| ||
 |
||
|
|
|
|
The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost John 6:1-21 |
||
IT SEEMS THAT THE NEWS, FOR SOME TIME NOW, HAS BEEN ALL ABOUT THE POLITICAL BATTLE OVER HEALTH CARE, THE ECONOMY AND THE INCREASING DEFICIT, THE QUESTION OF THE SOLVENCY OF THE BANKING AND MORTGAGE INDUSTRY, AND ONE CRISIS AFTER THE NEXT. I MUST ADMIT THAT I AM A “NEWS JUNKIE” WHO READS TWO NEWSPAPERS, NEWS MAGAZINES AND EDITORIALS, AND WATCHES THE TV NEWS WITH OBSESSION. CONSEQUENTLY, I OFTEN COME ACROSS AN ITEM OR TWO WHICH DOES NOT GET A LOT OF ATTENTION FROM OTHER PEOPLE. ONE OF WHICH WAS A LITTLE STORY ABOUT THE CAPITOL VISITORS CENTER, A NEW DISPLAY AREA UNDER THE NATION’S CAPITOL BUILDING. RECENTLY OPENED, THIS AREA WAS, OF COURSE, WAY OVER BUDGET AND MISSED ITS PROJECTED OPENING DATE. THIS CENTER WAS DESIGNED TO IMPROVE SECURITY AT THE CAPITOL, AND TO GIVE TOURISTS A SENSE OF THE NATION’S HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT. FULL OF OVERSIZED COPIES OF THE FOUNDING DOCUMENTS, PICTURES AND INTERACTIVE DISPLAYS, IT LACKS ONE THING, CLAIMS A MEMBER OF CONGRESS. NOWHERE IN THE CENTER IS THE NATIONAL MOTTO DISPLAYED. HE IS ATTEMPTING TO INTRODUCE A BILL IN CONGRESS TO HAVE THE WORDS “IN GOD WE TRUST” INSCRIBED OR DISPLAYED SOMEWHERE IN THE VAST CENTER. HIS EFFORTS ARE, OF COURSE, BEING ATTACKED BY A COALITION OF ATHIESTS, AND OTHERS, WHO THINK DOING SO WOULD BE AN ENDORSEMENT OF RELIGION. PERHAPS THE FAILURE TO DISPLAY THE NATIONAL MOTTO WAS AN OVERSIGHT, OR, PERHAPS NO ONE CONSIDERED THE WORDS “IN GOD WE TRUST” TO HAVE ANY SIGNIFICANCE BECAUSE WE, AS A NATION, DON’T TRUST IN GOD ANYMORE. IN THE FIRST READING FOR TODAY, WE SEE IN URIAH THE HITTITE A MAN WHO TRUSTED IN HIS WIFE, WHO TRUSTED IN HIS KING, AND WHO TRUSTED IN HIS ARMY COMMANDER. HE WAS A MAN WHO TRUSTED IN OTHERS TO DO WHAT WAS RIGHT, BECAUSE HE WAS A TRUSTWORTHY MAN HIMSELF. HE REFUSED EVEN TO ALLOW HIMSELF THE BRIEF COMFORT OF HIS OWN BED WHILE HIS MEN STILL SLEPT ON THE GROUND. BECAUSE HE WAS SO TRUSTWORTHY, HE PLACED HIS TRUST IN OTHERS WHO WERE UNWORTHY OF THAT TRUST, AND PAID FOR IT WITH HIS LIFE. IN THE GOSPEL FOR TODAY, WE HAVE HEARD THE STORY OF THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND. THIS IS THE ONLY STORY WHICH CAN BE FOUND IN ALL FOUR GOSPELS, SO IT IS PROBABLY VERY SIGNIFICANT. JOHN WROTE HIS GOSPEL SOME FIFTY YEARS AFTER THE EVENTS DESCRIBED, WITH A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF WHO JESUS WAS AND WHAT HE WAS DOING, SO JOHN’S ACCOUNT IS FULL OF