1 Samuel 17:32-49 Psalm 9: 9-20
2 Corinthians 6: 1-13
Mark 4: 35-41

“Great Challenges! Great Presence! ”

This is the weekend thousands of children, and many no longer children, have been waiting for! Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth book in the immensely popular series by J.K. Rowling has finally been released. I have no doubt that some fans have been reading almost non- stop, since its release at midnight on Saturday. For those who choose to buy, the book at a regular price of $43 and 768 pages, represents a significant investment in time and money. While I am most likely going to wait for the cheaper paperback, I admit that I too am a fan!

For those of you who have missed this literary sensation, Harry Potter is a quiet bespectacled orphan who has strange magical powers, and a lightening shaped scar to prove it. He is a natural at flying his broomstick, speaking to snakes, and playing magic pranks on his cousin. Even though he was only in first year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he was appointed as ‘seeker’ in the rough and tumble game of Quidditch. In the course of the first four novels Harry has taken on a three-headed dog named “Fluffy”, played life and death chess, escaped from an attacking willow tree, flown in an enchanted car, and battled with Lord Voldemort himself and won, at least temporarily! After all, there must be more books!

Harry’s powers bring out an amazing variety of reactions in those he encounters. His aunt and uncle and cousin, regard him with a strange contempt and no small amount of fear. By contrast, the scar on his forehead brings instant recognition and awe in the world of wizards. The residents of the rival house, Slytherin, and their un-official leader, Draco Malfoy, regard him with contempt; Professor Dumbledore, the aging headmaster, has an amazing amount of respect and affection for this young student while Hermionie and Ron, his best friends regard him with a mixture of friendship, wonder, awe and fear. It is probably a wise thing: to fear someone who seems invincible that is.

Our feelings about witchcraft aside, you could say that Harry has all of the makings of a hero of the biblical sort. His identity as one who has been chosen for great things was proven when he was very small. He uses his powers for good and not for ill. He knows that “defence against the dark arts” is more than a course, it is part of his life long vocation. Harry knows that he is special, but he knows also that this ‘specialness’ is for a reason; to help others and to defeat evil ; not for his own advancement.

In our readings for today from the gospel and from the Hebrew scriptures, we hear the stories of David and Goliath and the ‘calming of the storm’ from the life of Jesus. The story of “David and Goliath” has become a metaphor for the impossible task: “David meets Goliath”! Like a well written adventure story the story unfolds, (in its fuller version, it takes up an entire chapter) and step by step be learn how big and powerful Goliath is and how young and small is David. The contrast is obvious and meant to be discouraging. We are meant to ask ourselves, “How could such a match be won by Israel?” The reader, and the army of Israel, could be excused for thinking that it would be best to just bring out the white flag of surrender and cut their loses. Yet, in the end, the story does not allow for such a lack of faith for, in the end, David is victorious.

In many such real-life tales, the “David” triumphs where everyone would have expected failure due to lack of stature or experience, such as the tale of Laura Secord who walked through the through the wilds of the Niagara Peninsula to warn the British soldiers of an American invasion during the War of 1812. Some versions of the story claim that she was leading a dairy cow! In others situations this tale can be seen as a metaphor for “how the mighty have fallen”, such as in the 1987 election in which Frank McKenna’s liberals won ALL of the seats in the New Brunswick legislature, or the near annihilation of the federal Progressive Conservative party when it was left with only two seats in the House of Commons. The story of David and Goliath tells us that physical power and political might do not necessarily make for victory. If you are not on God’s side, imply these stories, you will eventually go down to defeat as did Goliath.

When I was in theological college we spent what seemed likje a great amount of time discussing ‘liberation theology’ and the faith of Christian communities which lived under great oppression. One of the situations we studied was the system of Apartheid in South Africa and its injustices. In the late 1980's Apartheid was so firmly entrenched in political and even theological thought, in South Africa, that it seemed a pipe-dream that it could ever end. Well, as we know, it has! The first non-white president has now retired as has Bishop Desmond Tutu the church leader who worked tirelessly for change in the country he loved. At that same time the Berlin Wall stood as a strong division between East and West, as did the systems supported by it, and now it too is gone.

