LECTIONARY 18 Matthew 14:13-21 David Eck
7/31/11
I. When you walked into the worship space this morning
---Did you notice anything different?
---Let me give you a hint.
---It has something to do with the altar.
Look at it for a moment. What do you see?
---If we look closely we will notice
---That there is a place setting front and center.
There is a plate, utensils, and a cloth napkin.
---There are both wine and water glasses.
---[After all we are Lutheran!]
---There is also a lit candle and a bud vase with flowers.
All that is left to do is ring the dinner bell
---And say "Come and get it!"
I dressed the altar this way to remind us
---That Jesus has a special place
---Reserved for us at the Lord's Supper.
This is not an exclusive dinner club.
---It is a community meal
---Where all are invited to attend the feast.
Love, grace, forgiveness and new life
---Are overflowing at this Table.
---They are present in each piece of bread
---And every drop of wine.
They are present in the words of invitation:
---"This is my body given for you.
---This is my blood shed for you…"
---The gifts of God for the people of God.
This meal that we will share together
---Is a powerful symbol of Jesus' understanding
---Of what the kingdom of God looks like.
There is no hierarchy at this Table.
---The pastor and the worship assistants
----Are simply the wait staff.
----All of us, together, are the invited guests.
No reservations are required.
---No one gets preferential treatment.
At this Table we are reminded that we are one.
---We are united in Christ.
---All of us are welcome to the feast.
---There is plenty of food for everyone
---Who accepts the invitation to come and dine.
This Table is a symbol of the many tables
---That Jesus gathered around with both friends and strangers.
This table reminds us of the radical hospitality and welcome
---That Jesus offered to everyone
---Who desired to share the kingdom meal with him.
II. This table has its roots
---In many stories from the gospels;
---One of them being our gospel lesson for today.
The story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand
---Is told in all four gospels.
---In two of them it is told twice
---With the parallel story of the Feeding of the Four Thousand.
This story was an important one
---In the life of the early Church.
---It is an important story for us as well.
Instead of comparing and contrasting
---All the different versions of this tale,
---I'd like to simply things a bit this morning
---And focus solely on the version
---We have in the gospel of Matthew.
Let's wade through the details
---And see what it can teach us
---About the Table be have before us this morning.
---Let's get started!
III. Our story begins with the tragic death
---Of John the Baptist at the hands of Herod Antipas.
---The details of this story are recorded
---In the opening verses of chapter 14.
For our purposes this morning,
---It is enough to know that King Herod
---Literally served John the Baptist's head on a platter.
---It was both shocking and humiliating.
I can only imagine that Jesus was devastated
---When he heard the news of how his cousin
---Was murdered by the King.
Matthew tells us that when Jesus received this shocking news
---He did what most of us would do:
---He wanted to be alone for a while.
---He needed space to grieve
---And to process the details of this tragic death.
So he climbed into a boat on the shore of Lake Galilee
---And rowed himself to a spot Matthew calls a "deserted place."
The Greek phrase used here means literally "a desert or wilderness."
---It can also mean "a lonesome or solitary" place.
---Jesus was not booking a room
---At the Holiday Inn or a day spa.
---He was trying to get as far away from other people
---As he possibly could.
---Well, at least that was the plan!
IV. Unfortunately, as soon as his row boat hit the shore,
---The crowds gathered around him
---Like paparazzi stalking a celebrity.
He could have put on a pair of big sunglasses,
---Pulled a baseball cap over his head,
---And tried to slip through the madness unnoticed.
But instead, Matthew tells us
---That when Jesus saw the great crowd
---"He had compassion for them and cured their sick."
The Greek word used here for compassion
---Means more than feeling sorry for someone
---Or having pity on them.
---It's the kind of compassion that hits us in the gut.
---It is a deep and profound sense of caring.
Isn't that amazing?
---Jesus had every right to be angry.
---He could have told everyone to go home
---But instead, he moved beyond his personal pain
---And ministered to the needs of others.
Maybe we've done the same thing.
---In fact, sometimes it's just what the doctor ordered.
---It's easy for us to wallow in our own suffering,
---To nurse our wounds, to throw a pity party.
However, sometimes the way out of suffering
---Is to focus LESS on ourselves
---And MORE on the needs of others.
---This is exactly what Jesus did.
Not I'm not saying that we don't need
---To do a bit of self-care from time to time.
---In fact, I believe it's absolutely essential.
---It's all part of the "love yourself"
---That is contained in the second greatest commandment:
---Love your neighbor as yourself."
However, at some point we have to stop turning inward
---And start turning outward.
---This is what Jesus decided to do.
Quickly, he found himself up to his neck
---In people looking for hope and healing.
---The Jesus made the decision to stay with them ALL DAY LONG.
