On Feeding Thousands and communities dedicated to God . . .

      After the first service, I had a couple Adventers ask me about polemic.  They remembered that I had talked about it in light of the story of Jacob’s ladder, and I used it today in the description of the Gospel lesson in a number of ways.  Simply put, and according to our dictionaries, a polemic is a critical attack on something on someone.  In the case of Jacob’s ladder, God is revealing to Jacob, and those who come after, that Babylon is not the gate of the gods.  There is only one God, the Lord, and He reigns over the cosmos even as He is beside His faithful in whatever they do or experience.  Today’s Gospel is critical of several things about the world and people today.  I may or may not touch on all of them.  But none of us should be surprised that God is critical of human beings in their efforts to rule themselves and others.  Most of us get that, when the world had the chance to follow Him, we put Him to death on a Cross, right?  I know, I know.  It’s early.  It’s a bit early for that slap in the face.  But the time does not make it any less true.  Humanity, far too often, creates idols that it worships, idols which actually enslave us, and all in contrary living to the God who created us.

     What do I mean?  Let’s start with one of Matthew’s over-arching themes, koinonia.  Those who have taken some classes or finished EFM know it means community or fellowship.  That’s partly correct.  What is missed in the English translation of Matthew’s vocabulary, among other things, is the purpose part of this gathering or community.  Matthew will spend most of his Gospel explaining this word to us, so I will not do it complete justice today, but koinonia exists to glorify God in the world.  Now, I am an American.  I get it.  Like most westerners, I am far more steeped in individual rights than the needs of the community.  This is where our Armenian brothers and sisters, as well as our Orthodox brothers and sisters up the pike, have an advantage on us.  They understand that we are called into community for the purpose of glorifying God. 

     None of you should be too shocked by that reminder.  We talk about the distinction between the West and the East when it comes to the Trinity, right?  Our understanding runs through Rome, which focused on the persona, literally the masks, of the Trinity.  Our Orthodox brothers and sisters are usually more focused on the communal nature of the relationship we call the Trinity.  We find it challenging in some corners to believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can always be working to the same purpose or same will.  Our Orthodox brothers and sisters understand that the Three Persons in One Unity can act in no other way, desire to be in no other way.

     So, as we pay attention to Matthew’s reading this morning, remember this purposeful community.  Remember that God is calling together people to glorify Him in their community, in their life together, for the benefit of the world.

     Our pericope begins today with Jesus withdrawing in a boat to a deserted place by Himself.  What happened to cause this?  Well, in the story right before we read today, John the Baptizer has been famously executed.  Just to refresh our memories, Herod’s stepdaughter-to-be has just danced a sexy dance in front of the king and all his courtiers.  Herod famously offers her anything she desires, up to and including half his kingdom.  Salome, after conferring with her mother, Herodias, asks for the head of John the Baptizer.  Herod is described in the Scriptures as regretting the death of John, but he cannot abide what his attendants will think of him if he does not keep his oath.

     Just to remind ourselves, Herod is the king of Israel while Jesus is on earth.  Herod is not king by right of birth or anointing by God.  He is king because he has bribed officials to support his claim and because he pays taxes to Caesar.  We might say he sits on a precarious throne, to put it mildly.

     In an interesting twist, however, Herod has some respect for John the Baptizer.  Herod, and all Israel, recognized that John was a prophet of God.  Kings, as y’all know, were told to listen to God’s prophets.  Very few indeed ever accorded the prophet the respect they were due, let alone listened to them, but Herod was unwilling to stoop to the levels of some of David’s offspring and kill the prophets that warned them.

     Why the warning?  Herod wanted to marry Herodias.  John the Baptizer told Herod that God forbade it.  And now you remember why Herodias wants John’s head on a platter.  She wants to be the queen.  Now, thanks to her daughter’s sultry dance, she can fulfill her desire and get rid of the obstacle between her and the throne.

     You should also see now why Herod struggles.  He knows John is the first prophet of God in nearly three centuries.  For almost 300 years, God has been silent.  This silence has been unnerving for Israel.  God always speaks.  But now He no longer speaks.  Has God given up on Israel?  Has God revoked His promises to David and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?  Do the gods really favor Rome?

     Jesus, for His part, is never able to withdraw by Himself for very long.  Pick your favorite miracle.  Now imagine telling your friends and neighbors.  Now imagine them telling you what they heard or saw.  The buzz would have been off the charts, as we might have said a couple decades ago.  Need a disease cured?  Go see Jesus of Nazareth?  Need an exorcism?  God see Jesus of Nazareth.  Wherever Jesus goes in the Scriptures, the crowds always seem to be able to locate Him.

