Jesus Provides

August 2, 2026 10th Sunday After Pentecost Matthew 14:13-21 Jesus Provides Prelude Greeting Call to Worship As we gather and as we disperse, as we rise and as we sleep, as we eat and play and work, We offer God praise. As we wash our car, scrub the dishes, rinse the grime of the day from our hands, We offer God praise. As we feel the tips of the grass on our feet, the wind against our face, the sun on our backs, We offer God praise. Come, let us worship God who creates, redeems, and sustains us to live out our praise in all we do! We come as people formed by grace to offer God praise with our whole selves now and in all the ordinary moments of our lives! Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, May 2026. Opening Prayer Loving God, out of our fear, our anxiety and our discouragement, we come to you. In our energy, our excitement and our delight, we come to you. Help us recognize your presence in the midst of our own situations, even as we seek your blessing for our own lives, and for the life of ALL your creation. Walk with us in this hour and in each day as we limp and laugh with you. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Song Come Sinners to the Gospel Feast UMH 616 A Sermon for all Ages Children’s Sermon: “Jesus Makes a Little Enough” Scripture: Matthew 14:13–21 Suggested objects: A small piece of bread and a small cup Good morning, everyone! Today’s Bible story begins with a very large and hungry crowd. More than five thousand people had gathered to hear Jesus. When evening came, the disciples said, “Jesus, these people are hungry. Send them away so they can find something to eat.” But Jesus surprised them. He said, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” The disciples looked at what they had. It did not seem like much—only five loaves of bread and two fish. Can five loaves and two fish feed more than five thousand people? It sounds impossible! But Jesus did not ask the disciples to give what they did not have. He told them to use what they already had. They brought their small meal to Jesus. Jesus took the bread and fish, looked up to heaven, thanked God, broke the bread, and gave it to the disciples. The disciples shared it with the people. And something wonderful happened: everyone ate until they were full—and there were even leftovers! This story teaches us that something small can become enough when we place it in Jesus’ hands. A small gift can help someone. A few kind words can encourage someone. A little bit of food can be shared. One child’s loving action can make a big difference. We remember this every time we celebrate Holy Communion. Look at this small piece of bread and this small cup. They do not look like a large meal. Yet Jesus takes this small meal and uses it to feed many people—not just our bodies, but our hearts and souls. Christians around the world come to Christ’s table and receive the bread and the cup. Through this small meal, Jesus reminds us that we are loved, forgiven, and part of God’s family. At Communion, Jesus also tells us what he told the disciples: “Use what you have.” Bring your love, your kindness, your gifts, and even the small things you can do. When we place them in Jesus’ hands, he can use them to bless more people than we could ever imagine. Let us pray: Dear Jesus, thank you for taking small things and making them enough. Help us to use what we have and share it with others. Thank you for feeding us at your Communion table with your love and grace. Take our small gifts and use them to bless many people. Amen. (ChatGPT 6) Responsive Reading Psalm 17:1-7,15 UMH 749 Scripture Matthew 14:13-21 Sermon Jesus Provides Imagine….. We Know How the Disciples Feel You know how the disciples felt when the crowd showed up... The two of you haven't had a night out without the kids in weeks. You finally get away. The waiter has just brought your appetizer when the baby-sitter calls and tells you the youngest has a high fever and has started throwing up. You've been planning this vacation for six months. Your reservations are all made and three days before you are scheduled to go your mother calls and says your Dad is going to have a quadruple bypass as soon as the doctors can get his sugar stabilized. You haven't had a day off in three weeks. Friday morning your sister calls, says her father-in-law has died and wonders if you could take her kids for the weekend. It has been a very long day. You woke up before dawn because your arthritis hurt so much. You had to go to the grocery store and take your dog to the vet and on the way home your car started to act up and you had to leave it at the garage and get a taxi to take you home. All you want to do is go to bed when the phone rings and it's your friend who lost her husband last month and she just needs somebody to talk to. And always, when we think we have given all we have to give there is always more need: the starving people in the midst of a famine; refugees from war; the devastation of floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes; to say nothing of our neighbors who are hungry; the children who need someone to care about them; the youth in our community who have nowhere to go and nowhere to grow. We know how the disciples felt. Matthew doesn't have to tell us. Roger G. Talbott, Good News for the Hard of Hearing, CSS Publishing Company. Jesus takes time out of his personal grief to show compassion Jesus was grieving the death of his closest cousin. He needed time to pay his respects. He went away to be alone, but the people and their needs followed him. He put his own needs aside to listen and to talk. He was motivated by compassion. They say that misery plus mercy equals compassion. And compassion leads us to health and healing. Compassion can take us to unexpected places. But compassion always makes a difference. Dr. Jake find compassion in helping others The doctor has never been to Kenya before and to say he was overwhelmed didn’t begin to hint at his inner turmoil. Five chiorpractors from four corners of the united states had volunteered their time, all costs, and expertise for two weeks. They had been sponsored by a church organization fo the Jake it seemed a little too churchy. They stayed in a colonial era hotel that separated them from the locals. But each day they went to the tent. A white tend, open on all sides, welcomed in all of Africa’s ailing. At least it seemed that way to Jake. There are at least 2000 of them, he stated incredulously to one of the other doctors and he was correct. Outside in the sun, beneath the pepper trees, an army had appeared. They had heard the news – free medical care by American doctors. So they stood in the burnt brown grass waiting for their turn at the benches. Jake used a simple wooden bench and under the head of each patient he placed two books to lift their necks. The bible and Margaret Meades coming of age. Jake, like the other doctors did quick assessments of the patient before him. Then he began his adjustments. But a few thoughts lingered – These people are really ill. Some of them suffer from more than one ailment. Some are HIV positive and I am giving them adjustments. But maybe, I’ll help just one. What else can I do? Each day he and the others worked for hours. Once a fight broke out. Too many needed care. This went on for seven days. On the last day, Jake hammered physically, and emotionally let off some steam by wandering in the street market. Soon he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to face a man. Doctor, doctor please look at me. Jake turned – oh no, I cant do anymore. A muscular Kenyan man faced him. Look what you did, his face radiated a smile. I don’t need my cane. I can stand up straight. Jake thought that he recognized him, but there had been so many. Doctor I have something for you. I have looked for you all over this town. He unfolded a piece of paper and handed it to Jake. It was an old newspaper article. That was me. I ran in the Olympics for Kenya. I couldn’t stand for twenty years. Now I don’t need a cane. Here, you keep this article. I signed it for you. Jake accepted the gift and he didn’t know what to say. But he did know what to think. Maybe it wasn’t too churchy. I asked for one and you gave me one. – thanks. Jake came back from his mission trip a changed man. I was so proud to see so many people volunteering for sharefest yesterday. I am interested in hearing your stories – of the people you helped and the difference it made in our life. Compassion certainly made a difference in Jesus life and mission. He wanted to tell everyone about the value of compassion. He invited everyone, including us to follow his example. The lesson that Jesus teaches us – to compare God’s abundance with the world’s scarcity. We know what scarcity feels like. But we should also know that in the toughest situations, God provides – we know what it means to have enough. The Churches favorite story Our scripture for today is the churches favorite story – the story of enough – the feeding of the 5000. This is the only story in the new testament that is told in all four gospels. Each gospel has a slightly difference version, but the story is the same. Our scripture in Matthew is the only one that is associated with John the Baptist’s death. This is the beginning of Jesus ministry – that takes place in the desert. This is also the comparison of two very different feast. First we have the feast of Herod. It is a gathering of the rich, there is lots of food being served. People are fed, but it is not enough to fill them. John D. Rockefeller was asked at the height of his career by a reporter, "Mr. Rockefeller, how much is enough?" And he responded, "Just a little more than I have." Dan Matthews, "Our Mentality of Scarcity Among God’s Abundance" That was before he became a disciple of Jesus – and he learned that enough is what you give to help others. The feast of Herod leads to death – literally the death of John the Baptist. But also death to all of those who attend – looking for more and never finding it. In his grief, Jesus decides to have his own feast. This is a gathering of poor people, barely making it. They are looking for hope in the word of God. Jesus feeds them the word, but he also feeds them 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. When they are ready to leave, they have enough. Their spirits and their bellies are full. This is s feast that leads to life. God’s abundance is also enough. They understand compassion and generosity. The Loaves and Fishes Still Work Educator Parker J. Palmer was en route to a conference when the plane he was on made an unexpectedly long layover at an airport. A truck that was supposed to deliver the refreshments for the next leg of the journey broke down. Finally the pilot decided that it was more important to get his passengers on their way than to wait for the snacks to arrive, so he took off. As soon as they were in the air the passengers started