SermonStudio

Worship Focus

Tray with five small loaves, about the size of crusty dinner rolls, and two small fish. (Ethnic groceries and some supermarkets have dried fish or whole small smoked fish. One might also use plastic fish intended for a child's bathtub.)

A Litany For The Third Meal
(Based on Psalm 104 and John 6)

Leader: We give thanks to you, God of all creation, who brings forth food from the earth.

People: Grass for the cattle and grain for the mill,

Leader: Wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine,

People: And bread to strengthen the human heart.

Leader: We give thanks to you for Jesus our Redeemer, the living bread come down from heaven.

People: Lord, give us this bread always.

Leader: We thank you for your promise: the one who comes to Jesus shall not hunger, and the one who believes in him shall never thirst.

People: Lord, feed us always on the bread of life.

Leader: In your great abundance you have provided for our bodies.

People: We pray for those who have not shared in this abundance.

Leader: In great mercy you have provided the living bread for our souls.

People: We pray for those who are hungry for that heavenly bread.

All: Keep us ever mindful of your abundance and your compassion; guide us so to use your gifts that we shall be agents of your compassion. Amen.

5,000 For Supper
Luke 9:10-17

Did a member of your family ever come home,

just at supper time, and casually announce,

''By the way,

I've brought home a few friends for supper,


only about twelve'' --



but you didn't have anything prepared?

When Jesus dumped this surprise on his disciples,

it wasn't a dozen extra people:


it was 5,000!

We read in the Gospel according to Luke

that Jesus had sent the twelve apostles


out into the villages to preach and to heal.

When they returned,


ready to tell of all they had seen and done,

Jesus took them off into the wilderness,


possibly to rest;

but they had spread Jesus' fame,


and the crowds were determined to see him.

... he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured.

The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, ''Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.'' But he said to them, ''You give them something to eat.'' They said, ''We have no more than five loaves and two fish -- unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.'' For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, ''Make them sit down in groups of

about fifty each.'' They did so and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

It was the end of a long day.

People were tired and hungry,

and the disciples suggested that Jesus


send the crowd away to buy food.
The disciples were concerned about the people,

but they realized their own helplessness

in the face of such a great need.

To their surprise,

Jesus said,


''You do it.


You are concerned about the people,



rightly so.


Now act on your concern.


You feed them.''
Jesus knew that they could not do it,

and he knew already what he would do.

He knew, also, that there is a lesson


we human beings must learn:

that we are not God,

that before God can act through us,


we must acknowledge our own helplessness.
The disciples said simply,

''There's nothing we can do.

All we have is five barley loaves


and two little fish --

that's nothing for a crowd this big.''

(It is in John's Gospel that we learn

a boy had given the loaves and the fish,


all that he had.)

Once the disciples had admitted

they were powerless,


Jesus trusted them with the work.

He did not hog the spotlight;

he gave the disciples a role,


seating the people in groups


and distributing the bread and fish.

We don't know the details.

All we know is that this is the only miracle

reported in all four Gospels:

that after Jesus had looked up to heaven



and offered the blessing,


there was enough for everyone to eat



and be satisfied.

Then, in respect for God's gift of bread --



and to show the abundance of the gift --


they took up 12 baskets of food



that remained.

This is the third of the meals

recorded in the Gospel of Luke.

At Levi's feast,

Jesus was the guest of honor;

at the Pharisee's dinner,

Jesus was a guest but was not honored.

Now, out in the wilderness,

Jesus takes his place as host.

From beginning to end,

Jesus is the center of the event.

He creates the situation,

he arranges the meal,

he breaks the bread and divides the fish,

and through his hands the miracle unfolds.

The crowd came there as sheep without a shepherd.
Jesus presented himself as the shepherd

who provides for their needs.


There, in the simplicity of bread and fish,

the true shepherd revealed himself to his sheep.

The Christian life is always a pilgrimage,

always a path through the wilderness,

always a life of dependence

on the one who can do all things,

even when we are most helpless.
Yet, as we come to the Lord's table,

let us also remember

that our Lord uses the gifts of his people,

that nothing happened then


until a young lad gave his supper,

and that nothing happens in our lives now


until we give ourselves to Christ.
The disciples knew that the task was too great

for their own strength,

but it was through their hands --


and ours --

that God acts,


to spread God's blessings and gifts


to all who will receive them.