     Matthew tells us that on this day Jesus had compassion on the crowd and cured their sick.  As the day drags on, though, the disciples and Apostles encourage Jesus to send the crowd away.  They were in danger of having to feed the crowds, and they were in a deserted place.  Feeding so many would be impossible.  Jesus tells His followers that the crowds do not need to go away.  In fact, He instructs His disciples to give the crowd something eat.  His disciples and Apostles have a big problem, though.  They have only five loaves and two fish.  They are nowhere near close to having enough food for the crowd.

     In a world beset by hunger, one cannot overestimate the miracle that now occurs.  Jesus takes the loaves, blesses them, breaks them, and gives them to the disciples to distribute to the crowd.  I understand that it hard for us, on this side of Maundy Thursday, not to see the Eucharistic overtones in this meal.  Do not think it a Eucharist, however.  Jesus has not yet instituted that for His followers.  This meal will inform our Eucharist, but it has a different purpose in Matthew’s Gospel.

     Jesus’ actions are a polemic in that He is demonstrating to all who see and hear about this meal that He is unique in history.  When Moses and all the prophets ask God for provision, who does the providing?  God.  Is there a miracle in the Old Testament where a prophet takes credit for God’s activity?  Where a prophet mistakenly believes he or she is able to accomplish the miracle?  No.  In every case the prophets intercede, and God chooses to act wondrously.  The prophets make that absolutely clear to God’s people.

     Jesus though, in much the same way as He teaches, feeds the people with authority.  He does not ask God to intervene.  He does not appeal to God or complain to God that the people are hungry and about to kill Him.  He simply blesses, breaks, and distributes.  The miracle comes from Him and by His will.  You and I know, thanks to the Resurrection, that He is God’s Son, but the crowds and those who hear about this meal have no such understanding.  In fact, those who are avid followers of the teaching of Moses would be shocked and offended by Jesus’ activity.  In their minds, Moses was the great prophet.  Moses had to intercede.  Jesus of Nazareth is doing this all wrong.

     And even those who are looking for Elijah to return as Messiah would be bothered by this miracle.  When Elijah prays for food for the widow and her son, or even to raise the son from the dead, does Elijah do those wonderful works according to his own power, his own will?  No, He beseeches God to act.  God gets the credit.  God is the source of all his miracles, too.  Again, Jesus would be doing this all wrong in their eyes.  Much as when He heals on the Sabbath or dines with sinners and, dare we say it, tax collectors!

     Jesus does not intercede with God because He is God Incarnate, dwelling among them.  He does this miracle, like all the others, because He has the power and authority of God.  Demons cannot stand against Him; heck, they cannot even speak when He chooses to silence them.  The natural order is upended when He chooses to upend it.  When He cures, when He walks on water, and now when He feeds, He can do whatever He desires, whatever He wants.  He is in no way, shape, or form limited.  And the results speak for themselves.

     When the crowds have had their fill, not a bite, but their fill, Jesus instructs the Apostles and disciples to gather up the leftovers.  From five loaves and two fish, Jesus has given the crowd their fill and had enough leftovers for twelve baskets!  Every Hebrew in the crowd would have noticed the twelve baskets, and not because they were full and there were so many leftovers.  Thanks to the faith of Jacob, the one in our OT lesson today, Israel will always associate the number twelve with itself.  Jacob’s twelve sons will give rise to the twelve tribes that will make up the kingdom of Israel.

     The faithful among the crowd will see Jesus’ claim in a light that you and I sometimes miss, unless someone like me points out the significance.  At their best, all the descendants of Israel understood that God had chosen them to be a blessing to the world.  What made Israel special was the fact that God chose them and gave them purpose, but that purpose was for the benefit of the world.  All the world, the Gentiles, were to be drawn into relationship with God, thanks to the way Israel lived, the way Israel behaved, the way Israel acted.  God chose them, created them, to be a blessing.  Now, in their midst, something wondrous has happened.  Jesus of Nazareth has provided food to sate their appetites and still have twelve baskets of leftovers.  The symbolism is unmistakable.