grumbling. “A ticket is a contract,” one said loudly, “and snacks are part of the contract.” “I ought to sue,” another muttered. A man stood up and said, “I’m a lawyer. How many are willing to join in a class action suit?” A minor mutiny was in the works. Then something interesting happened. A flight attendant came on the public address system. She began with the familiar information on such flights: “Ladies and gentlemen, the captain has turned off the seatbelt lights. We have now attained a cruising altitude of 30,000 feet.” Then she said something quite extraordinary: “Having served many of you on the first leg of this flight, I know some of you still have your bags of peanuts, which you stuffed in your pocket. How many do we have? Five? Please open them and share them with the people around you. I’m sure some of you have mints. Would you pass these around, also? Those of you with newspapers, you can only read one section at a time. Spread the other sections around for others to read. Some of you are parents or grandparents. Take out the pictures of your children or grandchildren and show them to others.” With that brief announcement she changed the emotional climate of that flight. Later, when the flight attendant came near Parker Palmer’s seat he asked her, “What’s your name? What’s the name of your supervisor? I want to write a letter of commendation. That was the best example of group leadership I’ve ever seen.” To which, she replied, “The loaves and fishes still work.” King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com The loaves and fishes still work today. We too have a chance to learn compassion and generosity. The beginning of faith is in the wilderness In the story, one feast takes place in a palace. Another takes place in the wilderness. Jesus spends a lot of time in the wilderness. Just like the Isrealites who came to know God in the wilderness. The wilderness in the bible is desolate, deserted, a place with no words only silence. But it is always the place to go to find faith. Where are the wilderness spots in your life? Where are the places in your life where you are searching for the meaning of enough? Where are the places where you have found the riches of God in the midst of the sparseness of life? One of the places where Christ finds us in the wilderness if communion. Communion is intended to be our wilderness meal. We come together in the brokenness of the world. The meal does not fill us up- but the sip of grape juice and the cube of bread is enough to feed out spirits. And our spirits feed our mind and out body. The scripture says that Jesus blessed the bread, broke the bread and shared the bread with us. When we have enough, there is enough in us to share with others. Sometimes in life we are the members of the crowd – hungry and willing to be fed. Sometimes we are the disciples feeding others, and sometimes we are the body of Christ – inviting people to come to the feast and experience enough. As a matter of fact, Christ words to us in the scripture is you feed them with what you have. In the hands of Christ, what you share is always enough. Jesus does provide. You Feed Them – Generosity A man was packing a shipment of food for the poor people of Appalachia. He was separating beans from powdered milk, and canned vegetables from canned meats. Reaching into a box filled with various cans, he pulled out a little brown paper sack. Apparently one of the pupils had brought something different from the items on the suggested list. Out of the paper bag fell a peanut butter sandwich, an apple, and a cookie. Crayoned in large letters was a little girl's name, "˜Christy -- Room 104.' She had given up her lunch for some hungry person. Jesus says to us, "You feed them!" This is an incredibly rich world. We are rich people and we serve a rich God. "You feed them!" King Duncan, You Feed Them! She gave what she had and it was enough – we are encouraged to do the same. Let us pray…… Song One Bread One Body UMH 620 Pastoral Prayer Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Perhaps some of you can sympathize with Jesus. He’d been working non-stop, healing, teaching, and responding to the demands of the crowds. When he heard of the murder of John the Baptist, he tried to break away for some time alone. Yet when he looked up from the boat he’d taken across to what he hoped would be a deserted place, a crowd had already gathered! Instead of turning around, or simply dropping anchor out on the water, Jesus came ashore, and “had compassion for them.” Even when we are exhausted, discouraged, uncertain, or downtrodden, we have the model of Jesus standing before us. Jesus engaged, once more, with people who needed food in that deserted place. So he took what was available, gave thanks to God for the bread and fish, and gave the food to his disciples to pass to the crowds. Today, can demonstrate our compassion – our “pity with” others. Not the only way, but one way to respond to the needs of others comes by sharing our morning offering. Will you put compassion to the forefront for this moment? Will you respond, knowing a portion of our offering goes to ____________________ (support the food pantry, provide new underwear for those coming to our free clothing shop, pay our minister as he/she/they counsels with disconsolate folks)? Let us present our gifts as signs and symbols of the compassion we know most clearly from the life of Jesus, the Christ. Prayer of Thanksgiving* As one family we sing while these, our gifts, to God we bring; who in love has made us one in the church of Christ, God’s Son. Use us and use our gifts, good Lord, for holy service in the world. Hope to all your people give as to your glory we now live. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Invitation to Communion Each time we come to this Table, we hear an invitation extended to all who will come. Here there are no tests to pass, no threshold of giving to exceed, no affirmation from some authority to present. Here we find the gifts of God for the people of God, presented in simple bread and juice. Counting on the compassion of Jesus Christ, we recognize our hunger and our thirst may be assuaged here even as we remember in a deserted place, long ago, Jesus took simple foods, blessed them, broke the bread and gave the bread and fish. So, today, knowing these gifts will not fill our stomachs, but can satisfy our soul hunger, we remember Jesus taking bread, blessing it, breaking it, giving it. With gratitude, come to receive the bread of life and the cup of salvation. *Adapted from Gifts of Many Cultures, Maren C. Tirabasi and Kathy Wonson Eddy, 1995, Pilgrim Press, p. 126. (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Communion Announcements Closing Prayer for YouTube Go into a world of abundance, with eyes open for the miraculous workings of our God, and as you go, may the blessing of our triune God, creator, redeemer and sustainer, be with you always. (Presbyterian Outlook, Baron Mullis) Community Time Benediction Beloved, may God bless you with the discernment to stop and notice God at work all around you, the inspiration to offer up praise in the middle of the busyness of life, and the peace that comes from beholding the face of God and knowing deep in your bones that we are not alone—God is with us. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, May 2026. Additional Illustrations It Don't Add Up Perhaps you have heard the story of the football coach who had two quarterbacks. The first team quarterback was gifted, aggressive, and a born leader. The second string quarterback was, let us say, limited. Oh, he was athletic enough but unfortunately, he lacked a mind for strategy. The championship game was in progress, the score was tied, the home team had the ball, and the clock was ticking down. An opposing player broke through the line of scrimmage and slammed the star quarterback to the ground with such force that the signal-caller had to leave the game. Time was running out. The coach had no choice but to put in the back-up. The substitute trotted onto the field, huddled the team, and strode up to the line of scrimmage. Surveying the opposing team, and much to everyone's surprise, he changed the play at the line. The ball was snapped, the quarterback handed it off to the half-back who busted up the middle and sped all the way into the end zone with the winning touchdown! An amazing play. Moments later, in the ecstatic dressing room, the coach grabbed his second-team quarterback by the shoulder pads and said, "Son, that was great! How did you know to call that play?" The boy said, "Uh, well coach, it weren't easy. I got up to the line and looked across at two of the biggest players I've ever seen and I seen their numbers. One of 'em was wearing a six and the other one was wearing a seven, so I just added them numbers together and got fourteen and called number fourteen." The coach hesitated a moment and said, "But son, six and seven make 13." The boy, quite unmoved by the correction, said, "You know what coach? If I was as smart as you, we would have lost the game." Things do not always add up the way they are supposed to, do they? Traditional Stories, www.eSermons.com How Much Is Enough? The Wall Street Journal ran an article some time ago describing the fastest growing business in America today: the development and the construction of mini warehouses, these small storage facilities that you see in every town and in every city. We first fill the closets and the attic and the basement and the garage and then we go across town and rent some space to store our stuff. The reality is that in the midst of all this abundance of stuff, we have a mentality of scarcity. We think we need a little more. We are yearning to buy, if the price is right. In short, we can't get enough of what we don't need. Imagine our present day culture in any historical perspective. We have more possessions than any culture in the history of the world. We think of ourselves and our own personal value in terms of how much stuff we have. And our basic way of seeing the world is by virtue of scarcity. And if we are honest, almost no one of us is free of that yearning to have a little bit more. Oh, we don't want to be accused of being greedy. We simply don't quite have enough. "Maybe other people do," we say to ourselves, “but I don't. I need just a little bit more.” Moving Fences Many years ago, there was a woman who lived in a small village in France. Trained as a nurse, she devoted her life to caring for the sick and needy. After many years of kind and selfless service to the village’s families, the woman died. She had no family of her own, so the townsfolk planned a beautiful funeral for her, a fitting tribute to the woman to whom so many owed their lives. The parish priest, however, pointed out that, because she was a Protestant, she could not be buried in the town’s Catholic cemetery. The villagers protested, but the priest held firm. It was not easy for the priest either, because he too had been cared for by the woman during a serious illness. But the canons of the Church were very clear; she would have to buried outside the fence of the cemetery. The day of the funeral arrived, and the whole village accompanied the woman’ s casket to the cemetery, where she was buried--outside the fence. But that night, a group of villagers, armed with shovels, sneaked into the cemetery. They then quietly set to work--moving the fence. More astounding than Jesus’ feeding of the crowds with a few pieces of bread and fish is Jesus’ transforming the crowd into a community, a community united in their need for one another, in the bread they share, in the love of Christ who has brought them together. Christ empowers each one of us to perform our own miracles of creating community when we "move the fences" to include outsiders, when we welcome the rejected and forgotten to our tables, when we give of what little we have, joyfully and gratefully, for the sake of others, when we welcome one another as we would welcome Jesus. Jerry Fuller, Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes We Have Nothing But . . . Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest and college professor, tells the story of nine teenagers from Vermont who went to a Navajo reservation out west for a week-long mission work project. When they arrived, the Navajos pretty much ignored their presence. They didn’t give them much of a welcome, nor did they offer to help them with any of the work. It wasn’t that the Navajos were hostile or rude. They just didn’t believe that the kids would actually show up. And even when they did, they doubted that they could accomplish much of anything in one week. Besides, they had been promised all kinds of things before by previous work crews, but had seen only meager results at best. They had good reason to be skeptical. However, these kids from Vermont and their adult sponsors were different. They didn’t know how to do much -- they didn’t know how to build a sheep pen or put a new roof on a house -- but they were determined to give it their best shot. And they did. About halfway through the week, a funny thing happened. The Navajos, who up to that point had been watching from the sidelines, now began to pitch in. A group of Navajo teenagers decided to help fix up Annie Begay’s hogan. Apparently they figured that, if these kids could come all the way from Vermont to work, they could help, too. At the end of the week, the youth from Vermont, their sponsors, and the Navajos who had joined the effort -- all of them working together had completed forty-two of the forty-six projects they had set out to do. Taylor concludes: "We went into the week skinny, with only five loaves and two fish; but we came out fat, with twelve baskets to spare. That’s because God made good to match our gifts . . . . It’s something to remember when our own resources look too meager. How many loaves have you?" Story told by Barbara Brown Taylor, quoted by Richard Donovan in SermonWriter The Miracle Everyone Was Waiting On Only one miracle made it into all four gospels. It transpired on the grassy hills by the shores of the Sea of Galilee at a time when Jesus' popularity--and also his vulnerability--was cresting. Wherever he went, a throng that included many deranged and afflicted trailed behind. The day before the big miracle, Jesus crossed the lake to elude the masses. Herod had just executed John the Baptist, Jesus' relative, his forerunner and friend, and Jesus needed time alone to grieve. Doubtless, John's death provoked somber thoughts of the fate awaiting him. Alas, there would be no secluded retreat. A huge swarm of yesterday's multitude made the ten-mile journey around the lake and soon hundreds, even thousands of people clamored around Jesus. "He had compassion on them," says Mark, "because they were like sheep without a shepherd." Instead of spending the day renewing his spirit, Jesus spent it healing the sick, always an energy drain, and speaking to a crowd large enough to fill a modern basketball arena. The issue of food came up. What to do? There are at least five thousand men, not to mention the women and children! Send them away, suggested one disciple. Buy them dinner, said Jesus. What? Is he kidding? We're talking eight months' wages! Then Jesus took command in a way none of them had seen before. Have the people sit down in groups of fifty, he said. It was like a political rally--festive, orderly, hierarchical -- exactly what one might expect from a Messiah figure. Unavoidably, we moderns read Jesus' life backwards, knowing how it turns out. That day, no one but Jesus had a clue. Murmurs rustled through the group on the packed hillside. Is he the one? Could it be? In the wilderness, Satan had dangled before Jesus the prospects of a crowd-pleasing miracle. Now, not to please a crowd but merely to settle their stomachs, Jesus took two salted fish and five small loaves of bread and performed the miracle everyone was waiting for. Three of the Gospels leave it at that. "They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish," reports Mark with masterful understatement. Only John tells what happened next. Jesus got his time alone, at last. As the disciples rowed back across the lake, fighting a storm all the way, Jesus spent the night on a mount, alone in prayer. Later that night he rejoined them by walking across the water. Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, Zondervan, 1995, 175-176. Many Kinds of Bread In the English language, in some contexts, the word "bread" is synonymous with food. In other parts of the world, that's not true. For example, in Eastern Asia, when you say "food," people automatically think of rice. In Malaysia, the same applies to sweet potatoes. For every culture there is a "staff of life." For most it's bread. It's the basic thing you need to stay alive. But all these words - bread, rice, and sweet potatoes - can also refer to the emotional and spiritual basics that keep us alive. There are a few people without whose love and presence in my life, I would find it difficult, if not impossible, to survive. There's one or two I wouldn't mind getting away from a while, just to see how I would do without them, but I need most all of them. And without a faith that receives regular nourishment from the Word of God, all of the Word of God, and all of the people of God, I could not survive. Bread is the biblical metaphor because that was the staple, basic, bottom-line food source of Jesus' day. If Jesus had been from Malaysia, it would have been sweet potatoes, and communion could get a little messy. Johnny Dean, How Much Is Enough? Give Them Something to Eat One billion of the world's richest people consume 80 percent of the earth's resources. The other five billion make do on the other 20 percent. The world has 840 million chronically malnourished people, most of them women and children. Seven million children in the world under the age of five die each year from malnutrition. The Department of Agriculture in our own country, estimates there are 3.8 million families who experience hunger and up to 12 million families concerned about having enough food to feed their families. Hunger is real. The disciples say send them away. Do we not offer similar suggestions? Let the government feed them, let social services take care of them, let the unemployment office help them, let the homeless shelters take them in. Meanwhile, the government is knocking on the door of faith-based communities saying, "When are you going to help?" Leaping from the pages of scripture Jesus exclaims, "Do not send them away. Give them something to eat." J. Howard Olds, Faith Breaks, www.Sermons.com God Lets Us Help Ethan Allen was a big, voluble, rather flamboyant Vermonter, Colonial patriot, a somewhat controversial hero of the American Revolution. He organized a rag-tag army of freedom-lovers known as the Green Mountain Boys. On May 10, 1775, Allen and his "Boys" captured from the British the strategic Fort Ticonderoga. Having returned from this successful venture, Allen did something which he was wont to do sometimes as the mood suited: on Sunday morning he attended church. During the service the pastor offered a long prayer, a great deal of which was an offering of praise to God for the liberation of Fort Ticonderoga. How great was God, and how good, to have wrested that fort from the enemy! Ethan Allen, having sat through as much of this as he could endure, interrupted the pastor, saying, "Parson Dewey ... Parson Dewey, please mention to the Lord that I and the Green Mountain Boys were there!" The plain fact is, of course, that wherever God has done things in the world somebody has been there helping him do them. Yes, perhaps Jesus could have fed that multitude without the five loaves and two fish which the disciples brought to him, but he didn't. He let his disciples help, and he used what they brought. Leonard W. Mann, Life-Size Living, CSS Publishing Company Contrary to What We KNOW The chief objection that modernists have with the story of the Feeding of the 5,000 was answered by St. Augustine over 1500 years ago. Augustine said, “Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we KNOW about nature.” The miracle here was that a weary but compassionate Jesus understood the true power of the Creator God – the Father of the universe. And He acted in accordance with that knowledge: with miraculous results. John Bedingfield, Do You Believe in Miracles? ________________________________________ At Least One Dollar Dr. H. King Oehmig tells a story of the time that a church congregation from Cartersville, Georgia wanted to begin a Habitat for Humanity group. It was in the early days of Habitat, so the group went to Americus, Georgia to meet with Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity. The group toured the Habitat facilities and saw a presentation on how groups operate. Then Mr. Fuller took time from his busy schedule to go and talk to this group. During the course of their conversation, one of the folks from Cartersville said, “Mr. Fuller, we think this is what God’s calling us to do. But before we begin, how much money do you think we should have in the bank to get us off the ground?” Fuller leaned toward the man and in a very low and serious voice told him, “It would be wholly irresponsible, completely negligent, totally feather-brained if you started an affiliate without at least one dollar.But you have to have one dollar. Don’t dare make a move without it!” King Oehmig says that that day, the Cartersville group learned, “as the disciples discovered with Jesus that evening, when He told them to feed the masses themselves – that faced with the Gospel imperative, we were searching for a reasonable alternative to faith.” Just like modern America searches for a reasonable alternative to a miracle. John Bedingfield, Do You Believe in Miracles?