The PEI provincial building is constructed of sandstone which, as far as stone goes, is very soft. Over several hundred years of hob nail boots, leather soled shoes, and lately all manner of athletic shoes, the floor at the entrance is worn in deep waves and ridges. Clearly, over time great changes can occur, even in situations as hard as stone.

This story affirms that in life, the waves of change do not always come as quickly as David’s single and well placed shot, but they do certainly come. As the narrative states these can be changes which, like the ones about which David was speaking, show the world that there is a God in Israel.

Of course, David’s action was not without risk. He went up against Goliath without armour or military training. While this story is not an excuse to be unprepared for large and complex tasks, it shows to us that what we undertake must also be undertaken in faith, for the armour of faith is as powerful and effective as any coat of mail or sword of iron, or storehouses filled with long range missiles and laser guided bombs.

The story of David and Goliath speaks to the faith and belief that the power of God is greater than these forces of evil which would supplant right and truth. It speaks to all people, facing overwhelming and potentially fatal storms of life, to fashion a metaphor from the gospel story, and affirms that there is a way through to the eventual triumph of the ways of the God of love, over the forces that would make life less than it could be.

It is a solace to us that truth and love and the right will not be overcome by evil, that we ourlseves will not be truly overcome. In the end God’s power and God’s truth will prevail. Of course we ALL KNOW that sometimes, much more often that we’d like, people die defending just causes; people die from illness at far too early an age, and to use a well used phrase, the rich become richer while the poor become poorer. Yet the scriptures encourage us to take the long view - the view of faith. As the disciples were cowering in fear in the boat, Jesus lack of fear did not imply that ‘noting bad was going to happen to them’ ,but that they should not let that keep them from faith-filled action. The stories also affirm the importance of faithful speech. The words of David are words of faith, as are the worlds of Jesus. They become words of power. WE know that the storms ARE real, the Goliaths ARE indeed mighty, but the biblical view is that the power, the word and the actions of God are stronger.

You see the real fight is not between David and Goliath but between David and those in Israel who had given up, to those who no longer believed that God was with them. The danger to the disciples was not the storm, but rather, their lack of faith. These stories call us to a kind of faithful and courageous action which sprouts forth from a courageous and trusting faith.

It is also a warning to us that we had better not be Goliaths, laughing at the puny power of those who oppose us, because the biblical faith is that right and truth always win out. Of course it is hard to give examples of this because we don’t like to admit that we have done wrong, that the systems that benefit us have hurt others. The disputes over native land claims and fishing rights promise to be with us for a long time and will not be resolved until we can see through the conflict and the rhetoric of the ‘way its always been’ to a new way, a way that speaks well of those who claim to follow a God of justice and peace.

We have before us today stories where people of faith have come up against the strongest powers they knew and prevailed because they relied on the power and presence of the one who was stronger than any force in the universe. May we all allow this power to penetrate our hearts and minds and may we step forward in faith and trust - knowing in our hearts, and showing to others, that we worship the God of life and love.

AMEN.

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
Psalm 130
2 Corinthians 8: 7-15
Mark 5: 21-43

One December many years ago, a new university graduate named Paul received a new car from his brother as an early Christmas present. One day, just before Christmas, he walked out of his office building, in a poorer section of the city, to find a shabbily dressed child standing and looking at his bright, shiny, new car. There were not many cars that new or shiny in his neighbourhood. “Is this YOUR car, Mister”, he asked?

Paul nodded and said that it was indeed his car. He went on to tell the boy that he had received it as a gift from his brother. The boy was astounded, “You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you nothing.”?

“No, it didn’t cost me anything”, said Paul. “My brother just gave it to me”.

“Gee, I wish ....” Started the boy, and then he hesitated. Paul was sure what he was going to wish: that he had a brother like that. However, the boy’s next words almost knocked him off his feet, “I wish I could be a brother like that”.

Then, almost by impulse Paul asked “Would you like a ride in my car?”

“Really, you’d take me in your car. ... Yes, I WOULD like a ride”, he said excitedly. He climbed into the front seat and off they went. After they had gone around a couple of blocks, the boy, with his eyes all aglow asked Paul, “Could you take me to my house, please. Its only a few blocks west?”