Finally, it was getting close to suppertime.
---One of his disciples came to him and said,
---"You know, Jesus, we're out in the middle of nowhere.
---There is not a McDonalds or a grocery store for miles
---And it's getting to be that time of the day.
---Why don't you tell everyone to go away
---So they can go to the nearest village and buy some food."
Jesus replied, "Why don't we just stay here.
---Surely, you can give them something to eat."
I'm fairly certain that the disciple looked at Jesus
---Thinking he wasn't the brightest bulb in the pack.
---This disciple looked at the crowd of 5000 plus people.
---He looked at the food supplies the disciples had with them.
---Then he shook his head and said to Jesus:
"Uh, Jesus, I hate to be the bearer of bad news
---But we've got five barley loaves and two fish.
---It's peasant food, barely enough to feed us
---Let alone all these people.
---You do the math.
---This is NOT going to work."
Jesus didn't hesitate for a second.
---He told the crowd to sit down in the grass.
---He blessed and broke the loaves
---And gave them to the disciples along with the two fish.
---Then the disciples gave them to the crowd.
You know the rest of the story.
---Something happened that day that defies explanation.
---I think it's best to leave it as a mystery!
Everyone feasted until they were full
---And the disciples gathered up
---Twelve baskets full of broken pieces.
VI. This is what kingdom living looks like, my dear friends.
---It defies explanation. It's a bit of a mystery.
---We are promised to be filled to overflowing.
It not only happened in the gospel story.
---It happens for us each and every time
---We gather around this Table.
Jesus promises us grace overflowing.
---Forgiveness, compassion, mercy,
---Blessed and broken, given to us
---In whatever quantity we need.
The gifts of God for the people of God.
---Thanks be to God!
Our gospel lesson reminds us that this gift of grace
---Is offered to EVERYONE who seeks it.
---Think about the gospel story for a minute.
---The disciple wanted to limit who got fed.
There are a number of churches who do this.
---There are a number of communion tables where I,
---As an ELCA Lutheran and as a gay man,
---Am not welcome to come and dine.
But Jesus fed everyone: the young and the old,
---The believers and the skeptics,
---Those who were looking for hope and healing
---As well as those who just wanted to spend
---A sunny day at the lake.
Jesus fed everyone
---And we are called to do the same.
VII. If we take the time to read the rest of the gospels
---We will notice that Jesus hung out with everybody
---Around the table.
He dined with his closest friends
--At Mary and Martha's house.
He attended lavish banquets
---With Pharisees and scribes.
He broke bread with sinners and rouges
---Such as tax collectors, prostitutes,
---And the common folk on the streets.
He told a parable about a great banquet
---Where the invited guests refused to attend.
---The host of the feast then
---Invited the poor, crippled, blind and lame to come and dine
---And there was still room for more.
Finally, he gathered in the upper room of an inn.
---In a story reminiscent of our gospel lesson,
---He took bread, broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying,
---"This is my Body given for you.
---Do this in remembrance of me."
Then he took a cup, gave thanks,
---And gave it to everyone to drink, saying,
---"This cup is a new covenant in my blood,
---Shed for you and for all people
---For the forgiveness of sins.
---Do this for the remembrance of me."
Two thousand years later, this same Lord
---Is still at the Table offering us food and drink.
This bread and this cup have fed the multitudes well
---And there is no sign that the church of Jesus Christ
---Is running low on supplies.
We do not have to send the crowds away.
---In fact, we are supposed to go to the crowds
---And remind them they are invited to the feast;
---A place at the table has been set for them.
There are too many people in our society
---Who have felt rejected by well-intentioned believers.
---There are too many people who have felt
---Unwelcomed to come and dine at the Lord's Supper.
The crisis is so widespread that many
---Have given up on the Church altogether.
---The Church of Jesus Christ has been in decline
---Since the 1970's and it shows no sign of reversing this tend.
It's time for us to wake up.
---It's time for us to believe that the meager resources we have
---Are enough to feed the crowd.
---Jesus will multiply our gifts to overflowing
---As we offer grace and compassion, hope and healing
---To the suffering and the rejected.
Do we really have the faith that Jesus can do this?
---Do we really have the faith the he can use Abiding Savior
---To feed our community and feed it well?
I hope so. I hope that as we move forward together
---With a new vision for ministry and mission
---Through the Reconciling in Christ process
---That we will embrace the symbol of the Table
---As a place of welcome, unity and grace.
This is where Jesus fed the crowd until they had their fill
---With plenty of leftovers to feed anyone else
---Who arrived late for the feast.
Brothers and sisters in Christ,
---Let us follow our Savior's example
---That we might feed ALL the people of Asheville and Buncombe County
---With the the love, grace, forgiveness and healing of Jesus.
AMEN