     But the story is not done with its polemic yet.  We began our reminder with the dance Salome and the execution of John the Baptizer at a state dinner.  Herod has invited the rich and powerful, the men and women in the kingdom who keep him on his throne, to a lavish banquet.  Aside from the servants and slaves attending them, there are no common people there.  “King” Herod cares not for his subjects or their condition.  “King” Herod can do nothing to sate those whom he rules.  But this nobody from Nazareth can, and of His own authority.  Those who figure out Jesus’ role in God’s Kingdom will be reminded of the major difference between human kings, human rulers, and God.  God desires all the world to be fed, to have their hunger sated; and He chooses to make that happen.  Herod can do no such thing, especially if he is worried about losing the support of the rich and the powerful.  Jesus feeds about 20,000 people – it’s 5000 men plus women and children, so the miracle is more than we often think.  He is blessing Israel, reminding them of their calling, the purpose of their calling, to the world.

     Why the quick focus on the story today?  You and I live in a world that rejects the claims and authority of God.  We live in a country where we cynically expect our politicians to be enriching themselves and their families and friends.  We know better; God has taught us better.  We live in this polemic.  And, yet, we accept the status quo rather than holding our leaders accountable.  And before one of you has that internal argument with God and says your politician is better than the politician from the other side, is your politician really better?  Is your favorite politician at whatever level truly ruling to serve all people, even the least?  What’s worse, does your favorite candidate claim to be a Christian?  Does your favorite candidate publicly proclaim to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth and truly follow Him?  Or is your favorite candidate more concerned with the next election, the next office, the honoring of himself or herself?  Is he or she calling themselves a Christian to trick you and others out of your and their vote?

     And before we start thanking God that we are not politicians and enemies of God, let’s look at our own guilt, our own willingness to accept these conditions?  When is the last time we voted out a hypocrite in office?  When is the last time we demanded our politicians govern us according to the faith they claimed on the campaign trail or in front of television cameras?  When is the last time we remembered our calling, and where God has placed us, and voted as if we believed God is serious about His concern for all humanity?

     Ouch.  I know.  Twice in one day is not fair.  But before you start arguing with God again, look at how He opened your eyes, in community dedicated to glorifying Him, to other issues, other possibilities, when conventional human wisdom told us there was nothing to be done.  Yes.  The low fruit of that discussion is Body & Soul.  But most of us gathered today remember its incredible start, right?  Those newer to Advent should hear plenty of sarcasm in that “incredible.”  We launched with 1000 pounds of food a month and no Hilary or Nancy running it.  Many of us bought all the myths.  You need to limit people from coming to the pantry because they will rob you blind/take advantage of you/never work to get off the help you provide for free.  Has that proven to be the case at all?  We’ve had maybe 2 individuals that most of us would call grifters, but even the grifters had families.  Was it right to harass a grifter and make life harder for the family members, especially the children?  If you open your pantry to those outside your zip code, you’ll never have enough food.  Those same lazy people will drive everywhere looking for a handout.  Yes, again, I push the arguments to the extreme.  But it was a crazy thing to complain that lazy people would never get off the support of the pantry while thinking they drive all around Middle Tennessee looking for handouts, especially given the inexpensive price of gasoline and the wonderful conditions of our roads and the friendliness of other drivers, right?  We had been warned about our food being too good, remember?  You can’t give away steaks or lamb or lobster or thick cut bacon.  Those people can’t appreciate good things like that.  Remember?  We were warned we would be bankrupted by this work.  We were warned we would attract “those people.”  Conventional human wisdom thought it was so smart, and many of us accepted that wisdom despite what we knew Jesus did and taught.  We had to live God’s provision much like those in our story today.

     And along the way what happened?  As a koinonia we learned that those whom we served were people like us.  We learned they had stories, hopes, dreams, fears not unlike our own.  We learned our government falls short in helping those whom it accepts as refugees and immigrants, even for those who served us in their home country at risk to themselves and their loved ones.  We learned about the desperation of those undocumented.  What was a political football to many of us in the beginning has now become familiar faces to us.  And, best of all from those concerned about finances, as the need has grown, God’s provision has been a step ahead.  Hilary and Nancy will spend maybe $8000 this year of Advent’s hard-earned money on food for those whom we serve.  Put another way, we might be responsible for a whopping 50,000 pounds of the food we distribute this year.  Yes, those of you doing the math have figured out we are the tithe in that provision.  But at least none of you is arguing or thinking that the rest is not provided by God.  We know ranchers in Illinois are not beating down the doors in TN to provide butcher cows to the food insecure.  We know restaurants love to give away that which they could sell for money and profit.  We know the stories of provision and how God makes it obvious that He is the One providing.  We have lived His provision every bit as much as those from Matthew’s story today.