Jesus will Provide

August 2, 2020 Matthew 14:13-21 Jesus will Provide Year A 8th Sunday After Pentecost/ proper 12 Children’s Sermon Object: A basketful of pieces of broken bread. Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have heard of the time that Jesus fed 5,000 people with just a couple of loaves of bread and some fish that a little boy had in his basket? (Let them answer.) We call that happening a miracle. No one else could have done this, except for Jesus, and he did it several times. We can't explain it and we don't even try to. All we know is that a lot of people were with him one day at supper time and no one had anything to eat. The disciples wanted to send the people away, but Jesus told them that they should invite them to stay and be fed. That seemed impossible, but they knew that Jesus could do some amazing things, so they invited the people to sit down and wait for something to happen. Jesus sent the disciples out to find whatever little bit of food they could and bring it back to him. They found one little boy whose mother had packed him a lunch of bread and fish. When the disciples came back with it, Jesus took the bread and fish and thanked God for it and then broke it up into little pieces. Each disciple was given some of the pieces to give to all of the people who were there. Each person thanked the disciples and then ate all that he wanted. Some of the people took more than they could eat at first because they were afraid that there might not be enough. But as the disciples kept going to each group of people and giving them the bread and fish, there was more than when they started. Pretty soon everyone had enough to eat and still there was some left. Jesus told the disciples to take a basket and collect the leftovers. They went out and people started putting back what they could not eat. Do you remember that they started with only five loaves of bread and two fish? When they came back, there were twelve baskets full of bread and fish. What a picnic! No one had ever been to one like it before. Can you imagine what it must have been like to have been there that day with Jesus? You would never forget it, would you? (Let them answer.) The next time you sit down to your table and you see bread in a basket, perhaps you will think about the day that Jesus showed the power of God with a great picnic lunch. Amen C.S.S. Publishing Company, THE ONE-HANDED CLOCK, by Wesley T. Runk Prelude Welcome – communion Opening Prayer Opening Prayer Lord, we come to you this day in the midst of our summer months. For many this is a time of relaxation; but for others, the burdens, worries, and cares continue to weigh them down. Be with each of us as we open our ears to hear your words, our hearts to feel your presence, and our spirits to receive your healing touch. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. AMEN. Stewardship moment John planted zucchini this spring. These small plants he lovingly placed at the edge of his garden. He prepared the soil, made sure that the plants were gently installed in the ground, and watered them. Now, I don’t know too much about zucchini, but my experience says that when they are given that kind of loving care, they flourish, and flourish, and flourish. This was definitely the case for John — he realized that he was going to have far more zucchini than he would ever use, so he offered it to a neighbor — and then another, and another. The little village became recipients of his beautiful zucchini — bread was made from it, casseroles, salads, even a dessert. Nothing went to waste. The bread was shared with neighbors, the casseroles were brought to people in need, salads were in abundance, and the dessert was thoroughly enjoyed by all. John and his zucchini. Simple plants with a bounty that fed many people. We think that we don’t have much to offer — that our gifts, our talents are minimal. Jesus calls us to share our gifts and our talents. We never know what kind of influence and joy they will have with others. Your smile, a very simple thing to do, might cause others to smile and feel better. You may be called to be a reader of stories for children or for those whose eyesight is failing; you may be the one who organizes rides to doctor appointments. Whatever the case, you have so much that you can share — so don’t keep those talents and gifts hidden. Share! You will love doing it. In Jesus’ Name, share! AMEN. Offertory Prayer Gracious God, we bring our gifts to your altar, asking you to dedicate them to do the work of love and compassion in the world. We learned from Jesus, who had compassion on the crowds who gathered to hear him teach, that putting what we have in the hands of Jesus can bring abundance. Multiply these gifts with the love in which they are offered, that they might bring hope to those in need and might glorify and celebrate your love for all your children. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen. (Matthew 14:13-21) Scripture Feeding the five thousand 13 When Jesus heard about John, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. When the crowds learned this, they followed him on foot from the cities. 14 When Jesus arrived and saw a large crowd, he had compassion for them and healed those who were sick. 15 That evening his disciples came and said to him, “This is an isolated place and it’s getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said to them, “There’s no need to send them away. You give them something to eat.” 17 They replied, “We have nothing here except five loaves of bread and two fish.” 18 He said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them and broke the loaves apart and gave them to his disciples. Then the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 Everyone ate until they were full, and they filled twelve baskets with the leftovers. 21 About five thousand men plus women and children had eaten. Sermon I saw a Facebook meme this week that I can so relate to. It said that being an adult means having to figure out what’s for dinner every single night. I can so relate to that – having to cook every day was the hardest lesson that I had to learn after college. Even today, sometimes I intentionally go to bed early, so I don’t have to think about what to cook for dinner. But on a more serious note -I want us to start out this morning thinking about the Lord’s Prayer again. Let us pray it together…… When you think about the words of the prayer, you may notice that there is a specific theme – take one day at a time. The line that I want to point out is “ Give us this day, our daily bread. In this day and age when we have refrigerators, and pantries, and food budgets that allow us to buy food for the week or two – Jesus gives an important lesson – don’t get ahead of ourselves in our life. Just focus on one day at a time. There is another lesson within the Lord’s Prayer – God will provide. Looking back at the sermons for the summer, God will provide is a major lesson of the Old Testament. God provided manna daily for the wanderers. God told them not to store food for more than a day, and when they ignored him they were punished. The prophet Elisha told a starving women that her if she made food everyday, she would have enough to eat. When Abraham needed to make a sacrifice, God provided the lamb. Story after Story shows us that God will provide. In that light, the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 does not seem so strange, even though we find it hard to believe that Jesus was able to feed 5000 with five loaves and two fish. It seems like a miracle, and we wonder if we should believe it or not. If Jesus did it, how did it happen. This is a story of Jesus trusting on the promises of God. Jesus is so sure that God will provide for these people, he does not even worry about it. Unlike the disciples who are being practical about all of this. They tell Jesus to let the people go into the countryside to the stores before they close. Jesus says to the disciples, that they should figure it out and feed the people yourself. We have a hard time with this story in modern times, because we too are practical, sometimes with no sense of imagination or creativity. We don’t have any faith in miracles. But I want us to take a closer look at this story. This is a story about Jesus mission to feed hungry, needy people. As we have been learning about the crowd in Matthew, we know that they did not have much. They were living day to day- and somedays were worse than others when it came to food. They were living in tough times, but so do we. We have many people who are struggling to pay bills, families are struggling, churches are struggling, businesses are struggling, whole communities are struggling. The theology of scarcity is all around us. We cant be in mission to others because we are too worried about ourselves. We cant reach out to help others, when we don’t have ourselves. There was a college that was doing some planning on the needs of the future. As they started to talk about building a state of the art building to house a new technology center, they realized that it was an excellent idea, but the college did not have to money or faculty to make it happen. They did not want to have to students more for tuition. They decided to shelf the whole idea, forgetting that resource follows mission. If it is for the good of the people, there are people who will help to make it so. God will provide. In each bible story where God provides, God tells the person what to do – and then God provides the resources for the person to fulfill God’s words. This story is no different. Jesus tells the disciples to organize the task and the people, take account of what you have, give thanks, say a prayer and God takes over from there. What God Can Do In Virginia, a small church was hosting a bake sale and crafts fair to raise money for missions. The best cooks presented their pies, jams, and cakes. Men offered exquisite woodworkings. But Ellen, old and arthritic, took old clothing and cut the cloth to sew it into a patchwork quilt of red, turquoise, and yellow. It didn't sell, its bright colors so garish. So at the end of the day the money and leavings were boxed up and shipped to Africa to the waiting missionary. He opened the box of tools and money and thanked God for the needful things. The odd colored quilt he draped over a tree limb. That's when the tribal chief who'd been particularly difficult to deal with came by and admired the quilt. He draped it over his shoulders like a cape and admired the effect. "What will you take for this?" he asked the missionary. "A piece of land on which to build a church," the missionary bargained. And the deal was made. One never knows what God can do with an out-of-fashion quilt sewn by an 86-year-old widow with arthritic hands and offered to Jesus in faith. Stephen M. Crotts / George L. Murphy, Sermons for Sundays: After Pentecost (Middle Third): The Incomparable Christ, CSS Publishing Company The feeding of the 5000 is a miracle story because it addresses both the physical needs and the spiritual needs of the persons. Jesus believes that