Sunday, August 6, 2023

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 55:1-5
Psalm 136:1-9 (23-26)
Romans 9:1-5 (6-13)
Matthew 14:13-21

They all ate and were filled.

I recently cleaned out my pantry. It was out of control, with cans stacked on cans, some hidden in the back had been there for several years. I did not realize I had those cans when I wanted to cook with them, so I bought new ones. I decided that I needed a better system, so I bought two small pantry cabinets. These are just deep enough so nothing will ever be hidden and lost. I also realized I was missing some of my staples. I would have been very disappointed if I’d planned a dish only to discover I didn’t have what I needed. I like to be prepared so I don’t have to run out to the store every day.

My pantry is more organized, but it isn’t huge. I don’t worry much but we all learned the value of having extra things in storage during the early days of the pandemic. It didn’t take very long for the shelves at the stores to be empty. The same happens when we face severe weather. We joke about getting milk and bread as a hurricane approaches our coast or a blizzard threatens our neighborhood, but we know how quickly these things disappear and how long they take to be restocked, especially if there is significant damage. We buy them just in case, and though we usually find our fears were unwarranted, we are thankful to be prepared when the situation is worse than expected.

I struggle with this because I know that it is our responsibility to be prepared to take care of our families and neighbors, but I also know that we are meant to trust God to provide for us in times of need. We have to find a balance, like what I’m trying to find in our own pantry. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we say, “Give us this day our daily bread.” I don’t know about you, but I tend to prefer having just a little more. I don’t know what it is, but I always buy too much bread and then I end up throwing much of it away. I like to have fresh bread with our meals, especially the store baked kind that is often still hot when it is purchased. You can’t get much fresher. But we rarely eat it all and by the next meal the bread has gone bad. Just the other day we were making sandwiches and discovered mold in the bread.

We often get confused about the things we need versus the things we want. We need bread to eat, but we don’t need so much that it will go bad before we can eat it. We need the things necessary to keep our living space clean and healthy, but we don’t need to fill our cabinets with dozens of bottles. We need enough for today; that is why we ask God for our daily bread. We work so hard to have “just a little more” and in the end it does nothing to make our life fuller or our soul more peaceful. As a matter of fact, chasing after “a little more” is why so many of us are suffering from stress and depression. We don’t have the resources available for “a little more” so we live in fear and discontent.

Jim Carrey starred in the movie called “Bruce Almighty” as a man who was granted the opportunity to become God, while God went on vacation. Bruce began his reign as a very selfish god, using his power to get everything he wanted: the girl, revenge on his enemies, fantastic possessions. Then he began to hear voices in his head. He discovered that these were the prayers of the people. Bruce was having difficulty keeping up with all the prayers, he just said “Yes” to every request. One of the most popular requests was for a winning lottery ticket. More than 400,000 people won the big drawing one day, giving every winner a grand total of just $17. They were angry that the answer to their prayer was less than they expected.

I’m guilty of praying selfish prayers for things I want to have. Wouldn’t life be so much easier if only I had a million dollars to guarantee a secure future? I even justify the request with the promise that I’ll use it to help others. The God we worship is not in the business of giving us everything we want. He provides for our needs. We don’t need the newest car or the biggest house. Those are “nicessities.” God knows that a million dollars can help us through tough times, but He also knows that a million dollars will keep us from looking to Him for our daily needs today. He knows that we will see money as our savior. I sometimes wonder if keeping a pantry full of too much food can do the same thing. We don’t need God if we have food enough to keep us satisfied.

We think that satisfaction means having “more than enough” but really, we only need “enough” to be truly satisfied. I was watching old videos one day and in the Christmas scenes I could see the difference between the two. We lived far from most of our family and friends, but they all sent presents to the children. One video showed a tree that was surrounded by a mountain of gifts. Shipping became too expensive, so everyone just sent money so that we could buy things to put under the tree in their name. Everyone wanted to make the children happy, but we realized that too many presents under the tree were a waste. We decided to put the money in their piggy banks so they could use it later. It was wonderful that our loved ones were so generous, but in the end too many toys did not make them happy.

We need shelter, food, and clothing, without a doubt, but our daily needs are so much more than that. We also need companionship, strength, guidance, and family. Even more so, we need hope, faith, joy, love, and peace. We need God, and we need Him daily. In the Gospel for this week, Jesus filled the bellies of the people, but He also supplied their spiritual needs by speaking the Word of God into their lives. He raised the bread and fish in thanksgiving to God, showing them God’s provision for their every need. God is not a pop machine, available to give us what we want whenever we want it. We pray in submission, recognizing the truth that God is our provider; He gives us only what we need for this day so that we will continue to look to Him tomorrow. We need to be responsible and prepared, but not to the detriment of our reliance on our God who has promised to give us everything we need. He provides with radical generosity, but not in the way we think.