THE THEOLOGICAL MEANING OF THE EVENT DESCRIBED. JESUS HAD BEEN HEALING THE PEOPLE OF GALILEE, BOTH PHYSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY, AND HAD CROSSED THE SEA FOR A RESPITE BUT THE LARGE CROWD FOLLOWED HIM ALONG THE SHORE AND CAUGHT UP WITH HIM ON THE FAR SIDE. JESUS WENT UP THE SIDE OF THE HILL WITH HIS DISCIPLES AND SAT DOWN ON THE GRASS, AS DID THE FIVE THOUSAND MEN ALONG WITH THE UNCOUNTED WOMEN AND CHILDREN. JOHN TELLS US THAT THE FEAST OF PASSOVER WAS NEAR. THE FEAST OF PASSOVER IS THE CELEBRATION OF THE REDEMPTION OF ISRAEL, WHEN GOD LED THEM OUT OF SLAVERY IN EGYPT. THIS WAS THE NIGHT THAT ISRAEL HAD TO DECIDE WHETHER TO TRUST PHAROAH OR GOD, WHETHER TO CONTINUE WITH LIFE AS THEY KNEW IT, OR TO EAT A HURRIED MEAL OF BREAD AND LAMB, PACK WHAT THEY COULD CARRY AND LEAVE ALL THEY OWNED AND FOLLOW GOD INTO THE UNKNOWN SOLELY ON TRUST IN HIM. AS THE PEOPLE SETTLED ON THE GRASS, JESUS ASKED HIS DISCIPLES “WHERE ARE WE TO BUY BREAD FOR THESE PEOPLE TO EAT?” HERE WAS THE TEST FOR HIS DISCIPLES, AND THE QUESTION WAS REALLY “IN WHOM DO YOU TRUST?” PHILLIP LOOKED INTO THE BUDGET, DID A COST – EFFECTIVE ANALYSIS, AND SAID, “SIX MONTHS WAGES WOULD NOT BUY ENOUGH BREAD FOR EACH OF THEM TO GET A BITE.” IT WAS TOO EXPENSIVE, AND TOO HARD, AND, BESIDES, IT WOULD NOT DO ANY GOOD. ANDREW, HOWEVER, FOUND A LAD WITH TWO FISH AND FIVE SMALL BARLEY LOAVES, THE BREAD OF THE POOR, AND DID NOT SEE HOW THAT COULD HELP, BUT AT LEAST HE TOOK THE PROBLEM TO JESUS. THIS WAS WHAT JESUS WAS WAITING FOR, AS HE TOOK THE LOVES AND FISH, BLESSED THEM AND BROKE THEM AND PASSED THEM TO THE HUNGRY PEOPLE AROUND HIM, WHO TOOK SOME AND PASSED THE BREAD AND FISH TO OTHERS, WHO THEN DID THE SAME. WHEN ALL WERE SATISFIED, THE DISCIPLES GATHERED THE LEFT – OVERS AND FILLED TWELVE BASKETS WITH FOOD. WHEN THE PEOPLE SAW THAT THERE WERE TWELVE BASKETS FILLED WITH FOOD, ONE FOR EACH OF THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL, THEY KNEW WHAT IT MEANT: TRUST IN GOD AND HE WILL PROVIDE FOR HIS PEOPLE. OF COURSE, THE PEOPLE DID NOT GET IT EXACTLY RIGHT, BECAUSE THEY IMMEDIATELY WANTED TO MAKE HIM THEIR POLITICAL KING AND MARCH ON JERUSALEM AND USE JESUS TO THROW THOSE BUMS OUT OF OFFICE AND RESTORE THE KINGDOM OF DAVID. THEIR TRUST IN GOD, AND IN JESUS, WAS CONDITIONED BY THEIR OWN UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR NEEDS AND WANTS, AND, THEREFORE, THEIR TRUST WAS NOT REALLY TRUST. SO, ONCE AGAIN, JESUS WITHDREW ALONE INTO THE HILLS, LEAVING THE CROWD AND HIS