Here we are in Rochester Indiana, finally together in person. Today we heard in the Gospel of Matthew that Jesus was trying to be alone. Trying to escape the city and the crowds. The gospel writers make a point of telling us that Jesus frequently went off by himself to be alone and to pray. He tried to balance his public ministry with time alone with God. Prior to today’s reading in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus had just heard that his relative, John the Baptist had been killed. Jesus goes off by himself, to grieve, to pray, and to get away from the Roman authority. Jesus goes away from the city; but the crowds followed him. Jesus had compassion on them. He listened to them. He spent time with them. He cured them.
Then his disciples, the practical fellows that they were, urged Jesus to stop and send the crowds home to eat. Jesus knew the crowds were hungry for physical food and for spiritual food. They wanted bread from heaven. They wanted to know God. They were hungry for Jesus. We too are hungry for Jesus.
Jesus bids the disciples to feed the crowds. The disciples think that they have nothing. The little that they have isn’t enough. This discourse between Jesus and the disciples is meant to make the disciples aware that they have enough. We have enough. God takes what we have and who we are and makes it enough. Sometimes it’s hard to realize that we have it in us to do what God is asking us to do. I wonder how this miracle story would have ended if the disciples had responded to Jesus by saying. Yes, we have enough. It would have been a different miracle story.
But the disciples responded with, “We only have five loaves and two fish.” Jesus had everyone sit on the grass. He took the bread and the fish, he blessed them probably like this saying, “Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Ha’Olam.” This is the beginning of an ancient, basic Hebrew blessing. It is a way of saying that God is the source of everything in our lives. Then he broke up the bread and fish, and he gave the bread and fish to the disciples to give to the crowds. Notice how Jesus takes what the disciples have and turns it into something abundant. Something life giving.
Jesus took, blessed, broke, and gave. Think for a moment.
Where else have we heard these words took, blessed, broke, and gave? The way Jesus took, blessed, broke, and gave was the way that the disciples would recognize him after the resurrection. On the road to Emmaus in the Gospel of Luke, the disciples did not recognize Jesus until he took, blessed, broke, and gave. Also, after the resurrection, in the Gospel of John, the disciples are on the beach and Jesus takes the fish, probably blesses it, and gives it to them. By these four acts, they recognized Jesus. Jesus takes what they have. Ordinary bread and fish and he makes it holy.
Jesus took, blessed, broke and gave.
Jesus uses these same words at the last supper-the institution of Holy Communion-the Eucharist. The Eucharist reminds us that Jesus himself was taken, broken, blessed, and given. It is a way that we remember Jesus and his sacrifice.
It is the way we remember that God blesses and feeds us. God is the source of life.
This was the gift that Jesus gave to his disciples and to the church forever. The remembrance of Jesus taking what we have bread, fish, wine and making it into a symbol-a sacrament of his promise of salvation. His promise to never leave us.
We as a liturgical church have communion as part of our weekly, Sunday worship. Or we try to have it when there isn’t a global pandemic. Attending Sunday worship and partaking in the Eucharist on a regular basis is mandated by the church to be a communicant in good standing.
But Eucharist isn’t just a weekly remembrance. Eucharist is part of God’s work of reconciling, transforming the world. It is a transforming act. It strengthens us. It humbles us as we proclaim that we are not the source of our life or of our feeding. The source of our feeding is God. The story of God’s reconciling work in the world that we remember in the Eucharist can be summed up in these four words, took, blessed, broke, and gave.
As a side note for all our fishermen and fisherwomen, Jesus used bread and wine at the Last Supper; but there is evidence that the Early Church retold the story of the five loaves and the two fishes when they gathered for communion. Paintings in the catacombs in Rome are full of pictures of Jesus eating fish and bread. Fish and bread were the ordinary, everyday foods. It was how Jesus was known and remembered.
The church from its earliest days gathered in all kinds of places for Eucharist. During persecutions, the church gathered in the catacombs in Rome, house churches during wartime, and now we gather here in a park on a rainy Sunday.
We are here away from the crowds-in a deserted place. We are here because we follow Jesus. We are here because we know what it is like to be hungry.
We hunger for reminders that God is the source of our life. We hunger for reminders of God’s kingdom-God’s reconciling work in the world. We hunger to be fed with God’s Word and sacraments. St. Thomas/ Santo Tomás has gone without the sacraments for almost 5 months.
In a few moments, that table will become our altar. We bring what we have to the altar. We bring our hosts, our wine, our water, our chairs, our masks, our hand sanitizer, our hopes and dreams and the broken pieces of our lives. Jesus will take what we bring. Even our broken pieces. Jesus takes what we have and transforms it. We all have something to bring.
So, let’s get ready to break bread and to feast at the table of the Lord.
PROPER 13 SERMON- MATTHEW 14:13-21
AUGUST 2, 2020-REV. BERNADETTE HARTSOUGH