in order for the people to understand the spiritual truth of God, they first have to understand the physical truth of being fed and satisfied. Many Kinds of Bread In the English language, in some contexts, the word "bread" is synonymous with food. In other parts of the world, that's not true. For example, in Eastern Asia, when you say "food," people automatically think of rice. In Malaysia, the same applies to sweet potatoes. For every culture there is a "staff of life." For most it's bread. It's the basic thing you need to stay alive. But all these words - bread, rice, and sweet potatoes - can also refer to the emotional and spiritual basics that keep us alive. There are a few people without whose love and presence in my life, I would find it difficult, if not impossible, to survive. There's one or two I wouldn't mind getting away from a while, just to see how I would do without them, but I need most all of them. And without a faith that receives regular nourishment from the Word of God, all of the Word of God, and all of the people of God, I could not survive. Bread is the biblical metaphor because that was the staple, basic, bottom-line food source of Jesus' day. If Jesus had been from Malaysia, it would have been sweet potatoes, and communion could get a little messy. Johnny Dean, How Much Is Enough? There was a man who said that he is no longer a Christian because if Jesus could feed 5000 people why would he do it only once, when there are 1000’s more who are still hungry. If Jesus was a miracle worker, he would feed people every day and have left his followers the recipe to continue that work. The good news is that Jesus did just that. He could have fed the people himself, but he asks the disciples to take part in the miracle. And Jesus challenges us all to feed the hungry. Whether they are hungry for food, clothing or love. Jesus always says to each of us – you do it. If this is what happened, it was not the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fishes; it was the miracle of the changing of selfish people into generous people at the touch of Christ. It was the miracle of the birth of love in grudging hearts. It was the miracle of changed men and women with something of Christ in them to banish their selfishness. If that be so, then in the realest sense Christ fed them with himself and sent his Spirit to dwell within their hearts. When people of faith find themselves in the desert, as we often do, especially today, how should we proceed. This scripture takes place in the wilderness. As many of Jesus stories do. The wilderness would have been the place where politicians and upstanding citizens would have abandoned. Wilderness in Hebrew literally means the place beyond words. I would say that the world we live in today is definitely beyond words. Who would have ever thought we would be worshipping in a parking lot, or going to school over the computer. Yet when we have a mission, we are told to take care of others, even in the wilderness. Especially in the wilderness. When we are planning for mission, what happens when we look at what we can do, instead of what we cant do. When we look as what we have instead of what we don’t have. If we look at what we have been given as a gift, rather then a commodity. If we trust God’s mission. If we look beyond the physical and still are able to see the spiritual. What difference would it make. As we take communion this Sunday, the final lesson is that this is definitely a communion story. Jesus blesses the bread, breaks the bread and prays over the bread , says thank you and then gives it to the people. That is what we do in communion. The eucharist is a call to live in thankful living , with thankful practices. We are called into unity, we are called to be grateful, we are called to share what we have with others. When we take communion we are saying that we are confident that God will provide. Let us pray….. Prayer Prayers of the People (Genesis 32, Psalm 17, Matthew 14) O God, hear our cries: for those who hunger, and those who are full; for those who need you desperately, and those who feel no need for you; for those who wrestle with the impact of being your blessed children; for those who are unaware of your offered blessing; and for concerns that are too difficult to express. Hear our cries, O God of our salvation. Amen. Reflection Music Announcements Working on a form of indoor worship in addition the styles of worship we already have but second week in September. But this is a every changing situation, so we are tentatively planning. Scripture for next week is Matthew 14:22-33 Communion – you can take it at home as well - Communion Thanksgiving and Communion The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. We lift them to you, Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to praise you, Lord. It is right, and a good and joyful thing, Always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Holy Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. From the rising of the sun to its setting your name is praised among all peoples. Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with your people on earth and all the company of heaven who for ever sing this hymn to the glory of your name: Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might Heaven and earth are full… Full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is the One who comes In the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna in the highest! You are holy, Almighty One! Blessed are you, Jesus Christ! In the power of the Spirit you created all things, blessed them, and called them good. You called to yourself a people To make your mercy and truth known in all the world. We betrayed your calling; You were faithful. We wandered from the way; You called us to return, and led us home. And still we turned from your ways, abused your creatures, and made ourselves slaves to sin and death. At the right time you came and dwelt among us, as one of us, bringing good news to the poor, healing the sick, raising the dead, sharing table with the unrighteous, and teaching the way that leads to life. By your incarnation, life, suffering, execution and resurrection You gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery and made a new covenant with us by water and the Spirit. On the night of your betrayal, Lord Jesus, you took bread, blessed it, broke it, gave it to your disciples and said, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." You did the same with the cup after the supper, saying, "This cup that is poured out is the new covenant in my blood." Blessed Trinity, in remembrance of all you have done to save us, we offer ourselves to you in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we sing (proclaim) the mystery of our faith: Christ has come among us. Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ abides with us. Christ will come again. Pour out your Spirit on us Pour out your Spirit on us Pour out your Spirit on these gifts Pour out your Spirit on these gifts Make these gifts the body and blood of Christ Make us, through them, Christ's body alive in the world. Benediction Benediction You have been fed with the bread of heaven, and blessed by the presence and peace of God. Now go into the world in the peace of Christ to be bread for the world. We go in Christ's name. Amen. Special Music Additional Illustrations A man once told me he was no longer a Christian. If Jesus provided for the hungry once, why could he have not done it continually and then left us the recipe. Sermon Opener – Our Lord's Abundant Table - Matthew 14:13-21 Charles Swindoll tells a funny story about a nine-year-old named Danny who came bursting out of Sunday school like a wild stallion. His eyes were darting in every direction as he tried to locate either mom or dad. Finally, after a quick search, he grabbed his Daddy by the leg and yelled, "Man, that story of Moses and all those people crossing the Red Sea was great!" His father looked down, smiled, and asked the boy to tell him about it. "Well, the Israelites got out of Egypt, but Pharaoh and his army chased after them. So the Jews ran as fast as they could until they got to the Red Sea. The Egyptian Army was gettin' closer and closer. So Moses got on his walkie-talkie and told the Israeli Air Force to bomb the Egyptians. While that was happening, the Israeli Navy built a pontoon bridge so the people could cross over. They made it! By now old dad was shocked. "Is THAT the way they taught you the story?" Well, no, not exactly," Danny admitted, "but if I told you the way they told it to us, you'd never believe it, Dad." With childlike innocence the little guy put his finger on the pulse of our sophisticated adult world where cool skepticism reigns supreme. It's more popular to operate in the black-and-white world of facts…and, of course, to leave no space for the miraculous. And so when we read the story of the feeding of the five thousand, we tend to focus our attention on the question, "Did it really happen?" There have been a number of attempts to "explain" the miracle. One attempt says that the people were so moved by Jesus' generosity and the generosity of the little boy that they brought forth the food they had hidden under their clothes and in their traveling pouches. This way everyone was satisfied. Another theory says that the story is not really talking about physical hunger but spiritual hunger. When the small amount of food was passed around everyone tore off a minuscule symbolic fragment. In this Jesus is said to have satisfied the thirst of the soul not the stomach. I think these questions say more about us than they do Jesus. If Jesus is the Messiah, and I believe he is, then there is no question but that he performed miracles, and on a regular basis. The point of the story of feeding of the five thousand is not to prove that miracles happen. The point of the story is to teach us three things: 1. Jesus is the Fulfillment of the Word. 2. We Are to Serve at the Table of the Lord. 3. We Can Use Our Abilities in Service. Taking Care of the Crowd Too often, we think that giving our lives to God is like taking a $1,000 bill and laying it on the altar, saying, "Here’s my life, Lord. I’m giving it all to you." But the truth of the matter is that God sends us to the bank and tells us to cash that $1,000 bill in for quarters. And then we go through life giving away twenty-five cents here, fifty cents there, and so on. Instead of watching a ball game, we spend some time visiting a lonely person in a nursing home who has no family. Instead of sipping coffee and reading the newspaper, we get dressed and go to teach Sunday school. Instead of playing games on the computer, we listen to a friend tell us about her problems, even though we’re tired and have problems of our own to deal with. These are the moments in which the grace of God can work through us to help another human being, to feed the hunger of the heart and spirit. They may not be spectacular miracles, but these are the things we can do to bring meaning and significance to our lives. Johnny Dean, How Much Is Enough? We Have Nothing But . . . Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest and college professor, tells the story of nine teenagers from Vermont who went to a Navajo reservation out west for a week-long mission work project. When they arrived, the Navajos pretty much ignored their presence. They didn’t give them much of a welcome, nor did they offer to help them with any of the work. It wasn’t that the Navajos were hostile or rude. They just didn’t believe that the kids would actually show up. And even when they did, they doubted that they could accomplish much of anything in one week. Besides, they had been promised all kinds of things before by previous work crews, but had seen only meager results at best. They had good reason to be skeptical. However, these kids from Vermont and their adult sponsors were different. They didn’t know how to do much -- they didn’t know how to build a sheep pen or put a new roof on a house -- but they were determined to give it their best shot. And they did. About halfway through the week, a funny thing happened. The Navajos, who up to that point had been watching from the sidelines, now began to pitch in. A group of Navajo teenagers decided to help fix up Annie Begay’s hogan. Apparently they figured that, if these kids could come all the way from Vermont to work, they could help, too. At the end of the week, the youth from Vermont, their sponsors, and the Navajos who had joined the effort -- all of them working together had completed forty-two of the forty-six projects they had set out to do. Taylor concludes: "We went into the week skinny, with only five loaves and two fish; but we came out fat, with twelve baskets to spare. That’s because God made good to match our gifts . . . . It’s something to remember when our own resources look too meager. How many loaves have you?" Story told by Barbara Brown Taylor, quoted by Richard Donovan in SermonWriter You Feed Them – Generosity A man was packing a shipment of food for the poor people of Appalachia. He was separating beans from powdered milk, and canned vegetables from canned meats. Reaching into a box filled with various cans, he pulled out a little brown paper sack. Apparently one of the pupils had brought something different from the items on the suggested list. Out of the paper bag fell a peanut butter sandwich, an apple, and a cookie. Crayoned in large letters was a little girl's name, "˜Christy -- Room 104.' She had given up her lunch for some hungry person. Jesus says to us, "You feed them!" This is an incredibly rich world. We are rich people and we serve a rich God. "You feed them!" King Duncan, You Feed Them! It IS Enough A few years ago there was an article in The Christian Century about the problem of homelessness in America. It was a long article, discussing every possible aspect of the problem. And in this long article, this extensive examination of a serious problem, in a Christian publication, not one mention was ever made of the church and what the church could do to help. Homelessness? Sounds like a government problem to me! Send them away, Jesus. But Jesus says, "No. You give them something to eat. You take care of their needs." And despite the protests of his followers that they just don't have enough to do that, Jesus takes what they have - a lunch basket brought by a small boy, containing only a couple of loaves of bread and some fish. And he blesses it, breaks it, and gives it back to them and - what do you know? - It IS enough! Johnny Dean, How Much Is Enough? God Works with People Historically, God has always worked with people, and through people, to get things done in the world. Remember, please, that it was with the food the disciples brought to Jesus that he fed the multitude. And he didn't feed them, really; it was the disciples who did that; it was from their hands those people received that food that day. It is the way of God to use human instrumentality to accomplish his purpose. Perhaps he could by-pass the human instrumentality and get his work done without the participation of his people, but he rarely does, if ever. A story has long been told concerning a country preacher who came upon a member of his parish working in his newly-made garden alongside the road. With an air of great piousness, the preacher said, "Brother William, you ought to be very grateful to God for all the beautiful tomatoes and potatoes and beans the Lord will give you in your garden this year." Glancing up and down along neat rows of planted vegetables, Brother William slowly replied, "Yes, Parson, I suppose so, but, you know, you really should have seen this patch of ground last year when the Lord had it all by himself." Leonard W. Mann, Life-Size Living, CSS Publishing Company God Lets Us Help Ethan Allen was a big, voluble, rather flamboyant Vermonter, Colonial patriot, a somewhat controversial hero of the American Revolution. He organized a rag-tag army of freedom-lovers known as the Green Mountain Boys. On May 10, 1775, Allen and his "Boys" captured from the British the strategic Fort Ticonderoga. Having returned from this successful venture, Allen did something which he was wont to do sometimes as the mood suited: on Sunday morning he attended church. During the service the pastor offered a long prayer, a great deal of which was an offering of praise to God for the liberation of Fort Ticonderoga. How great was God, and how good, to have wrested that fort from the enemy! Ethan Allen, having sat through as much of this as he could endure, interrupted the pastor, saying, "Parson Dewey ... Parson Dewey, please mention to the Lord that I and the Green Mountain Boys were there!" The plain fact is, of course, that wherever God has done things in the world somebody has been there helping him do them. Yes, perhaps Jesus could have fed that multitude without the five loaves and two fish which the disciples brought to him, but he didn't. He let his disciples help, and he used what they brought. Leonard W. Mann, Life-Size Living, CSS Publishing Company Cookies and Milk, a Sacramental Meal Albert Schmidt writes of being at the home of little five-year-old George after the funeral of George's seven-year-old brother, who was also his closest friend and playmate. Little George was so distraught at the gravesite that he had tried to jump into the grave himself. Now at home, he had buried himself and his grief under the bottom of the double-decker bed in their room. He wouldn't come out. He just said, "I'm here and I'm never coming out." His mother tried. Schmidt tried, talking until he was blue in the face. Nothing worked. Arguments. Bribes. Nothing. Finally, Schmidt said the Lord got his attention with a two-by-four; and with that, Schmidt got down on the floor, squeezed under the bed frame so the springs almost punctured his chest, and said to the grief-stricken little fellow, "Well, if you're going to stay here for the rest of your life, then I'm going to stay here with you." Schmidt says this is what happened. "After fifteen minutes of eternity, George decided we would crawl out and join the rest of the folks. His mom gave us cookies and milk. It felt like a sacramental meal to me." ("Under the Double-Decker Bed," Tapestry, Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1985, pp. 123-124) Cookies and milk, a sacramental meal. Yes, indeed, a taste of God's tomorrow. Even in our greatest pain and deepest hunger, in the limits beyond which none of us can see or go in certain moments of our lives, there is God. Always for us in bread and wine, sometimes even in milk and cookies. Just as it satisfied the crowd fed by Jesus long ago, so it will satisfy you today. You will have tasted God's tomorrow, and that is something. Enough for now. Glen E. Borreson, Taste of God's Tomorrow, CSS Publishing Company Contrary to What We KNOW The chief objection that modernists have with the story of the Feeding of the 5,000 was answered by St. Augustine over 1500 years ago. Augustine said, “Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we KNOW about nature.” The miracle here was that a weary but compassionate Jesus understood the true power of the Creator God – the Father of the universe. And He acted in accordance with that knowledge: with miraculous results. John Bedingfield, Do You Believe in Miracles? At Least One Dollar Dr. H. King Oehmig tells a story of the time that a church congregation from Cartersville, Georgia wanted to begin a Habitat for Humanity group. It was in the early days of Habitat, so the group went to Americus, Georgia to meet with Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity. The group toured the Habitat facilities and saw a presentation on how groups operate. Then Mr. Fuller took time from his busy schedule to go and talk to this group. During the course of their conversation, one of the folks from Cartersville said, “Mr. Fuller, we think this is what God’s calling us to do. But before we begin, how much money do you think we should have in the bank to get us off the ground?” Fuller leaned toward the man and in a very low and serious voice told him, “It would be wholly irresponsible, completely negligent, totally feather-brained if you started an affiliate without at least one dollar.But you have to have one dollar. Don’t dare make a move without it!” King Oehmig says that that day, the Cartersville group learned, “as the disciples discovered with Jesus that evening, when He told them to feed the masses themselves – that faced with the Gospel imperative, we were searching for a reasonable alternative to faith.” Just like modern America searches for a reasonable alternative to a miracle. John Bedingfield, Do You Believe in Miracles? Compassion Is a Gift from God A man named Al Wiener survived the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. He entered a labor camp when he was 15. Years in those camps took their toll. Over time his weight dropped to 80 pounds and he was weak and always hungry. He was slowly starving to death. In one labor camp he worked in a textile factory. There were German women who worked in the textile factory. They were forbidden from speaking to prisoners like Al. They were not even allowed to look them in the eye. One day a German woman pointed, motioning for Al to go to another part of the room. Al waited until no one was looking and he went to the spot she had picked out. She pointed to a crate and walked away. Al lifted the crate and found a sandwich. A precious, precious sandwich. How we take such riches for granted. Al ate the sandwich quickly while no one was looking. Every day for two months the woman left a sandwich under that crate for him. She risked her life for him. Al says her sandwiches probably saved his life. Al believes that God used this woman’s heroic and charitable acts to save him so that today he can tell others his story and the story of millions of unfortunate people who were executed by the Nazis. What would the world be without compassionate people, people who are willing to feel the pain of those less fortunate than themselves? Compassion is a gift from God. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com