In today’s story, we see that God is radically generous. He doesn’t give out of some misplaced motivation like we did with all those Christmas gifts. He meets people’s most basic needs, but He does so with incredible extravagance, even providing leftovers. We don’t know what happened to those baskets of bread and fish, but we see that He gives enough so that there is always something to share. He blesses us in ways both spiritual and mundane, but all is meant to be shared. Our joy, our resources, and our spiritual gifts are given in far greater quantity than we will ever need. In Christ we can be radically generous, too, sharing the love of God with the world.

Jesus never worried about where the disciples would get food and drink during their travels. Even this special meal was not a concern for Him. He knew that God would provide. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we ask God to give us our daily bread, enough for today. That might mean being responsible for our family by ensuring a pantry with enough food to help us through an emergency, but it doesn’t mean we need to worry about tomorrow. We can trust that God will provide with the necessities that will get us through the good times and the bad.

One of the things that the experts suggest having in plentiful supply during a hurricane or a blizzard is bottled water. This is to ensure that there is some available if something should happen to the water supply. Water seems so simple and plentiful, and yet we realize how important it is when the taps go dry or the pipes freeze.

We spend a lot of money on bottled water in the United States. According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, bottled water was an $18.5 billion industry in the U.S. in 2017. Conservationists warn about the impact all this bottled water is having on our world. Although some of the bottles are recycled, many are simply thrown into landfills. The plastic bottles take centuries to decompose. Energy is used to produce the bottles, collect the water, and fill the bottles. It takes energy to deliver the bottled water from the distributor to the store. There are some brands of water that are produced in foreign countries. It takes double the energy to get those foreign sourced water bottles to our store shelves. It even takes three liters of water to produce a one-liter bottle of drinking water!

Sadly, many of the brands of bottled water are not what you expect. If you read the fine print on those bottles, you will see that many of them say that the water is from “municipal water source.” The municipal water source is... tap water. In other words, you could get similar water from your tap. Now, most of those brands that use municipal sources also filter it or add something to make it better, but it is still just water. Since many people have water filtration systems in their homes, it seems unbelievable that we would spend so much money on bottled water. We like the convenience. We prefer the taste. We think there is something better about bottled water because it comes in a bottle. We think we are getting something for our money.

We can’t live without water; there are nutritional and health benefits to drinking enough water daily, especially since most of our favorite drinks are unhealthy. Some experts suggest that we are dangerously dehydrated, often caused by the very things we think are keeping us hydrated! Dehydration causes fatigue and other health problems. We are trying to be healthier, so we drink as much as possible. Despite the relative value of water, we willingly pay outrageous sums for the bottles, especially when we aren’t sure the tap water is safe. Sadly, we would probably doubt that there is anything special about the water if we didn’t pay outrageous prices. We might even suspect that it really is just tap water.

In today’s Old Testament scripture from Isaiah God says, “Hey! Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” How could water, wine, or milk be any good if it is free? We are taught that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Perhaps that’s why so many in our world reject the free gifts of God. They don’t believe that He will provide for every need, but as we grow in faith and trust, He will fill our hearts with the desire for the good things in life that aren’t what we expect.

Jesus Christ is the bread of life. He is the Word made flesh. He was sent from heaven to live, die, and rise again to new life so we can freely live in the love and glory of the Most High God. It costs us nothing. We have been invited to eat and drink the gift of eternal life, to partake in the bread and living water that is Christ Jesus which is the only thing that will truly satisfy. We need bread and water for our bodies to survive, but we need Jesus even more. He is the good thing in life.

In Paul’s epistle to the Romans, Paul addressed a difficult question: what about the Jews? Paul was a Jew, and he loved his people. He knew the blessings of being one of God’s people: the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the law, the worship, and the promise. Yet, he also knew that they were missing something. They were missing Jesus. It was a hard quandary for Paul. The people he loved did not know the assurance of faith in Christ even though they were beloved of God. How do we deal with this dichotomy?

Paul wished that he could give up his salvation for the sake of his people, but we know that this is not a possibility. Only Christ could provide the salvation for the whole people of God. Paul could only live in hope. This might not seem like much, but hope is a solid foundation for our life of faith. In hope we will have the courage to share the Good News of God’s mercy and forgiveness with people who are determined to destroy us. We can walk through persecution, and even walk to our deaths, knowing that God’s promises are true. He will provide all that we need, and we can rest in that hope because God will be faithful to His promises even when we can’t see it in the people we love. We are called to continue to love them, to hope for them, and to share God’s mercy with them. We can’t give up our salvation for them, but we know that Christ died for all and He will provide what they need to be saved.

Psalm 136 is a hymn of praise with a repeating refrain after every line. The psalmist focuses on the loving kindness of God which endures forever. It can be translated in so many ways! “Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good; for his loving kindness endures forever.” (WEB) “Give thanks to God because God’s faithful love lasts forever!” (Common English Bible) “Give thanks to God because His love endures forever.” (NIV) “Give thanks to God because His faithful love endures forever.” (New Living Translation) “Give thanks to God because his mercy endureth for ever.” (KJV) “Give thanks to God because His steadfast love endures forever.” (English Standard Version) “Give thanks to God because His love never quits.” (The Message) “Give thanks to God because His lovingkindness (graciousness, mercy, compassion) endures forever.” (Amplified Bible) So many different ways to say that God’s love is eternal!

