EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2017 I began a new venture as a synodically authorized minister at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. The ride over the past 3 1/2 years has been an amazing journey of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on July 21, the ninth week after Pentecost. For the summer, we moved to live Wednesday night services, that were simultaneously livestreamed.
This week's preaching text: John 6:1-21
Feeding the Five Thousand
6 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3 Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” 10 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they[c] sat down, about five thousand in all. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”
15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
Jesus Walks on the Water
16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
Message:
So, a little Bible study on the run here. ... Not planned.
But as Deb was reading the readings tonight, it dawned on me that, generally, we don't talk a lot about what this next 5 weeks will represent. So ... are there any fans of the Gospel of John in here tonight? Because if you cannot get enough of John, this is your year!
I don't know how many of you look ahead in the lectionary each week before you come to church. But let's start there: The lectionary is the set of readings that we use each week in church. It's written by a group of theological scholars, and it sets out for each week what the readings of the Bible are going to be.
And so for the next 5 weeks, we'll be in the Gospel of John Chapter 6, and that's as far as we're going to move for 5 weeks. ... It's called the "Bread of Life Discourse," and we begin tonight with Jesus talking about doing two of the gospel's best known signs ... or mysteries ... which are: feeding the 5000 and walking on water.
And the rest of this next 5 weeks, or four after tonight, we'll be talking about Jesus as the "bread of life."
As I looked at the gospel tonight, you will remember that I'm now encountering my fourth year here at Faith Lutheran Church. And so this is the second time I am encountering the "Bread of Life Discourse." And there are only so many times that you can draw something out of the bread of life for five weeks. ... To be honest, I don't think I have five bread of life sermons in a row in me!
Finally, one last interesting note before we dig into the gospel tonight. ... For those of you like to do a little more digging, if you go back to last week's text which was in the Gospel of Mark, there's a section in the middle of the that week's gospel text that you see the lectionary writers omitted. Coincidentally enough, it is Mark's version of the story of feeding the 5,000 and also Mark's version of Jesus walking on water. ... So, I'm assuming that the lectionary writers take that out so that 2 weeks in a row, we don't have these stories back to back. ... For those inclined, I'd recommend to go back and read Mark's version too. They are shockingly different.
Wait, one more Bible study factoid too: The "Feeding of the 5,000" happens to be the only sign, or miracle, that appears in all four gospels. So when you wonder why it comes up so often in our preaching, it's because of the fact that it's so important that it actually appears in all four gospels!
Ok, are you all sleeping? ... Or was that time well spent? ... Five and a half years in seminary. ... I promise you that I've learned something.
I mentioned that that this was my second time now with the "Bread of Life Discourse" in the lectionary cycle, and it opened my eyes to a whole new paradigm in the story. But I have to give credit where credit is due: There's a couple of different sources that I often check each week to kind of get a better take on the text. On is this podcast that I listen to; it's called "Working Preacher." It is a podcast that is done each week by three professors at Luther Seminary. An Old Testament professor, a New Testament professor, and then it just so happens to be a Gospel of John expert.
And this week while I was listening to prepare for the sermon, there was something that came up in that podcast that was an epiphany for me.
I mentioned earlier in the night, this week I was in Sarasota, Fla., for a conference for work. For those of you that have never been to a work conference such as this, I will share a secret with you that generally the food is not very good. You end up at hotels, and they're cooking for hundreds of people. And day after day, at some point, you get tired of eating conference food.
And so the benefit of being a vendor at the conference is that at night when everybody else is required to attend those banquets for the awards or for the speeches, you can skip out. So, one night last week, with all of the other hundreds of people piled into this banquet hall, I piled myself into an Uber and set out on a search for two things: a unique, local restaurant and a special bottle of bourbon that we can't buy here in Minnesota. So, I will share with you that I happen to be kind of a bourbon freak, and if you live in Minnesota or North Dakota, it is very hard to get good bourbon here because the distilleries don't send them to small population states. So when you travel, it's your opportunity to kind of go on a unicorn hunt. You pop into a liquor store in another state, and you just hope to find something on the shelf that you can't buy here. It's a nerdy game that bourbon enthusiasts play.
I had done some research, and there was a particular liquor store, a few miles away from the hotel that supposedly had a selection of bourbon that we can't get here in Minnesota. So, I booked the Uber, and stood outside of the hotel. A kid pulled up; I hopped into his car; and I asked him if he knew the place. He did, and we took off.
