St. James Episcopal Church
Greeneville, TN
Year B - Proper 12 - July 29, 2018
There was this little boy whose mother packed him lunch every day of school for 7 years! Every evening, she methodically put it all together… And he could usually count on about the same thing day after day/week after week… A bologna and cheese sandwich on white bread… (sometimes peanut butter and jelly) Some kind of fruit… A bag of some kind of chips… And some kind of dessert. Ok… This was well-balanced nutrition for the 70s…. And this little boy was me… Things haven’t changed too much…
We are not quite sure how old the little boy in our Gospel Lesson was… But we do know that possibly it was his mom that packed him a lunch so he could go to the outskirts of town and hear a wonderful teacher. We know that the areas outside villages and cities in the Mediterranean region were places of chaos… Meals did not normally take place there. In the first century, people in this part of the world did not go on “picnics.” Proper care had to be taken when preparing food to ensure its ritual purity.
But there on the outskirts of the town assembled 5,000… The Gospel mentions men but does not to mention the women and children. (women and children were not included in the count) This would have been larger than the population of most urban settlements in the surrounding area. AND That was a bunch of people!
This was a large crowd! Just to give you an idea of how large this crowd could have possibly been, I looked for a modern reference… We are talking a third of the population of Greene County!
Now we have all these people together… And Jesus asks Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” I don’t think that the question to Philip was Jesus searching for information. This was more of a rhetorical question. This was one of the ways Jesus taught his disciples. The Gospel says that “He said this to test him…”
I think we can all relate to Philip and his short speech on the economic situation before them. Philip was the logical choice for Jesus to ask. He was from Bethsaida, which was the nearest town. Philip would have known the local resources. So, Philip gave Jesus a very logical answer. He tries to rationally figure out how much money he would need to buy enough bread for each person to have a little taste. The price that comes to his mind is 200 denarii – (a denarii being a days wage for a working man) this would be about 6.5 months wages. This amount would appear ENORMOUS to a man like Philip. But Philip could have gone much further…
He could have pointed out to Jesus all the logistical problems associated with obtaining and transporting such a large quantity of bread. Even if they took up an offering and were able to come up with enough money to go buy bread, where would they go and find that much bread already prepared? (enough to feed these thousands and thousands of people)... If there were to prepare it themselves, How many ovens would be required? How many bakers? How much flour?
How long would it take for the dough to rise? And to bake? And how would they transport thousands of loaves of bread? And then what about the water or wine? You can’t eat bread without something to wash it down with. Philips answer was very logical, but not very faithful.
And then Andrew come along and tries to offer a frail solution. He offers Jesus the 5 barley loaves and 2 fish. Just a little boy’s lunch! But then joins Philip in his doubt – “What are they among so many.” This wasn’t even the good bread. This was barley bread. This was an inferior bread usually eaten by poor people. And the fish were probably small, meant to be a side dish for the bread which was after all the main course.
What if the boy were unwilling to share his lunch? What if he were to say, “I need this to take care of myself!” or – “my little bit won’t make a difference, So I am going to keep it!” The story might have been much different. But - In a gesture, much larger than that little boy, the meager lunch is offered to Jesus upon request. Then, Jesus had the disciples make the people sit down on the grass.
Jesus didn’t jump up and proclaim, “I AM GOD” and then make manna rain down from heaven. He didn’t make palm-trees spring up in the middle of the desert and feed the people with a grand banquet. But in a very bold gesture for a man with so many mouths to feed and so little food. He “took” what was given to him, He “blessed it,” He “broke it,” and He “gave it” to all the people who were seated on the hillside in the wilderness. And he gave it until they were satisfied.
However, that isn’t the entire story, Unlike some conjuror, who would possibly say “I can do this again, and again,” Jesus takes care of what is given to him and instructs the disciples to “Gather up the fragments left over so that nothing may be lost.” And they filled up 12 baskets.
We should remember that Paul reminded the Ephesians that Jesus could always do far more than we could either ask or imagine. This was a little boy’s lunch! His lunch was not much, but it was ALL he had to offer. Jesus transformed that little bit into plenty for thousands.
Jesus Christ needs what we can bring him. We may not have much to bring, but he needs what we have. We bring to Jesus what we have and he multiplies the quantity. Regardless if we say, “I need this for myself!” or “my little bit won’t make any difference,” Jesus takes what we offer and it somehow becomes enough. But not just enough, it becomes an overflowing abundance.
We live out a little taste of that wonderful story today, just like we do each and every Sunday. Jesus takes what we offer and uses it to feed all of us. Every Sunday is our turn to sit down on the mountainside in the grass and join that great crowd. What happened there, happens here!
Don’t ever forget that the bread we share this morning comes directly from the abundance of one of those 12 baskets, as Jesus continues to feed us and provide for us.
Today, through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, we bring Karsin McCray into Christ's Body, the Church. We will make promises to help her grow into the full stature of Christ. It's our responsibility, as we teach her the tenets of the faith, to make sure that she knows how Jesus takes what we bring and provides for the greater community. We are responsible for seeing that she is brought to the Eucharistic table and is given the chance to be nourished the way we are nourished here.
Come and feast at God's table. There is always enough!
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