Abundant Blessings, Pentecost 9, August 6, 2017

Ninth Sunday of Pentecost (Year A)

Sunday, August 6, 2017

To feed another person is to affirm their human dignity. To feed people until they’re full is to declare them replete with value.

– Matt Skinner, Luther Seminary

Theme: Abundant blessings

Reflection: When we first moved into our home in Prescott Valley, 19 years ago this month, our backyard had three trees in what we referred to as the “orchard.” An apple tree that has never given us one apple (I think it needs a pollinator), a plum tree that gives us plums some years and not others, and a small peach tree. The trees lined the east side of our yard.

The first year, we had peaches as soon as we moved in. And the second year, the tree was so laden with peaches that it cracked the trunk right in half, killing our tree. What a shame! Guess we don’t know the first thing about being orchardists.

But recently, we found not one, but two peach trees in our backyard, quite a distance from the original tree. One sits on the south fence line, and the other in front of our shed, on the west side. Apparently, birds carried old peach pits from one side to the other and the trees came up on their own! For the past two years, they have given us unbelievable gifts of fruit.

They are our trees of grace: beautiful, leafy foliage that we did not deserve or tend. But they have blessed us. And we, in turn, can pass along the fruits of these trees of grace, the sweet ripe peaches that are blessings for our friends.

The texts this week talk about living into God’s abundance. But they also are words of the character of God: the goodness, the compassion, the grace, the providing for the needs of each living thing. Isaiah’s words of life, filled with the imagery of food and drink, beyond our imagination. The Psalmist and Paul, both talking about God’s goodness and promises fulfilled.

This one story from the Gospel of Matthew encapsulates the Gospel in nine verses. Like the parables around it, it may as well start with “The kingdom of heaven is like…”

The kingdom is like feeding thousands of people who ask for the impossible – coming out to a deserted place without food for their dinner and being fed bread and fish beyond their expectations. Filled, with 12 baskets of leftovers besides!

That day, the sermon was in the supper. This! … This is the kingdom of heaven. Grace. Abundance. Community.

Again, this year, we’ve had the joy of seeing our friends’ delight when they receive bags and bowls of fruit. Fruit they didn’t tend. Fruit they didn’t ask to receive. But juicy, delicious peaches from trees that were a pure gift to begin with.

Sweet fruit of the kingdom. Dripping with God’s grace.

(Bonus Gospel reflection at the very end this week, so read to the bottom!)

You always are welcome to respond with your thoughts and reflections in the comments section at the bottom of this post.

Faith App: In 2017, how do we feed the 5,000 with our “five loaves and two fishes”? Is it gleaning fruits and vegetables, creating tiny houses, little free libraries, blessing bags for homeless people, or care packages for college students or service members?   

HYMN/SONG SUGGESTIONS

Break Now the Bread of Life, ELW 515

Praise and Thanksgiving, ELW 689

Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ, ELW 674

We Come to the Hungry Feast, ELW 479

I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say, ELW 332/611

All Who Hunger Gather Gladly, ELW 461

God Whose Giving Knows No Ending, ELW 678

Let Us Break Bread Together, ELW 471

Enough, Chris Tomlin

All Who Are Thirsty, Kutless

Thrive, Casting Crowns

If We Are the Body, Casting Crowns

Do Something, Matthew West

LESSONS

Isaiah 55:1-5 Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live.

Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21 You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing.

Romans 9:1-5 To the Israelites belong all good things from God, including the Messiah.

Matthew 14:13-21 Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 

Summary: Our God intends us to have an abundant life, a rich faith, and joyful service – but we are locked within our emptiness, loneliness, scarcity, brokenness and hopelessness. When we are restored, we are moved to generosity, to serve from our gratitude. Jesus’ admonition – “you feed them” went so far beyond one meal of bread and fish, to creating welcome, acceptance, community, teaching and transforming. Feeding the 5,000 is another way of describing the kingdom of heaven.

OPENING LITANY based on Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21

L:  God, your love for us is beyond our understanding;

C:  How kind you are to everyone, how eager to restore.

L:  When we’re weak and unwilling, you don’t turn away;

C:  Lord, abundant are your blessings for every living thing.

L:  You share our burdens, catch us when we stumble.

C:  Your people hunger, and you fill us with good things;

L:  We plead, and you give us far more than we require.

C:  Lord, abundant are your blessings, and just are your ways.

L:  You are never far from us, hear us when we cry out.

C:  You rescue your children when we lose our way;

L:  Protecting us from the dangers we don’t even see.

C:  Lord, abundant are your blessings of concern for us.

CONFESSION

L:  It’s easy to speak the words, “You give them something to eat,”

C:  As 60 million people in the world are homeless because of war;

L:  And a quarter of our children lack the food they need to eat.

C:  We have nothing here but grocery bags and church members.

L:  It’s quick and painless to say the problem is too big for us,

C:  When schools don’t have supplies, and volunteers are needed;

L:  We pay our taxes so those teachers can take care of that.

C:  We have nothing here but backpacks and some retired folks.

L:  It’s convenient to complain that something must be done,

C:  When the national budget includes walls, but not services;

L:  And healthcare is threatened for millions, young and old.

C:  We have nothing here but our voices and these phones.