Paul smiled and said that he would. He thought he knew what the boy really wanted. He thought the boy wanted his family and friends to see him riding in the big fancy new car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two big steps are?” Paul did and the boy got out and ran up the steps, saying that he’d be back in a minute. A little while later Paul heard him coming back, only he walked much more slowly this time. He was half carrying his little brother whose legs had been crippled by polio. He helped him to sit down on the front steps and said to him, “ There it is Buddy, just like I told you. His brother gave it to him and he didn’t have to pay nothing for it. When I get big and get a job I’m gonna get you a car just like that. Then we can drive around and see all of the pretty things I have been telling you about. With his heart in his throat, Paul got out of the car and helped the disabled brother into the front seat. They spent the next few hours riding around looking at the houses decorated for Christmas and all the displays in the store windows. That day Paul met an example of someone who knew that joy of giving was far greater than the joy of receiving. Adapted from an illustration written by (the Rev) C. Roy Angell and published ion various places.

Why a Christmas story, on the hottest weekend of the summer, Christmas is almost six months away? In today’s reading from the Epistle to the church at Corinth Paul is imploring the Corinthians to be generous in the collection he is taking up for the Jerusalem Christians. While this collection is referred to several times in the writings of Paul we don’t really know that much about it. We don’t know what the economic forces were which caused the Jerusalem Christians to be in need or how severe was their need in comparison to the rest of the Mediterranean churches. What do we know about this special project of Paul?

First, it seems that it was a long term project and not an immediate crisis response. We know that a year or so before this passage was written the Corinthian church was quite enthusiastic about the collection.

Second, we know that there had been some conflict between Paul and the Corinthian church which may have resulted less enthusiasm for the collection. Clearly, Paul does not wish these inter- personal conflicts to hurt the church’s mission.

Third, we also know that Paul had previously used the enthusiasm of the Corinthian church as a means of encouraging the Macedonian church to be generous. In today’s passage he used the generosity of the Macedonians, who even in the midst of poverty, were very generous, as a means of encouragement for the Corinthians who seem to have been holding back their donations.

Paul asserts that he does not want to place undue pressure on them, but rather to impress upon them the principle of their being a fair balance between their abundance and the need of the Jerusalem churches. This leads me to my fourth observation about this collection which is that Paul does not place arbitrary expectations on them, but rather says that what they have is the benchmark from which they are to calculate their giving. “One cannot give what one does not have” he might have said.

The fifth observation we can make is that the Jerusalem church had been the core group of Christians from which the missionary work of the Gospel had begun. The debates about whether or not one had to be Jewish BEFORE one became Christians had been all but resolved and the Gentile Christians in Macedonia and Corinth were on an equal footing with the Christians in the Jerusalem church. Perhaps Paul is appealing to their feelings of spiritual indebtedness: it was because of the missionary work of the Jerusalem Christians, that they had been exposed to the Christian faith in the first place.

Yet the sixth observation might be the most revealing: his primary motivation for giving is not comparison of the poverty of the Corinthian church with the extreme poverty of the Jerusalem Christians, or creating a competition to see who can give the most, but rather it is based on the generosity of God in Christ Jesus. Believers act and give because they have been recipients of similar actions and gifts. Using the contrast between the human condition and the heavenly glory, Paul reminds us how much Jesus gave up to exercise his ministry on earth, so that through his ‘giving up’ humans could receive the blessings of abundant and eternal life.

Clearly we in 21st century Canada have a different kind of world and economy than the people with whom Paul was working. One: we have many more resources and even the poor among us are better off than most of the people in Paul’s day. BUT, we have expenses that he would never have dreamed of such as furnace oil, electricity and car maintenance and insurance, all of which are most certainly necessities. Yet our “list of necessities” has become longer and longer and longer over the past generation. Over time our houses have become loaded with energy gobbling gadgets, in some cases, the houses themselves become larger while the family has become smaller and smaller and the one family car has morphed, in some cases, into a family fleet. Kids activities have multiplied as has the cost of participating in them. It seems for many families that there is never enough money left at the end of the month.

Our culture, by and large, promotes selfishness. Advertisements make fun of sharing, after all, at that price everyone can have his or her own!