DISCIPLES SITTING ON THE HILLSIDE. WHEN JESUS DID NOT RETURN BY DUSK, THE DISCIPLES WENT DOWN TO THE SHORE AND GOT IN THE BOAT TO START BACK ACROSS THE LAKE. NIGHT FELL AND THE WIND CAME UP AS THEY FOUGHT THEIR WAY BACK TO CAPERNAUM. AS THEY STRUGGLED TO KEEP THE BOAT AFLOAT, THEY SAW JESUS WALKING ACROSS THE WATER TOWARDS THEM, AND THEY WERE TERRIRIED. IN SPITE OF ALL THAT HAD HAPPENED, ALL THEIR EXPERIENCE OF JESUS DOING WHAT WAS BEYOND HUMAN UNDERSTANDING, THIS WAS ALMOST TOO MUCH FOR THEM. TO HIS DISCIPLES, JESUS SAID, “I AM; DO NOT BE AFRAID.” HE CLIMBED INTO THE BOAT WITH HIS DISCIPLES AND, IMMEDIATELY, THEY WERE AT THE SHORE WHERE THEY WERE HEADING. TRUST IS EASY TO TALK ABOUT, BUT NOT SO EASY TO DO. MOST TIMES WHEN WE SAY WE TRUST ANOTHER, THAT TRUST IS CONDITIONAL BASED ON OUR OWN NEEDS AND DESIRES, OR IS TENTATIVE UNTIL THE OTHER FAILS OUR TRUST AS WE EXPECT. TRUST, HOWEVER, IS NEITHER CONDITIONAL NOR TENTATIVE, BECAUSE TO BE TRUST IT MUST BE A COMPLETE SURRENDER OF THE SELF TO THE OTHER. WHEN YOU TRUST ANOTHER, YOU RELY TOTALLY ON THE EXPECTATION THAT THE ONE IN WHOM YOU PLACE YOUR TRUST IS THE ONE WHO HAS YOUR BEST INTERESTS IN MIND AND HEART, AND WHO WILL KEEP HIS, OR HER, WORD TO YOU. ONLY THEN CAN YOU ACT FREELY AND FEARLESSLY IN THE CONVICTION THAT THE OTHER IS THERE FOR YOU. AS URIAH THE HITTITE FOUND OUT TOO LATE, IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT IN WHOM WE PLACE OUR TRUST. TRUST NOT IN KINGS, FOR THEY WILL FAIL YOU. TRUST NOT IN MONEY, OR ANY ECONOMIC SYSTEM, FOR THEY ARE TOOLS DEVISED BY MEN. TRUST NOT IN YOURSELF, FOR YOU KNOW THE DEVISES AND DESIRES OF YOUR OWN HEART. TRUST ONLY IN GOD, FOR HE WILL NEVER FAIL YOU. TRUST ONLY IN GOD, AND GET UP AND GO WHERE HE CALLS YOU TO GO, FOR HE WILL PROVIDE FOR HIS PEOPLE EEN IN THE MIDST OF THE WILDERNESS. TRUST ONLY IN HE WHO HAS YOUR BEST INTEREST IN HIS MIND AND HEART, AND WHO LOVES YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN EVER IMAGINE. TRUST ONLY IN HE WHO SENT HIS SON TO DIE FOR YOU, TO HEAL YOU OF YOUR SINS AND TO PROVIDE FOR YOU THE BREAD OF HEAVEN. NO MATTER WHAT THE WORLD THROWS AT YOU, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU IN THE COURSE OF YOUR JOURNEY, NO MATTER WHAT STORMS ARRISE OR WHAT IMPOSSIBILITIES YOU MIGHT FACE, TRUST IN GOD THROUGH HIS SON JESUS, BECAUSE HE ONLY IS WORTHY OF OUR TRUST. TRUST IN THE ONE WHO GIVES THE BREAD OF LIFE AND WHO COMES TO YOU IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM AND SAYS TO YOU, “I AM; FEAR NOT!”
|
|
|