Besides spring, summer is my favorite time of year. When I was a student in school or when I was teaching in the public schools, I loved summer! I looked forward to it all year long. Summer was that time of year when things changed. I didn't have to get up as early in the morning. I didn't have to rush about the house, scrambling for the shower and throwing on the first outfit out of the closet. Summer meant I wouldn't have to face the cross-town traffic and hour-long stoplights, but best of all, summer meant I could relax!
It was such a care-free time. And of course, summer meant vacations! Vacation time was such a wonderful time when we were able to let go of all our worries and cares, rest and relax together as a family, and enjoy a change of pace and change of scenery.
A vacation might have been just what the doctor ordered for Jesus in our gospel passage this morning. We read in many of the gospel accounts that, like the rest of us, Jesus needed time to get away, time to refresh and renew himself. He had just received the tragic news of the execution of his cousin, whom we call John the Baptist. Jesus wanted to get away and take time to grieve this loss and to sort things out. He left the place where he had been teaching and healing, got into a boat and went to a deserted place so that he could be alone. Unfortunately for Jesus, the crowds had also heard of his departure and followed after him on foot. When he went ashore, he was greeted by a large crowd. They had heard about this rabbi and wanted to hear him teach or possibly get close enough to touch him so that he would heal their infirmities.
Have you ever had one of those days? The worst has happened. You feel overwhelmed by the things going on, your feelings have taken over until you just don't want to be around anyone, not even those closest to you. You just want to be alone to sort things out. You need to be alone to get some rest in order to go forward with another day.
Though tired and overwhelmed, Jesus saw the sick people, the needy folks, those who were hungering and thirsting for God's Word, and he was moved to compassion. He moved into the crowd and began healing them. What a day that must have been. Already drained and exhausted, he pressed on, giving more and more of himself in order to help those who needed him.
Finally, the sun began to sink low in the sky. The disciples had watched this all day and knew that Jesus must get some rest. They also realized that they were in the middle of nowhere. They went to Jesus to point out what they must have considered obvious. "We need to stop," they told him. "We need to get these people on their way so they can get back to thier homes, or at least into the towns where they can get something to eat." It seemed a reasonable suggestion considering the circumstances. But Jesus turned to the disciples and said, "They don't need to leave. You give them something to eat."
I'd like to think that I would have responded in some appropriately reverent manner, but I think I know myself well enough to know that I would have responded with something more like, "What? You're kidding, right? All we have is five loaves of bread and . . . ." Well, you know the rest of the story.
"You give them something to eat," Jesus told them. Why? If he was going to feed the throng with mere crumbs, why didn't he just do it? Or better yet, why not just turn the rocks into bread or pray for manna to fall from heaven? Why get the disciples involved here? For that matter, why not do the same now? Why not just say the word and end hunger and suffering?
Jesus turned to those closest to him and told them, "You give them something to eat." This story is not about thousands of hungry people. It is not about bread and fish. It is not about solving problems. Jesus' command to the disciples is about them. And it is about us. It is about looking past the problem and seeing the opportunity to love and serve. It is about nothing less than who we are and who we are meant to be.
"You give them something to eat."
One of the things that I love about this church is the way we are so involved in helping others, and our youth are learning and participating in giving them something to eat, as well. It often requires sacrifice, as I'm sure many of our youth would testify. Jesus gave of himself when it was not convenient for him. He needed free time, down time, time away, time to think. What he did instead was give, and he invited his disciples to do the same.
Like the disciples, we often focus on the problem which leads to wasted energy. We talk about why it is hopeless for us and we are filled with hopelessness and defeat. We become agitated when someone proposes that we have the power to solve the problem and so we give even less. We tend to believe only in what we can see, and we become fearful. (2)
Who would have imagined that a group of 19 high school students could roof one house, paint another house, take down a burned-out building, paint classrooms and rest rooms, assist with odd jobs at a senior center and put up the insulation in a huge new sanctuary, all in a week's time? Had they known all they had to do, they might have invited these needy people to go to the nearest towns and seek help there. Instead these young folks asked God to bless their work and their labors were multiplied. In spite of long hours and short days, these young folks and the adults who went with them shared what they had, giving up their own comfort and time in order to share God's love with the folks who needed it.
Many of us are also giving to those whom Christ has sent to us, and in the days and months ahead, we will be presented with more opportunities to help some of God's people here in the Chester and Chesterfield areas through various feeding and senior programs, or in the commonwealth of Virginia through increased opportunities in our presbytery or Zuni homes, as well as opportunities to help our brothers and sisters in other parts of our world through continued disaster relief and the Pig Project of the Congo.
There are many more opportunities which we are being given. We can focus on the problems and see only what lies before us, or we can do as Jesus commanded. "You give them something to eat." When we cease to see the poor and needy as a problem to be solved and begin to respond with the love that Christ has given us, we become like the disciples who dared to risk embarassment and failure in order to trust in Jesus.
Christ calls us to the table and feeds us, then invites us to turn to the crowds and give them something to eat. We have the loaves and fishes. When we each give of ourselves in faith, we are able to do far more than imagined.
The focus of Jesus' message to the disciples on the side of that Galilean hill and the focus of our very existence as human beings, created in God's own likeness, is not full mouths - but full hearts. Hearts that reflect the love that God has for us. Hearts that do what human hearts were created to do, return God's love and spread it to each other. Hearts that give glory to God in all that we do and all that we are.
"You give them something to eat."
Notes
1) Many of these ideas were borrowed with thanks from a sermon shared by Rich Martindale, St. Mark's Cathedral, on Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary online homiletics group, Tuesday, July 27, 1999.
2) Thanks to Ann Brizendine for these ideas shared in the Presbynet online meeting Sermonshop, dated July 31, 1996.
© 1999 Michelle James, all rights reserved