We have come to believe that we live in a world of scarcity. There isn’t enough to go around so we need to conserve, to hoard, to save for a rainy day. That is indeed a wise strategy for long term financial planning, but it needs to be tempered by the assumptions of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

The call of the gospel is based in the abundant generosity of God and in the call to share. Teaching children to share, for example, toys and cookies, is a fundamental value, yet as adults we tend to operate on the assumption that the things we value, such as free time and money are scare and need to be preserved and hoarded. Paul would tell us that we need to take a serious look at our abundance. The church has always proclaimed the setting aside of some of our abundance for the wider work of the Christian community as an important spiritual practice. Of course, the charity sector is no longer limited to churches and much valuable work, by non church charities, in this country is only made possible by the generosity of people willing to share.

When we look at the ministry of sharing and its needs to which we are called to respond, we have, of course, the local congregation. The needs for program resources, support of personnel and upkeep of buildings are all very obvious. Yet that is not all there is to our church.

The Mission and Service Fund itself is the closest thing I can think of to parallel the collection for the Jerusalem church. The Corinthians were being asked to look beyond their own need and respond in generosity to the needs of others. They were asked to share with others so that all might have enough. As a church we may never have enough for all that we want to do but that should not keep us from sharing with those who cannot perform their ministry without our support.

One of the ‘collections’ in which the United Church is currently involved is the Beads of Hope Campaign. Over and above the Mission and Service Fund, and not in place of it, this is a 2 year campaign with a goal of ONE MILLION DOLLARS, through which we are encouraged to give for AIDS relief on Africa. WE know something of the cost of AIDS in our own country, but from the news broadcasts, we know that AIDS is simply devastating the African continent and we are being asked to help in a financial way. A million dollars sounds like a great deal but we have a large denomination and a two year time span. We are also asked to encourage our governments to give more to AIDS relief and education as well. Yet is about more than money. As we contemplate the fact that almost an entire generation is at risk we are called to respond in love and generosity. As Christians and as Canadians, we are asked to contribute to culturally sensitive efforts to stop the spread of AIDS through medicine and education. We are no longer allowed the luxury of believing that ‘they’ are ‘over there’ and have nothing to do with us! We might be surprised just how much of our produce comes from Africa. What if we had no Bananas because all of the fruit harvesters had died! We are called to ast as if the people of AIDS stricken Africa are our neighbours, for they indeed are.

Remember the ice storm of 1998. It devastated much of eastern Canada, but the damage in the Maritimes was insignificant in comparison to that in the province of Quebec and the subsequent hardship caused by the damage to the power grid. Locked in the grip of winter people’s lives as well as their livelihoods were at stake. As part of a country wide relief effort, Truro Presbytery, in which I worked at the time, organized a food and supplies campaign. We procured a truck and a driver and organized a collection depot. Then we put out the word: bring us food, batteries, diapers, candles, flashlights, etc. One of the organizers received a call - from a woman on social assistance. Could she leave her food donation at a certain car dealer - because that is as far as her social assistance taxi voucher would take her and she had no money for the fare to take her the rest of the way to the collection point. (Pause) Out of her need she still found room to share with those in greater need.

That seems to be borne out time and again - some of the most generous people are those who give out of relatively small resources. Sometimes they know what it is or was like to receive from others. Perhaps it is they who know what is most important.

As Christians we are called to live lives of generosity. No matter how hard or for how long we have worked for what we have, we are challenged by the abundance of God’s grace. We have received abundantly from God’s hand and we are called to return out of that abundance by sharing with others.

Our faith does not let us sit in our own little world and thank God that we are not poor like other people: our faith compels us to go beyond that thankfulness to a life of generous living. We may not have all the time in the world, or all the money or all the skills but we have some, (as far as time goes, we each get a 24 hour day) and we are callled to respond in love - even when Christmas is 6 months away.

Joy to the World. Let us show that we have received our king.

Amen.

2 Samuel 5: 1-5, 9-10
Psalm 48
2 Corinthians 12: 2-10
Mark 6: 1-13

At the end of my study leave a few weeks ago I was home on the Island and on the Sunday I went to church. Sitting in a pew ahead of us was a young man holding his infant daughter. I have seen that young man only once or twice since he was in my Sunday school class. I was 17 or 18, he was six or seven. It’s hard to picture him as all grown up, married and old enough to be responsible for a baby! A few weeks before that, I had a conversation with a former brownie leader. She was probably no older than 20 when I was seven, but she’s is now on the verge of retirement. While the math works out, I find it a little hard to believe. Then again, I suspect that some people find it difficult to believe that I am old enough to be a minister!