This term, “loving kindness” is the Hebrew word “chesed” or “hesed”, and it refers to the covenant loyalty and faithfulness of God for His people. If we read the psalm without the refrain, we see the see how God manifests this covenant loyalty in our lives. We praise God because of His loving kindness and because He is the God of Gods and the Lord of lords.

God is good. He does great wonders. He made the heavens. He created the earth. He made the sun and moon, and they do what He created them to do. He saved His people from Egypt and then guided, protected, and provided for them through the wilderness to the Promised Land. He has the power to control nature and to overcome the kings of the earth. He did all this for the people He loved. But His love did not end when they entered the Promised Land; it continued for God’s people even as they failed to be faithful. It continued for His people when He saved them from the greatest adversaries: sin, death, and the devil. His loving kindness endures for us today as He provides us with everything we need.

God has done great things and has shown His faithfulness to His people throughout the generations. The psalm may seem clearer without the repetition of the refrain, but those words of His lovingkindness are worth repeating every moment of every day to remind us of the great and good things that He has done. His love endures, His mercy endures, His covenant loyalty endures forever. By His grace His people were saved from Egypt, but that was just a foretaste of the salvation that He would offer to the world through Jesus Christ. By His willing sacrifice which overcame sin, death, and the devil, we experience His love forever, dwelling eternally in His presence. This love is meant to be shared.

“The Starfish Story” by Loren Eisley encourages us to try to do what we can for the world. “One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, ‘What are you doing?’ The youth replied, ‘Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.’ ‘Son,’ the man said, ‘don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!’ After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said ‘I made a difference for that one.’”

We can’t do it all, but we can give our resources to God and trust that He will make miracles happen. If each of us just made a difference for one, we will see many helped. We can give Jesus our few fish and loaves and He’ll make miracles happen.

The disciples didn’t have enough for themselves. As a matter of fact, they may have been wondering how they were going to eat that night. They had five loaves and two fish, not enough to feed a dozen people let alone thousands. They couldn’t pop into the grocery store for food to share. Even if they had these options, how could they possibly have served a satisfying meal to five thousand or more on a hillside in the wilderness? They couldn’t. Their own grumbling tummies made it easy to say, “This place is deserted, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves food.” Jesus answered, “You give them something to eat.”

In John’s version of today’s Gospel lesson, Philip argued with Jesus. “Even if we spent every penny we have, there is no way we could buy enough food to feed them all.” Andrew, however, said, “Here, we have five loaves and two fishes.” Matthew does not share so many details, but you can sense the hopelessness when they point out that they have “only” five loaves and two fish. Despite His own needs and the needs of His disciples, Jesus had compassion on the crowds. Jesus took their “only” five loaves and two fishes, blessed them, and then gave them to the disciples to give to the crowd. When it was over, not only had everyone eaten enough to be satisfied, but they also collected twelve baskets of leftover bread.

If we work together, we can change lives. If we all put our little bits together, our resources will be magnified. We don’t need to keep enough food to feed an army on a rainy day, but if we follow Jesus’ command, “You feed them” trusting in God’s promises, we’ll find we can do amazing things. Unfortunately, many of us have given up. We’ve accepted the lie that it would be a waste of time to even try. We are no different than the disciples. We want to send the people away, especially when we are in a difficult situation like during a hurricane or blizzard that is causing us suffering, too. But Jesus says, “You feed them.”

We can make it happen. We can make a difference for one, two, or even five thousand. This is where we struggle with the idea of keeping some extra for a rainy day. We know we need to trust God, but we also know that it is our responsibility to be prepared for those times of trouble. If we make it a habit to prepare for hard times, we’ll have enough to share when the need presents itself. An extra can of tuna fish or a ten-dollar gift card might seem like much, but Jesus has promised to bless our work. A few loaves of bread may not ordinarily feed a thousand, but it can if we trust God.

Remembering that God provides our daily bread will help us to live content with what we have instead of laboring for so many things that never satisfy us. As we come to rely on Him as our Provider, we will see that we indeed have enough to get us through the day and that there is even enough to share with others. We need not chase after “a little more” because God will provide all that we need and then some. When there is some extra, like those twelve baskets of leftovers at the meal on the hill, we need not hoard it “just in case.” God gives freely and abundantly with a radical generosity, so that there is always enough not only for our needs, but also for the daily needs of the world.

Sadly, many in our world reject God and they refuse to acknowledge the good things He gives, but by faith we know that He will provide enough. Like Paul, we can hope for those who do not yet know Him. For us, the promise begins at the font, but it continues regularly as we join in the feast that God lays before us at the Lord’s Table. There we will be renewed and restored to go out into the world to invite those family members, neighbors, and strangers to dine with us. The meal may seem sparse, but it is more than satisfying. It is there we meet God in a very real and tangible way and proclaim the life, death, and resurrection of the One who gives us true life, eternal life, life in the presence and the Kingdom of God. His loving kindness endures forever, so let us give thanks for God’s radical generosity!