(Silent reflection)

L:  In our confession, we pray together,

C:  Most Merciful God … we call on you today to give us the passion and compassion to see this world as your kingdom coming, and our lives and resources as the loaves and fish you’ve given us to care for your people. Take away our impulses to blame and assign the problems to someone else, and give us your generous heart to do what we can with what we have.

Hear this Good News: Just as the crowd ate bread and fish until they were stuffed, with a dozen baskets of fish sandwiches to go, God abundantly provides for the needs of all people and this earth. We just need to call on God to change our pessimism to possibilities, and our reservations to resolve. Set aside your doubts and accept God’s blessings, including the entire forgiveness of all your sin.

In the name of…

Amen

PRAYER OF THE DAY

L:  We pray together, 

C:  God of Unlimited Grace … we pray today that you would replace our nearsighted eyes that see scarcity and limitations with your eyes that see infinite possibilities and abundance everywhere. Fill us with your generosity and passion so everyone would be fed, not just with words, but with the essentials of food, water, housing, health and belonging. Bring us together to gather your blessings and learn your ways, then send us out to share. This is our calling – this is our joy. Amen.

COMMUNION BLESSING

L:  We pray together,

C:  We give you thanks, most gracious God, for this simple meal of bread and wine, a feast of abundance of grace, community and new life. Send us out with blessings to-go, so we can share what we have received so plentifully from you.  Amen.

SENDING

L:  Then Jesus lifted the loaves and fish to God,

C:  And everyone was fed, with food to spare.

L:  May we also give to God all that we have,

C:  So we are blessed to provide this world’s needs.

L:  Go now, sharing God’s abundance, to love and to serve the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God!

First Reading Isaiah 55:1-5 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: The author of this second part of Isaiah continues words to the exiles. Why, in light of God’s promises and faithfulness, would you worship other gods? What more could you possibly need?

55 Ho, everyone who thirsts,
    come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without price.
² Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
    and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
    and delight yourselves in rich food.
³ Incline your ear, and come to me;
    listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
    my steadfast, sure love for David.
⁴ See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
    a leader and commander for the peoples.
⁵ See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
    and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
    for he has glorified you.

Second Reading Romans 9:1-5 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: Paul, Jewish from birth, miraculously converted to one of Jesus’ most committed followers, spread the Good News to Jews and Gentiles, but the Jewish people weighed heaviest on his heart.

9 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit— ² I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh. ⁴ They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; ⁵ to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed forever.  Amen.

Gospel Matthew 14:13-21 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: Jesus had just heard the news that John, his relative, baptizer and wilderness preacher who prepared his way, had been beheaded by Herod. He needed to get away to deal with his grief.

¹³ Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. ¹⁵ When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. ²¹ And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Feeding the 5,000 in 2017

The words of the disciples in Matthew 14:15 hit disturbingly close to home: "Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves" sounds an awful lot like 2017 “Build a wall to keep the immigrants and refugees out because they don't belong here" or "Send the people battling addictions and homeless away because we're just enabling them by showing them compassion."

And exactly where were the 5,000 (or perhaps 10,000 or more if the 5,000 was a count of men only), going to go and find something to eat in the “deserted place.” The healing event wasn’t advertised as a bring-your-own-basket (BYOB) event. Nor were their food trucks following Jesus around in the first century.

And even if they did, the people following Jesus and the merely curious had one thing in common: they were subjects of the Roman empire. Not well-off people who ate well every day. We just don’t think about it, but even if the disciples had convinced Jesus to break off his healing, teaching, community-building afternoon early, the people probably would have gone home to little or nothing.

As David Lose puts it: “And so the disciples’ suggestion that these hordes of people go buy food isn’t just unrealistic – they are, after all, out in a deserted place – it’s ridiculous…and even a little insulting, as the folks making up these desperate crowds probably didn’t have money to buy food in the first place. And so Jesus tells his disciples to get over their callous self-concern and feed them themselves.”

So, in a story that may be aimed more at us in the abundance of our lives in 2017, what is stopping us from Jesus’ directive, “you give them something to eat”? Is it our own poverty? Highly unlikely. Our apathy? Possibly. Our fear that we could never do enough? Now I think we’re on to something.

Going into 2017, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that more than 65 million people had been displaced from their homelands by conflict. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture, almost one in four children in our own country was food insecure (not certain where a meal would come from) in the past year. Hunger also affects people unemployed and underemployed, and seniors.

Housing. Mental health. Climate change. Education. Safe water. Discrimination. We could keep listing the social concerns, until they become so overwhelming that we bury our heads in the sand. The inequities are so great, and we’re just one – one person, one family, one church, one community. What can we do?

Stop. Jesus didn’t say, “Go solve all their problems today.” In the deserted place, Jesus told the disciples to give them something to eat.

Start somewhere. Maybe it is a neighbor who is struggling and could use a meal or some groceries. Perhaps you have a son or daughter who is overwhelmed and needs a hand, or someone you work with could use a ride until she can afford to get a new tire on her car.

We’re missing the point if we just throw money at the problem. The people didn’t just need a gift card to buy food – they needed the disciples to show they cared. The disciples had to give Jesus the five loaves and two fish to have God bless and multiply them.

I’ve done it. I’m sure you’ve done it too. Keep serving, keep acting in compassion, keep getting others to see abundance instead of scarcity. Don’t give up. We have gifts and resources that God can bless and multiply. The choice is ours: Send the crowds away, or give them something to eat.