This will likely surprise no one here today, but when I do get in an Uber with the driver, and I'm in a strange town, I love to chat with them. ... To find out their story, and try to see where it is that Christ might be active in their life.
And well, Andrew, actually drives to support his dreams of becoming a musician. After some initial hesitancy over this weird guy in the back seat talking to him, which I have come to understand doesn't happen very often in Sarasota, Fla., he opened up that he was a songwriter, keyboardist and guitarist for a couple of hard rock bands. ... Let's just say he plays music that isn't on a lot of our playlists here tonight.
But I thought it important to be a good sport when he asked if I wanted to hear a song of his on which he played guitar. The song was by one of his bands, and now is on Spotify. ... Now, Faith Family. the closest description I have to describe what the song sounded like was maybe the sound of a car wreck. ... Maybe like metal scraping metal.
It was very very hard rock and roll, and difficult for me to listen to. But Andrew in the front seat looked so proud that this entire stranger would ask about his passion. So I listened the entire 5 minutes, and shared some of my thoughts with him. ... Because I sensed that Andrew just seemed to need some affirmation. ... And I have to admit the father in just slipped out.
So we passed the next 20 minutes amicably, talking about music and life. And it turned out that he was a very chatty young man, and actually loved divulging more about himself. ... So, by the time we've got to the liquor store, I had made the decision to just keep Andrew as my driver. And I asked him to stay in the parking lot and just keep the meter running.
After I came back out. it seemed like the strangest of things happened when I got back
into the car. It was as if the relationship between the driver and passenger had changed, and
it turned more into the acquaintance and acquaintance. He immediately started opening up in ways that I had never anticipated. He shared with me that he's actually very estranged from his father.
You see, it seems that his father is one who maybe is a little rough around the edges. And as Andrew grew up -- maybe you can see the story starting to play out -- the young son's interest in music grows. And he wants to play music, and the dad who is a laborer just can't fathom why his son won't put that guitar down and do something with his life. ... More than once, he told me, that his dad had told him to get a real job, and to do something with his life.
So, Andrew, continued to pour out his heart over the next 25 minutes as we made our way back to the hotel. I let him talk on and on, just nodding agreement at times to let him know that I was still engaged. And by the time we were back to the hotel, I knew that the two of us weren't the only ones riding in that car that night. It was pretty apparent to me that the Holy Spirit had hitched a ride and was riding shotgun.
I don't think it was a coincidence that I ended up in Andrew's car that night.
And that leads us back to our gospel. ... In the description of tonight's gospel in the bulletin, it tells us that the text is really about the fact that Jesus is as close to us as the food we put in our mouths. ... And on that car ride, on that particular night, Jesus was a passenger helping me to be a vessel for Andrew.
I think that that is what tonight's gospel is about: In its most simplest form it reminds us that Jesus is everywhere. If we just look around He's in an Uber car in Sarasota, Fla., and he's on a mountaintop, next to the Sea of Tiberias.
I know that this isn't your typical theological take from this particular text, even going back to the days of Sunday school when we all learn about Jesus feeding the 5,000. ... I'm sure that you've heard it preached many times over, and you've heard about Jesus's abundance in this
text. The abundance of the room on the grass, the abundance of the food.
I'm sure you've also heard pastors preach about Jesus' compassion in this text because even as they land ashore, tired from their busy schedule, Jesus sees the masses and feeds them.
And I'm sure that you've heard someone using this text preach about his ability to make miracles happen. ... Because after, all, that is one of the signature Jesus stories.
You've maybe even heard someone preach out of this text about Jesus showing the disciples what a little faith can do.
But this week, as I read and reread the text, it reminded me that when it comes down to it, we find Jesus in the simplest of places, and in the simplest of moments. ... Providing food for the masses when there is none. Jesus goes about the simple act of putting food in all those mouths.
Jesus also simply puts people in an Uber car to meet big hearted, generous kids who is in need.
And Jesus also may be sitting here tonight next to you, helping you through whatever it is that you bring to church today.
Faith Family, Jesus is as close to us the food that we put into our mouths. ... That's what tonight's gospel tells you. It reminds me that Christ is in our midst, all of the time.
And it might even be in the most mundane moments, like a car.
That is the Good News on this Wednesday, July 21. the the ninth week after Pentecost. ... Amen.
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