     And now, having been convinced as a community dedicated to glorifying God in our midst, we are being asked by other churches to address the secular wisdom of the age.  We get to tell them the stories of those whom we or others have served.  We get to tell them the stories of God’s provision.  We get even to tell them of our amazing screw up’s, and how God redeemed each and every one of those.  And we get to tell them the lessons that God has taught each one of us as we have served others in His Name.  How far will that ripple?  What will be the impact on the world around us?

     Ask those participating in the ministry the impact on local politicians.  We had a couple candidates in the recent city elections who wanted the photo shoot.  And I have the wonderful opportunity to warn them, right?  You better be serious about living your faith.  If this is a hollow gesture on your part, I promise you it will COST you votes.

     This idea of community dedicated to the glory of God, though, can be small, too.  In a bit, I will celebrate the Eucharist at the Fountains.  For those of you unaware, we celebrate a Eucharist the first Sunday each month at an assisted living facility in Franklin.  When I was first approached, their director of spiritual care remarked how no one celebrated a Eucharist for residents.  Clergy would bring communion for a private Eucharist, and pastors would offer other church services with no liturgy.  But, they had a number of residents who were from liturgical traditions that mentioned how much they missed Communion services.  Naturally, I agreed to the services.  They had been a part of my ministry for all my ordained life.  The Vestry also supported my decision, which means it is a ministry supported by Advent.  Sometimes we pray for those requesting prayer.  The Altar Guild is responsible for making sure I have everything I need to celebrate a Eucharist.  Chalice Bearers go to offer the Chalice and assist me by offering the intercessions.  Joshua goes to be the psalmist.  It is another corporate ministry of Advent.  But it has a small footprint.

     In the beginning, it was small work.  Bobbie Krieger managed to draft three other ladies pretty quickly.  I think of those four as our core group down there.  But they loved that I celebrated a service with them.  Bobbie was the only Episcopalian, but they all loved the liturgy.  Eventually, they shared the service with others.  Over time, the ministry has grown and shrunk.  We get as low as 4 individuals some Sundays and as many as the mid 20’s at the peaks.  For their part, attendees like to wrestle a bit with God.  I always preach a homily or sermon.  I always try to speak to their lives.  They wrestle with the idea that God can use them even as their bodies are weakening.  One of my jobs is to remind them that they live in a context where death is a companion and terror for others around them.  They are in a place that takes mortality very seriously.  Death cannot be avoided.  So their harvest is truly plentiful, and the workers are more frail than few.  But God wants workers in that field.

     As they connect with other residents, the number of attendees grows.  As death claims them, though, the numbers shrink.  Yet, as long as they are an intentional community dedicated to glorifying God in their lives, I get to remind them, they have nothing about which to worry.  Just sharing God’s redemptive power in the face of death, just sharing God’s love for all whom He created, is work enough.  And, yet, they would tell you they know God can do far more than they can ask or imagine.

     One of the men they attracted to their koinonia was named Bill.  Bill was not liturgical inclined earlier in life.  In fact, Bill confessed on more than one occasion he was not sure what he believed or who to believe in his youth.  But he came.  Bill would interrupt the service to ask questions liturgical Christians might take for granted.  Luckily for him, or ordained for Bill, this clergy was raised in a congregational setting and could easily translate his questions into liturgical language.  And his fellow congregants accepted his interruptions for what they were, a man trying to figure out whether the Gospel was true, whether one could have a reasonable faith. 

     Bill eventually became the greatest evangelist I have known in my brief time at Advent.  This is not so much a criticism of other Adventers as an acknowledgement of Bill’s passion.  Bill fell so in love with the Eucharist, fell so in love that he could wrestle with God, that he could not help but invite everyone he met to come and see.  He sought out every new resident to invite them.  When he heard struggles over the cafeteria table, he knew the One who could help them.  And, he loved to argue with them whether God cared.  I do not want you to think Bill was a man of super faith.  Like any Adventer, he skipped church when the Titans were on tv.  Like any Adventer, he had to struggle with the idea that his lack of faith might have been directly responsible for Titan losses, especially when his pastor was in a snarky mood!  But he loved the arguing.  He loved the chuckling and the laughing.  And he loved the image that we were stuck at the kids’ table waiting on the real Feast to begin, that what God called him to was greater than anything he could ask or imagine.

     Since our Lord did not return, He called Bill home.  I hope I have made it clear in these few moments that what I valued about Bill was his passion to introduce others to God or to the liturgy.  In all other respects, he was a normal guy.  His questions were normal.  His struggles were normal.  And, like all men or women of a certain age, he had some baggage, baggage of which he was certain made him unlovable by God.  Once he learned, however, that God loved him and understood his baggage, understood him, he responded passionately.  He ministered hard to a group of people who needed to hear what he had heard.  But God was not done yet.

