces of bread until one Sunday when a little girl about 3 years old came to the front of the sanctuary with her mom to receive Communion. The pastor knelt down beside her and said, "This bread means that Jesus loves you very much" and gave her a little piece of the loaf which she promptly wolfed down. But, instead of moving down the line, she held out her hands again and looked at the pastor with hopeful eyes and said, "More?" We need to be able to ditch the diet of scarcity and enjoy the bigger hunk of grace God offers us in Jesus Christ.
Besides the reminder of the power of simple gifts, the need to take responsibility and the challenge to surrender to God comes the acknowledgement that with God there's always more — more grace, more love, more room, more of everything and it keeps coming and is always given. God takes the smallest that we can offer and multiplies it into more than we can fathom.
The miracle today seemingly was an old favorite of the first disciples and early church, and told over and over again. Possibly this miracle resonated with the first disciples reminding them of experience where they witnessed first had the compassionate, loving Son of God and the essence of God's abundant grace and generous gifts to us.
And there can be one final reason why this miracle is in all four gospels. That miracle is not just for the past. Jesus says to us, "You give them something to eat." Let us give thanks for simple gifts that as measured by logic and reason are not up to the task at hand. Let us take responsibility for the challenges before us but let us also remember that in the bread and wine, God promises to do the feeding. Amen.
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