In the Presence of Sin

2 Samuel 11:1-15 John 6:1-21 July 29, 2012 Ninth Sunday of Pentecost Year B “In the Presence of Sin” The church has a responsibility to address the needs of others A few years ago in the city of Chicago, a crowd of community residents did something unusual. They picketed the churches in their community to do something other than have church. They picketed them to be church. They seemed to say the Christ you claim and proclaim each Sunday seems more than enough in the sanctuary, but never seems to get out in our neighbor-hoods. Why are you open only on Sunday? Need happens 24/7. There are six other days in the week, but you're closed. I don’t know if that is true or not, I don’t remember hearing that story. But it is important for us to think about during this time, as we hear of so many people taking to the streets, like the nation of islam, and the coalition of Chicago pastors who were out on the street corners to address the violence that happens this summer. But I want to start where we left off last week – we have to remember that need is a 24/7 situation. It never goes away, there is always someone in need, in need of even the most basic things in life. God created us to have needs God created us to have needs, we have to eat, we have to drink water, we have to sleep. And those are basic needs that we have to tend to each and every day. Eat, drink, sleep, those things can even take control of our lives. The importance of fasting For the muslims, the month of Ramadan is a month of fasting. A month to step out of the day to day routine of needing to spend so much time in our lives, trying to satisfy our most basic needs. I thought of the importance of a time of spiritual cleansing on Friday as I had to take a blood test. I was supposed to fast for at least 12 hours before the test. But for some reason I did not schedule the test until 2:30 pm. I spent most of the morning, literally 3 hours – staring at the clock waiting for 2:30 to come so that I could get something to eat. But was I hungry because my body needed nutrients, or out of the habit of needing something to eat. And what does it mean to satisfy the hunger? Had I not gotten hungry, I would never have thought about what hunger really means. When I was a little girl, I used to wonder why I had to eat today, when I had something to eat yesterday. It has been a long time in life since I had that problem. Natural hunger the beginning of sin We all get hungry, we all need to eat – God created the human body that way. But in reality we run into another problem. God gave us all certain needs. But there are days when we cross the lines. We no longer think about whether those needs are satisfied, we just continue to want more and more and more. It is when we cross that line from hunger into greediness that we have turned to sin. It is easy for any of us to cross that line. And it is usually not until we have gone too far, that we even become aware that we have crossed that line. The importance of this story The Hebrew bible lesson is one of the most famous stories in the bible. It is also one of the most graphic stories in the bible. It is designed for us to gasp, for us to get mad at the participants, for us to hear the story and place judgement on what a horrible person King David was for committing adultery with the wife of his most faithful servant. It is clear for us to see how David was wrong, and should have known better. We don’t think about why this story is here, why we are reading it now. For is to realize that David wanted to make an example if his life and his story in hopes that we would do differently. It happened late one afternoon The story starts out – that it happened late one afternoon. David was just out on his balcony, he just happened to see a woman, he just happened to commit adultery, she just happened to get pregnant, he just happened to have to kill her husband, he just happened to marry her, they just happened to have a boy, that boy just happened to become the heir to his throne. Nice story, but one problem. Sin does not just happen. There is always a moment when we could have turned away and avoided the consequences. And panic and hiding the sin doesn’t make it go away. They usually get us into more trouble. And even after God has forgiven us, we still live with the consequences of our sin. The bible makes it clear that David was one of God’s favorite persons. There is story after story of how God was with David, and God brought David through some tough times. God made an eternal promise to David. And yet the one thing that always sticks out to me, is that david spent most of his adult life as a very unhappy person. He was very sick, there was chaos in his family, the threats to his leadership came from his own sons. This was the point where things seemed all down hill. In his story one thing led to another because of the consequences of his life. He repented and he asked for forgiveness – but what good did it do. Cleaning lady cleaning up after her own party A lady had been the cleaning lady for one company for over 70 years. When the new managers of the company found out about their most loyal employee, they wanted to give her an appreciation party. When she found out, she asked her supervisor to please not do her any favors. The managers thought she was just being modest and insisted. She insisted also, please no party. I am still the cleaning lady, and it will be my responsibility to clean up the mess that you all make from this party. So please don’t do me any favors. That must be how God felt about David, and how he feels about us most days. We are the ones who commit the sin, and we expect God to clean up the mess. It is one thing for us to be hungry, it is another for us to be hungry for other peoples things. God says thou shalt not covet. It is one thing for us to be hungry, but it is another for us to get greedy. When we are hungry, we have to depend upon God to supply all of our needs, and to be satisfied with what God gives us. David’s sin not living up to his responsibility David’s sin did not start with adultery, it started with him not honoring his responsibilities to others. The king was expected to lead his people in battle. His people were in battle, but david decided that as king he needed to stay at home. Not only was Bathsheba married, but David was married also. But he had decided that rules were for other people, he had the freedom to do what he wanted. We will hear more about this story next week, but David had to realize that no matter how many other people who had hurt with his actions, that he also hurt God. He needed to ask for God’s forgiveness in the midst of this. Jesus 4th temptation There is an old African American story that the devil tempted Jesus Christ not three times, but 4. When jesus was in the wilderness, the devil tempted Jesus to trust himself to take care of his needs and not God, the take power over the world, and to save himself. As Jesus was in agony on the cross, in pain for all of our sins, the devil whispered in his ear – they are not worth it, they will continue to sin again and again, your death is a waste, because these people are not worth it. It was at that moment that Jesus cried out for all to hear – Father forgive them for they know not what they do. David was highly favored by God, David confessed his sins, and yet David himself realized that he would have to live the consequences of his sin forever. He never saw God’s promise for us- Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for truly taking away the effects of our sin on our lives. Sin is rooted in love, love of money, love of pleasure, love of the things of this world. Salvation is rooted in the understanding that God loves us more. Jesus Christ has the power to satisfy all of our hungers and all of our needs. The feeding of the 5000 is so important that it is the only miracle in all five gospels. Jesus understand that the need to eat is given to all of us. Jesus understands that we live in a world that does not provide for everyone, so people are hungry. People need to eat. Sometimes, you cant address the spiritual needs of a person, until you address the physical needs. You have to feed them food before you feed them the Word. John tells this story – helping us understand why Jesus sacrificed himself so that we would not have to be hungry forever. Jesus says that man cannot live by bread alone, when we just seek bread, we are on the road to sin. Sin is an outward expression of the rebellion in our hearts. A refusal to let God take care of all of our needs. John is the only version of the feeding story that ends with Jesus walking on water, in order to calm the fears of his disciples. John wants us to remember that even as disciples we have needs, we have fears, but we have to believe that Jesus has the power to overcome all of our circumstances. Sin happens in the circumstance of life, but Christ has shown us time and time again, that he is Lord of circumstance. There is always a way to rise above our circumstance, if we are willing to follow Jesus. Sailing the see according to the waves In Plato’s Republic, there is a story of a ship sailing the seas. The captain directed the ship through the sea by looking at the stars. Yet the crew felt that he should have been looking at the water and the waves in front of him. They were more responsible for the direction of the boat than the stars. They locked him in his cabin and navigated the ship themselves, according to what they could see of the waves and the water. By navigated according to what was happening in front of them, they were headed for a wreck. When we live our lives according to what we see in front of us, we are headed for disaster, because we are headed for sin. When we live in a world where things happen one late afternoon, - sin will prevail. That is the natural course of human nature. Jesus overcame human nature, Jesus overcame circumstance, Jesus died for our sins, so that we could understand to power of forgiveness and a right relationship with God. Keep you head up, looking at the stars, the heavens, to God. Then we can always steer our way clear. Let us pray…..