Have you ever met someone after you haven’t seen them for a long time, and were surprised about what they were now doing for a living? What about that kid who pulled the pigtails of the girl in front of him in school - he’s now a doctor. What about that kid who never liked to do her homework - she’s now a lawyer. What about the teenager who never thought he’d marry and have children - now has a dozen! Those of you who have grandchildren know what I mean. Those sweet little babies who asked for quarters and cookies and hugs now have children and grandchildren of their own. You may wonder if they are really and truly old enough for that?

Sometimes what people do surprises us. Their elders feel proud of what they have accomplished. The people of their paretn’s generation begin to feel old, too! Sometimes though we are just as happy they are practising their profession far away. Somehow the kids who had sleep-overs with your kids are not old enough to be our doctor, our lawyer or our accountant, or even the parent of our grandchild!

A family friend said that its not long after the boys go out the door with hockey bags that you see them coming back with diaper bags! Things change, people grow up and that’s the way life is supposed to work. It’s the way its supposed to happen, as long as - as long as the young un’s know their place - as long as they don’t come home from those fancy schools and try to change things - as long as they remember that they are alway so and so’s child! As long as they remember that - they’ll be okay!

Sometimes someone comes home from away and seems to put on airs, like they are better than everyone else. Sometimes they act as if everyone who didn’t think like they do and move to where the better jobs are is just not very bright! Sometimes such people act like they are God’s gift to the community.

Sometimes they do act that way - it’s the stuff of tv shows depicting rural and small town communities where the city cousins come ‘home’ for summer vacation. Sometimes though it’s only the perception of those who have stayed behind, those whose lives have gone in different directions, those who have made different choices and been formed by different circumstances.

One day, long ago, Jesus returned to his hometown and in today’s passage we find him teaching in the synagogue. As far as we know he was self-taught in matters of theology. As far as we know, he had not attended any theological school, and they were available in that day and age, though we may not recognize them as such. He was not even from the right family to be a rabbi! rabbi. We can be fairly safe in assuming that he had learned the carpenter’s trade, for most boys learned their trade from their fathers. It how things were supposed to work.

Yet, to their amazement, on this day, this carpenter named Jesus was teaching and, it seems, he was also healing. While Mark’s version of this event is not as detailed as it is in other gospels, we are told that the townspeople took offense at Jesus and his actions. It went without question that his words were wise ones and his miracles were real. But, for those folks, something did not compute. After all, wasn’t he just Mary’s boy. They had known him since he was small. They knew all about his childhood pranks and his likes and dislikes. Wasn’t he the kid that worried his parents sick one year when he stayed in Jerusalem after the festival He was all grown up now, but the old stories never die! It was clear to the townspeople that Jesus was not rabbi material! They would probably have wondered, “Who does he think he is?”

Yet the thoughtful ones among them would have been asking deeper questions, questions which tried to reconcile the reality of his power with their expectations about who should and should not be speaking for God. How was it that God’s power could so obviously be working in him? Who is this man? God’‘s power should be mysterious. God’s power should be working in strangers! God’s power couldn’t be working in Mary’s boy, could it?

Besides, it was the wrong message. They knew that the Messiah would come and bring a message of liberation, from Rome. This guy was talking about loving enemies and all of that. It sounded good to the people, but in the end it was not what they were expecting. In the end it was Jesus’ downfall.

But the short answer to the question of God’s presence is, of course, yes! God’s power could. And the challenge to them, the challenge many could not accept, was to be able to be open to God’s power and grace working in this Jesus, a most ordinary person, a familiar person, a surprising person. God’s choices are not always ours! Jesus himself quotes an old saying that prophets have plenty of honour, fame and respect, UNLESS they are among their own people. Familiarity breeds contempt, or so they say.

The good news is also that God’s power is alive and at work today, in 2003. God’s power can even be working in us, in the person sitting next to us, in the person who annoys us most, in the person who seems to have no gifts or abilities at all.

