Matthew 14:13-21

August 1, 1999

"The Battle Against World Hunger"

One of the difficulties in reading a story like the Feeding of the 5,000 today is that we sometimes overlook the true meaning of the story. For some people, the problem is that the details of the story become too familiar. After all, probably every one of us has heard this story at least once. Besides, a meal is a meal. For others, the problem is that they're too focused on the miracle in the story. The feeding of the 5,000 with a few loaves and fishes is just such a miraculous event that they're too wrapped up in the details to see what has happened here. That's not to say, of course, that this isn't a miracle. Nor it is to say that the story shouldn't be familiar to us. It is simply to say this: the most amazing thing about this story is that it is an opportunity to share a meal with Jesus, and to be reminded of what it means to share a meal with one another.

I ask you to turn now and picture the scenes of the story for a moment. Jesus has just gotten word that his friend John the Baptist has been killed by King Herod. And so Jesus takes some time to be by himself. He is grieving the loss of his friend. He wants some time to be alone. And so he goes off to pray.

We all know what happens, though, when you try to find some quiet time for yourself. People still tend to find you, and they found Jesus. And so crowds and crowds of people gather together from the towns and set out to find Jesus. Now, most of us would probably want to be left alone. We've gone to be by ourselves and we don't want distractions. Perhaps Jesus felt the same, but he is a man with a soft heart. And so Matthew says "he had compassion for [the crowd] and cured their sick." And here we find the first dimension of the meal: service.

Jesus could have sent the people away. He could have walked on to find another quiet place. But he didn't. He knew for himself that the people were hungry for what he had to offer. He knew that they had pains and hurts among them. He knew that they had made the effort to look for him, so he didn't turn them away. Instead, he had compassion for them. He understood how they felt and he longed for them to be healed. He longed for them to be restored. And so he did what he could to make that happen. That, you see, was the first dimension of the meal: service.

The time was getting late, though, and the disciples were right to be concerned. After all, Matthew's gospel says that there were 5,000 men gathered here, not including women and children. That has led some people to say that there could be as many as 10,000 or 20,000 people here in all. We just don't know! What we do know is that there was a large crowd gathered here, and they were hungry. Very hungry. It had been a long day, after all, and no one thought to bring food because they didn't think they would be out that long. And so the disciples suggest what seems to be a reasonable solution: let's send the people into town so that they can buy something to eat for themselves.

But this is where Jesus corrects them. The first part of sharing a meal together is coming together in service to others, not turning others away. That's why Jesus makes the direct comment to the disciples: "They don't need to go away; you give them something to eat." These words have always amazed me. Here is Jesus, the Son of God, and he is asking the disciples--sinful humans--to give these people something to eat. He is asking these common everyday people to be the ones who serve the hungry people of the world. He's asking each of these disciples--doubting Thomas, the bumbling Peter, the betrayer Judas--to satisfy the hunger of these people. It's amazing, really. I mean, how can Jesus expect them to be able to do that? Are they really qualified to fill those shoes? Are they really able to feed all these people? Do they really have what it takes to get the job done?

The answer is no; at least not on their own. And that's why Jesus leads us to the second part of the meal: trusting in God to provide what we need to feed the people. You see, the disciples saw a problem right away. They told Jesus up front, "Look, we have only five loaves and two fish. That's clearly not enough to feed all these people. We don't have what it takes to do this. We barely have enough here to feed ourselves, let alone thousands of people." But notice what happens. Jesus takes the bread and the fish and he offers them to God. The text says he blessed them and broke the loaves, and then he gave them to his disciples.

Jesus knew that five loaves and two fish wouldn't be enough to feed thousands of people. But he also knew that God would provide what was needed if he offered it up to Him. And so Jesus took the bread and broke it, and gave thanks to God. And on that day thousands of people shared a meal with Jesus. On that day the disciples learned the two elements that are part of sharing a meal with God's people. The first element is service, and so Jesus said "You give them something to eat." The second element is trusting that God will provide, and so Matthew says "Jesus gave thanks and blessed the loaves, and the crowds were fed with only five loaves and two fish"--all because God provided.

But you know, what's most amazing to me about this storyis not that the crowds were miraculously fed, but rather that Jesus told the disciples to feed them. We have perhaps all experienced that feeling of being called to do something that we didn't think we could do. Maybe it was getting up in front of a group of people and praying. Or maybe it was being there for a friend who was going through a hard time in her life. Or maybe it was the time when you had to stand up for what you believed in at work when others were mocking your convictions. Or maybe it was the time when you had to stand up for someone else who was being treated wrongly.

Sometimes we just find ourselves in those awkward situations when we wonder to ourselves, "Am I really qualified to deal with this situation? Am I really able to do this? Shouldn't someone else be doing this?" I wonder if that's how the disciples felt when Jesus told them, "You give them something to eat." That feeling of uncertainty, not knowing whether or not they could do it. But remember the second part of the meal: trusting in God to provide what we need.

You see, there's something about what Jesus did with the bread that reminds us that God is in control of the situation. The words that Matthew used were that "Jesus blessed the loaves, broke them, and gave them to his disciples." Do those words sound familiar? "He took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples." The early church would have made the connection without question. These words remind us of the Last Supper. At the Last Supper, Jesus was telling the disciples that he was going to be leaving, and he wanted them to feed his people from now on. The disciples, of course, wondered the same thing as they did at the feeding of the 5,000, namely "Are we really ready for this? Are we really qualified for this job?" And the answer was the same. Turn to God. He will provide what you need.

And those are the words we are given today: "You give them something to eat." After all, there are people everywhere both inside and outside this church who hunger for the truth. And as the story reminds us, there were twelve baskets left over. The good news is that that means there is enough for everyone. The bad news is that that means not everyone has had the chance to eat. And so I invite you to the table this morning, in renewal and repentance. And it is my prayer that all of us might walk away with a renewed sense of what it means to share a meal with one another in the kingdom of God, for when we come together to share this meal we are renewed not only in service but also in thanksgiving.