From Bread and Wine to Faith and Giving: A Table in the Wilderness

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20; Philippians 3:4b-14; Mark 6:30-44

The Apostle Paul is writing to the Philippians from prison.  Love this letter, because of all the joy Paul expresses in it. He has discovered he needs nothing but his faith in Jesus.

He gives us his credentials; he is a Hebrew, descended from the Tribe of Benjamin, and a Pharisee, so he knows a lot about the Law. He claims he perfectly obeys the Law: “as to righteousness under the law, blameless,” he says. What Law is he talking about?  He’s talking about the Torah, which is the first five books of the Bible, and all the rules crafted to interpret the Torah in daily life.

When we hear the word “law” we think of legal justice. If you run a stop light and get caught, you get a ticket and pay a hefty fine. But in the Bible, the term Law refers to the Ten Words given to Moses. Jews consider the Ten Words as a gift, a promise, a covenant. They describe and define the relationship between God and God’s people. 

The Ten Words (Christians call them the Ten Commandments) first define the relationship between God and us: just as God chooses to have a relationship with us, we are to choose to have a matching relationship with God: put God first and treat God with reverence and respect. Then, the Ten Words define relationships between people: treat each other with respect and mercy. 

In the end, Paul declares that being blameless before the Law is not important. What does have value is the presence of Jesus Christ in his life. Even though he has lost everything, Paul is content to know that he may attain resurrection from the dead and whatever else lies ahead for him. 

… In the wilderness with Jesus, the disciples and the crowd are hungry. They have been listening to Jesus for hours, and it’s time to eat. They suggest sending the people into nearby villages to find something to eat. But Jesus challenges them to feed the people themselves. The disciples are puzzled by this, so Jesus takes over.

What are our resources? What food do we have on hand? He asks. “We have some bread and some fish, enough for one person.  That won’t feed a crowd like this!” Jesus told the disciples to organize the crowd into groups of 50 and 100. Then he took the bread and fish, blessed it, and gave it to the disciples to distribute. When all had their fill, there were leftovers. 

The Gospel writers, all four of them, include this story as a miracle.  The food was multiplied by God’s blessing.  Like the manna in the wilderness, there was enough for all to be filled.  I believe God can do anything and making more food is easy, compared to creating an entire universe. God can just snap the divine fingers or twitch the divine nose, and poof, there is enough for all! 

In recent decades, however, some skeptical people have described the story of the feeding of the multitude differently.  They insist that some of the folks had some food, and they decided to share it. And that sharing was the miracle. That’s certainly an American individualistic attitude.  And it is definitely one way to make sense of the abundance of food that day. We can apply it to our process of developing a budget.

… It’s easy to think of our resources the way the disciples did. It looks like we don’t have nearly enough, but when we pool our resources,  we have plenty,  even more than enough. We tend to think in finite terms. Like the disciples, we can count. There is $500 in the checking account and bills for $495. We can pay the bills, but we can’t afford groceries. Yet, in the mail is a check for $50, a refund for a returned item or a birthday gift.  Why did that check come on the very day we needed it? I believe it’s God’s doing. God pays attention to our resources and occasionally helps balance the budget.

… I saw this picture on Facebook the other day. It’s of a wine glass, half full of red wine. The caption says, “People who wonder if the glass is half full or half empty miss the point. The glass is refillable.”

As a congregation we can think of the bank, or the food shelves, or the pews, as nearly empty.  But the emptiness is a temporary condition.  With God’s help, they can be refilled. 

Some of you know this, and some of you haven’t heard.  A few years ago a congregation in Florida completed its mission and closed, and their property was sold. The sale netted several million dollars which have been set aside for grants within the Synod. The process is called Vision to Action, or V2A.

This first year, there is $60,000 available to give away. There have been 70 applications for grant money, out of 135 congregations. Obviously, only a few grants will be awarded.  But the side effect of applying for a grant has been that many congregations have said the process of applying, of crafting the application, got them so excited they found they didn’t really need the money. They are going ahead with their projects anyway.  They discovered that their glass had already been refilled!

… Here are some things to ponder this week: This fall, as we as a congregation make plans for the ministry we will do next year, how will you be part of the abundance? Will you commit the 5 loaves and 2 fish that you already have, to share with ULC? Will you be like Paul, content to have nothing but faith in Jesus? What do you imagine we can do together with the gifts we have to share?  

When we think that we already have an abundance, we can do so much more than we imagine. Amen