We must be open to the surprising ways in which God’s power is working in those around us. Jesus wasn’t the kind of person many would have picked as a messiah but for those who came to believe in him, he was the very power of God.

The trick is to be open to the ways of the spirit and not to oppose those ways which we don’t understand or don’t like. If the leaders of Jesus’ day had opened their minds they would have realized that their eyes were seeing God and work. They would have realized that their ears were hearing God’s word and their lives were being warmed and challenged by God’s presence. They would have realized, once again, that God’s word comes in the guise of the most surprising person.

In the end, it’s not about us, it’s about God’s ability to take ordinary human lives and transform them and work with them so that they may become means of God’s grace and means whereby God’s promises may be fulfilled.

It may only be the kid next door! It may only be our brother, or our child, or ourselves, but God’s grace and work may be experienced through the most ordinary people. Let’s be open to the many people whom God calls and let’s be open to the Spirit’s call to us. Let us keep our hearts more open to the actions of God and the fruits of the Spirit than our pre-conceived notions of who should or should not be performing them. If not we may miss the very power and presence of God once again.

Amen.

2 Samuel 11: 1-15
Psalm 14
Ephesians 3: 14-21
John 6: 1-21

It happened late this spring in Charlottetown, in the parking lot of one of the Tim Horton’s donut shops. A trailer was parked in the lot so that people could drop off food for the Island food bank. A retired minister was in charge on the day in question. Into the parking lot came a BIG man, riding a BIG and very LOUD motorcycle. To the minister’s chagrin the BIG man, who was dressed in lots of leather and sporting a BIG beard came over to the trailer and said, in a BIG voice, “What’s going on here?”

The minister explained that it was a collection for the Island food bank.

The biker replied, “You mean to tell me that there are people in this beautiful place who are hungry?”

The minister told him that there were indeed hungry people, families with children, in fact, who were forced to use the food bank regularly. This annua; food drive helped to stock the shelves so that they would not be hungry.

“Well”, said the biker. “I didn’t know that. I’ve only got enough for coffee today, but I’ll be back tomorrow”. With that he turned and went into the Tim Horton’s, bought his coffee, returned to his bike, and roared away! The minister was sure that he would never see him again! Perhaps he hoped he would never would see him again!

However, the next day he was surprised, even shocked to hear and see this man return, this BIG man, with the BIG beard, and BIG leather clothes, on his very BIG , very LOUD motorcycle. He had indeed returned and he had brought with him ABOUT 20 OF HIS FRIENDS, all in black leather, all driving BIG motorcycles. Hearing all of those BIG motorcycles revving their engines in his parking lot, the manager of the Tim Horton’s rushed out with his cell phone in hand, no doubt ready to call 911 at the first sign of trouble. He needn’t have worried! The man who had approached the minister the day before went over to the minister and handed him a small KFC bag.

“Who are you?” asked the minister.

“It’’s on the bag”, he replied.

Written on the bag were a few sentences ending with words something to the effect, “There wouldn’t be any hungry people if everyone shared a little and cared a lot”. It was signed by a Christian Biker’s Group from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina! The minister opened the Kentucky Fried Chicken bag and inside it was a little over $400.

Incidentally, the arrival of that group of bikers caused great consternation to the law enforcement officials on PEI who had never had such a large group of bikers crossing the Confederation Bridge at one time!

I wonder, what WOULD happen if everyone “shared a little and cared a lot”?

I believe that there are essentially two ways to look at life and its gifts: as abundance or as scarcity. One counts its blessings and the other its losses.

Many years ago a cousin of mine was distributing candy at a family party. “One for you, and one for you, and one for you” she said as she doled out the candy, one by one. Then about three people from the end the look of horror and disappointment on her face showed that she had discovered that if she kept going in that manner there would not be one for her! Many, many forces in our culture teach us that if we share what we have, we may very well run the risk that there may not be “one for us”; indeed that there WILL NOT be enough for us!

How much is enough? Maybe we just don’t have enough or earn enough to give generously! If we had, say $50 more a week, would we feel that we were well enough off to be able to share more, or $100, or would it take $200. A recent survey of very high income Canadians has revealed some very surprising facts. The survey was done by Jigsaw marketing for American Express and reported on the CBC’s Internet News Site. It found that Canadians earning in excess of $200,000 are less likely than those earning the national average of $58,000, to believe that they are living comfortably. 50% of those in the $200,000 range felt that they were ‘just getting by’ and not living comfortably, while 85% in the average bracket felt that they were able to live comfortably.