     When Bill died, he left instructions asking if I would bury him.  Maybe the only question he never asked me in a service was that one.  His dad called to find out who this pastor was.  As God would have it, it was a gentleman in government who was familiar with my work and who wanted me to make sure my congregation knew he hated slavery in prior elections.  We had that surprising moment when the politician was surprised to learn I did normal ministry to men and women like his father, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn a politician was born rather than hatched!  Lol  Seriously, we had some fun with this discovery.

     After Bill was buried and we celebrated his life and faith in good liturgical fashion, the son reminded me and those present that if they ever needed anything, and it was within his power, he would fight for them in thanksgiving to how they had ministered to his father.  Now, that gathering of cast-aside people, in their minds sometimes, have an understanding that God really can use them, even in such a setting as the Fountains.  And now, because of their faithfulness and willingness to reach out to others, they have one of the most powerful politicians in the state of Tennessee indebted to them.  Each one of them knows that they can write or e-mail Bill’s son, remind him who they are, and will be heard.  Maybe the son won’t have direct control to fix any issue, but they know he will help them or steer them because he knows they loved his father.  And because they live in the world around us, they know how they will handle any objections should they need the son’s help – I know a Son of a Father who was faithful, and look how God elevated Him, are you sure you want to risk not being faithful to both that Father and your own?

     You are giggling.  I get it.  It’s a wonderful a story.  It is so wonderful that we recognize it is beyond our scope and planning and efforts.  I certainly did not expect to be ministering to that politician’s father.  The Vestry certainly had no idea that the congregation gathered there would peak and ebb.  Those gathered there had no idea that they still had value, that they still could be used by God to reach others in their lives.  And while none of them to my knowledge has taken advantage of that politician’s offer, they know the offer was, at least for a time, was heartfelt.  They know they have an ally.  They know that their service has resulted in their own elevation in the world around them, that should they be called to use their connection to change the world.

     All of that points us back to the Gospel lesson this morning and the Covenant that God swore with Abraham.  Way back when God called Abram into relationship, He eventually revealed to Abram that He would bless the world through his descendants.  We’ve all just read the stories since Pentecost, so they should be bouncing around fresh in our minds.  We talked about how God’s people, living as God called them to love Him and love their neighbor as themselves, would lead to others joining them.  But we spoke mostly of how Jesus was the ultimate descendant, the Seed of Abram’s faith, that would truly bless the world.

     Fast forward into the life and work of Jesus.  Each of our Gospel writers shares those wondrous acts which testify to Jesus’ role in salvation history and help us decide whether He is Who He claims to be.  Our story today reminds us that Jesus is greater than Moses and Elijah and anybody else who must ask God to intercede.  Jesus does what He wills because He is the Son of God.  Unlike those who witness and struggled with what they saw, though, you and I have the perspective of the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus and the wonder of Pentecost made possible because of them.  In some ways, it is easier for us to understand His authority because we know He was raised from the dead.

     But just because it was easier does not mean it is easy.  You and I should, to use Matthew’s words, expect as a gathered community in faith to glorify God in our midst.  But that glorifying is cross bearing; that glorifying means rejecting the darkness of the world and embracing the instruction and manner of living of our Lord, knowing that the world too often chooses darkness and foolishness over God’s wisdom and God’s desire for His people and, through them, all people.  But, man, it is hard work.  The world and the enemy of God fights us, discourages us, mocks us at every turn.

     You and I are blessed to have several first-hand examples.  I have named two significant ones in our corporate life together, ones that most of us have some knowledge or experience with, but I am betting the Holy Spirit has placed a couple more examples in your own minds and your own hearts.  But each of those examples I have named or you have remembered reminds you of God’s purposes for you and for His communities!  Each example serves as a moment of encouragement in the midst of hard, cross-bearing Gospel work.  Each wondrous activity, where we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was not our genius, not our strength, not our wisdom at work, reminds us of the truth of our calling, reminds us that God calls ordinary men and women, ordinary youth and children, to follow where He leads.  And like Jacob, like Abraham, like those disciples and Apostles who came before us, He will glorify Himself in us and through us.  He will put to shame the wisdom of the world, and show that the foolishness of any Adventer, the weakness of any faithful Adventer, can be used by Him in all His redemptive purposes, can be used by Him to pint the way to His Son our Lord, through Whom all things are possible!  Best of all, if He can work His redemptive purposes through men and women and youth just like us, why would we not want the world to know that power, that love, and that purpose!

 

In Christ’s Peace,

Brian†