God's Prestige

2 Samuel 11: 1-15
John 6: 1-23
Year B
The eighth Sunday after Pentecost



Experience at Michael Jackson memorial
I told you a few weeks ago, that I had went to the Michael Jackson Memorial in Gary, IN. No one wanted to go with me, but all of my friends made a point to call afterward to see how it was. Even Theresa (our day care director) asked about it. I told everyone, I was really glad to be there. It is a memory that I will treasure forever, but it was the weirdest thing I ever attended. You weren’t quite sure if you were at a funeral, a celebration, a giant talent show, a concert, or a dance party. And it wasn’t all of those things combined.

The show was very well planned out – but no thought was given to logistics
The stage was positioned so people could not see, the sound went out halfway into the show, and the acts had not performed ahead of time. There was only one person who was professional enough to project her performance for 6500 people. And when Joe Jackson came out- he was booed, so they spent the rest of the night trying to get the crowd to say – We love Joe Jackson. It wasn’t true – so the crowd would not say it.

Logistics a very important part of life – Napoleon
My lesson for the night was that logistics in any event is very important. But particularly when you are dealing with a crowd of people. Napolean made a point that wars follow the course of the men’s stomaches. An army can only fight a war, where they are properly fed. The mightiest warriors of all time, finally lost his battle – because he sent his army to fight in a place where he had not logistically thought through how his men were going to be fed and taken care of.

Jesus speaking to a crowd of 5000 – the important thing logistics
Logistics is important in anything where you are dealing with a large crowd of people. Jesus was good at thinking about the logistics of his message. He always gave a lot of thought to how his message was going to be received, and what he needed to give the people to make sure they would take his message home. In a movie I watched, this is called the prestige – the hook that people will always remember. For Jesus crowd – the hook was food. People were hungry and needed to be fed. Jesus knew that his message involved feeding them – they would listen to him.

There was a crowd of 6500 at the memorial for Michael Jackson. Jesus looked and realized that he was speaking to a crowd of 5000 people. 5000 hungry people.


What are these people going to eat, how are they going to take this message, what will keep them peaceful
Jesus is tired of teaching to the crowds. He tries to take a break and get away. But the papporazi search him out and find him. And the crowd is not far behind. Jesus looks at all of these people and asks the disciples – how are we going to feed all of these people?

We have heard this story before – why are we hearing it again?
The feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle story which has been featured in all four gospel. We are reading the book of mark, and this is a convenient time to switch gears and listen to John. We have heard this story before – even this year – we have heard this story before. Many of my colleagues have asked why are we reading and preaching in it again. And why are we reading it in John, in the middle of our study of Mark.

John has a very interesting perspective – and an interesting message
Well, it is because Matthew, Mark, and Luke like to tell the human story of Jesus. They want to fit Jesus into our lives, and things we can relate to. John was Jesus best friend – but he wants us to get a deeper understanding of Jesus – who is Jesus for us and why is so special to all of mankind? Jesus is the son of God, he is the messiah, He has the power of God on his side, because he is the power of God. He has the power to feed all of our hungers.

Tell the story.
In John’s feeding of the 5000, the disciples go out into the crowd. Andrew finds a young boy with three fish and five loaves. He brings it to Jesus, jesus blesses it and it is enough to feed 5000, with twelve baskets left over. After it is over with, jesus takes the disciples into a boat and walks on water.

What are we to get out of that story? We have heard it all before?

Jesus is thinking about the logistics – using this as a teaching moment.

Ask Philip – how are we going to find bread for these people?

Asks Andrew the same thing – and goes looking

Not looking for food – looking for opportunity for God to step in

The story is not about bread and fish, but about the miracle of God’s work - For John everything is a symbol.

People wanted Jesus to become their king – a reincarnation of David for their time. They wanted to good days of David to be restored. They wanted peace, stability, and a chance to be taken care of.

Jesus wanted them to know that we cannot eat by bread alone – but by God’s power.

Says I am he – but it is not what you think

Not a physical kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom

The nun and three pennies
There was a nun who got a vision from God to build an orphanage. As she got this idea- she thought of the logistics. How was she going to pay for it? In her search and her prayer, she found three pennies. She grabbed the pennies and ran to her superiors to tell them her vision.

With Three pennies and a dream from God you can do anything
When questioned about the logistics, she showed her superiors the three pennies. They laughed at her and told her there was nothing she could do with three pennies. She explained that with three pennies, and a dream from God you can do anything.

It is not the three pennies, not even the dream – but the power of God that makes it possible.

Jesus is the bread of life
The point of John’s feeding of the 5000 is the Jesus can satisfy all of our hungers. Jesus is the bread of life. Our hope is not in the food we receive, it is in the jesus who gives it to us. This story is so important to us. Jesus knows that we will be talking about the day he created enough food for he crowd out of a little boys lunch for 2000 or more years. All we know is that the people were hungry and they were fed. That’s the prestige, the hook. But this is not a story about loaves and fishes, it is not a story about food, it is not a story about being hungry. It is a story about acknowledging Jesus as our savior. And recognizing that Jesus provides all of that and more for our lives.

We will hear Jesus teaching about this next week
We will hear from John 6 for a few weeks. And after preaching this sermon, Jesus gives his own explanation to this story next week.

But today remember – Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus is our lord and savior and king. Jesus is our hope. Jesus takes all of our earthly actions and makes them so much more – through the power of God.