What do we need? What do we want? These are often two radically different things. When we focus on what we want and ignore the question of what we really need we are in danger. We are in danger of misplacing our priorities, of selling our soul, of becoming less than we could be in order to have what we want.

In our passage from the book of Second Samuel read earlier in the service, we heard that King David had a problem with the difference between what he needed and what he wanted. It’s one of those stories that takes a sizeable chunk out of the pedestal on which the King David we learned about as children, sits! The Bible does not hesitate to show him as he is, for in so doing, I believe that it shows us who WE are and who WE can be, if we follow the call of God

It’s a two part story. Next week we hear the second part; the part where the prophet uses parable to show David his sin! Yet, in this first part, we have enough to give us a significant lesson about the life of faith. We have a rich man, the great King David, resting on his bed, having an afternoon nap, while his army is out risking their lives so that the King can have victory over Israel’s enemies. He has a palace full of servants ready to do his bidding. He has lots of wine, women and song! Well, after his nap, he went to the roof of the palace and he saw a woman, a beautiful woman and his hormones kicked in. Of course, he knew who this was; the king would know something like that; if he didn’t know himself , he had staff paid to know those kind of things! Notice that there is no inner struggle with David. None that we hear of anyway! There are no cold showers, no consultation with the prophet. He saw her. He wanted her. He was the king and the king gots what he wanted! Yet, the biblical record makes it clear that just because he was the king, did not make it right. The king was under the laws of God just as his subjects were under his law. His attempts to cover up the crime show that he knows this! And, we find our later, just because he was the king does not make the problem just go away. We see that he compounds his sin by committing other sins which culminate in the death of the woman’s husband.

The saying goes, “I’ve been poor and I’ve been rich, and I prefer rich”. Yet David was not, in his own mind, rich enough. He wanted more and more and more! He felt that his power entitled him to anything he wanted and excused any action that he might take. The problems caused by this misuse of kingly power, will haunt him for the rest of his life.

When I was growing up, my parents always tried to teach us that money does not grow on trees, that there was not always more where that came from, that we had to look after what we were given. But, they also taught us to share with others, to appreciate that we had more than enough, even if we didn’t get what others got for Christmas, or back to school, or birthdays or whatever.

How we look at things has a great deal to do with it; if God’s blessings are scarce we will want to hoard them, but if they are abundant we will be enabled to share them. It has little, or nothing to do with how much we have!

Jesus is with the disciples and the crowds in today’s Gospel lesson and he, by word and action, teaches them about abundance. When the mealtime comes, he asks where the food will come from, as a way of testing their response. It is not the disciples in this story who provide it, but a small boy, with a small boy’s lunch; five loaves and two fish!

It is impossible to say with any certainty what happened that day except that we are told that there was food left over when everyone had eaten. We are told that there were 12 baskets of leftovers. There were 12 tribes in Israel so this number of baskets has something to do with the significance of this miracle in the continuing story of God’s blessings being showered upon all of his people. When God’s people take the risk of sharing their blessings there will be more than enough for everyone. God’s grace provided for them in abundance, where they though they could do nothing God’s grace enabled them to give everyone far more than was needed.

Heifer Project International is an ecumenical organization based in Little Rock Arkansas which gives heifers and other animals to those in developing countries. The heifers provide milk to families and income when the extra milk and cheese are sold. One of the requirements of receiving a heifer is to give the first female calf to another family so that more people can be helped. The goal is not to give free food which quickly becomes a never ending project but to give people the means and the training to be able to help themselves and others.

The experts have been telling us for a long time that the world already produces enough food to feed over 100% of the world’s population! Where is the scarcity? It is in our minds. It is in our hearts when we hoard because we are afraid that there will not be enough for us if we share what we have with others. It’s in our need to have enough stored up for many years, as if we could guarantee that having these things could guarantee life and health and happiness.

The spiritual truth of the matter is that all that we have comes from God and that all that we are depends upon the grace of God . We are greatly blessed. We are called to be part of God’s miraculous work of blessing others.

Amen