How Much Is Enough?
Sermon
Questions Of Faith
Gospel Sermons For Sundays After Pentecost
Is there anything better to eat than fresh homemade bread? I don't think so. I have been told that if you are trying to sell your home and are showing it, you should bake some bread so the aroma of fresh bread greets the potential buyers. You are then appealing to two senses - sight and smell. I know it would affect me positively to walk into a home that smells of homemade bread. But even better than to smell it is to eat it.
A pastor friend has a parishioner who makes the best homemade rolls. They just melt in your mouth. But there is a problem. The pastor has discovered that for her bread is not only a treat that meets her hunger needs, it is also a temptation. She hoards it and eats more than she needs or should.
I share this with you because I believe today's Gospel of the feeding of the 5,000 raises an ongoing question for all of us, whether it is bread or something else - How Much Is Enough? I ask this question not only in relation to bread, but to all things that we need to live. Martin Luther in his explanation of the petition, "give us this day our daily bread," in the Lord's Prayer, defines bread to include everything needed for life - "food and clothing, home and property, work and income."
How much daily bread is enough? How much bread and fish were needed for Jesus to feed the 5,000? According to today's Gospel, Jesus needed only five loaves and two fish to feed them.
The Significance Of The Miracle
This story of the feeding of 5,000 men plus women and children with five loaves and two fish is recorded in all four Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This signifies to us that this was an important incident in Jesus' ministry. In fact it is the only miracle story recorded in all four Gospels.
This miracle is also depicted in early Christian art. Those who have gone on a Holy Land pilgrimage likely have seen Tabgha, a church built on the shores of the Sea of Galilee to commemorate this miracle. In the church are remnants of a magnificent mosaic floor which depicts the five loaves and two fish.
Why is this miracle so important that it is told by each of the Gospel writers and depicted in early Christian art and even has a church built to commemorate it? There were likely many reasons. For instance, perhaps each Gospel writer told it because it was the biggest church picnic ever in that day. Or perhaps they all told it to show that with God all things are possible. Or perhaps they felt this miracle story proved that Jesus truly was the Messiah, the awaited one. Or perhaps it was told to show that the way to satisfy people is to feed them. All these reasons are possibilities, but I believe it is included in all four Gospels because the multiplication of the bread and the fish shows us that God is concerned with not only the spiritual but also the physical needs of people.
The basic message of the Bible stories, including this miracle story, is God's love. God is a loving and compassionate God who came in Jesus Christ to heal, to teach, and to proclaim the kingdom of heaven, God's eternal reign of love. According to Matthew, Jesus was mourning the death of John the Baptist, his cousin and colleague who had been beheaded. Yet, when he saw the people, he forgot his need to get away and he had compassion and ministered unto them. He fed them not only spiritually but also physically with the five loaves and two fish.
The Miracle
Imagine that day when Jesus performed the miracle along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. It was getting late in the day and the crowds that followed Jesus to this place showed no sign of leaving and returning to their homes. The disciples called Jesus' attention to the potential hunger problem and encouraged him to disperse the crowd so that they could go and buy food in the villages on their way home. In those days one could not call and have pizza delivered, as we can.
Jesus had already given the people a lot of his time by teaching and healing the sick and the disciples likely thought enough was enough. Jesus disagreed and told his disciples to give the people something to eat. They thought that it was impossible. How were they to feed 5,000 men plus women and children with five loaves and two fish? How could that be enough?
It is interesting to know that in Jesus' day, bread was the mainstay of a person's diet. It was the mainstay because it could be stored and transported easily. Thus when people went on a journey, they would hide a number of loaves under their cloaks and ration it out sparingly until they were close to home. Then they would be more generous as there would be no need to bring any bread back home.
When I read this story of the feeding of the 5,000, I thought of the children's story, "Stone Soup." If you don't remember it, in one version author Marcia Brown retells an old tale of three soldiers marching down the road to a small village. The peasants see them coming and they know that soldiers are always hungry, so they hide their food under mattresses or in their barns. When the soldiers arrive and ask for something to eat, each family has a tale of woe as to why they have no food to share. The soldiers are clever and say to the people that then they must make stone soup. They begin with a kettle of water and three smooth stones. Of course if it is going to be a tasty soup, one must add some seasoning, a carrot or two, some potatoes, and some meat. Miraculously, all of these ingredients appear and they end with a soup that is fit for a king. There is more than enough for everyone. It seemed like magic.
I wonder if some of the people who were there that day to hear Jesus had bread hidden under their cloaks and did not want to share it because they were afraid they did not have enough. Only a boy, according to John's account, was willing to share what he had - five loaves and two fish.
The miracle that happened that day may have been that people began to share the bread they had hidden under their cloaks. After Jesus blessed the five loaves and the two fish and the disciples began to pass it around, perhaps the others stopped worrying about having enough and they began to take their bread from under their cloaks and began to share it. All ate and were satisfied and when the remnants were gathered, it was evident that there was more than enough. The miracle that happened that day has changed hearts. Instead of hoarding, people were willing to share.
Now some of you may be thinking that I may be trying to explain away a wonderful miracle story and not give Jesus credit for multiplying the bread and fish. I believe Jesus could do either - multiply the loaves and the fish or change hearts. Either way it was a miracle. In fact, changing hearts to share is probably harder to do than multiplying the bread and the fish. Whatever happened that day, Jesus did a miraculous thing. Five loaves and two fish were more than enough to feed the multitude.
Another Miracle Is Needed
I believe that another miracle is needed today. The question we must face is: What are we going to do about all the hungry people in the world today, people hungry for daily bread - food and clothing, home and property, work and income? According to Bread for the World, in the year 2000 more than 800 million people in the world went hungry. This includes twelve million children in the United States who live in households where people skip meals in order to make ends meet. There is an even greater number of people in the world living in poverty. Many are without access to basic sanitation, safe drinking water, adequate housing, health services, or nourishing food. According to the June 2000 issue of the Ministry of Money Newsletter, in the United States, a "developed" nation, 12.7 percent of the population fell below the official poverty level. Yet, in these last few years, there has been incredible growth in the stock market in this country. However, ninety percent of all stocks and mutual funds are owned by the richest ten percent of Americans. It seems the gap between the rich and the poor is growing wider and wider.
Now most of us are not in that ten percent group owning ninety percent of the stocks and mutual funds, but most of us have more than enough. All that is needed, according to Bread for the World is an estimated $13 billion a year to meet the basic health and nutrition needs of the world's poorest people, the amount that animal lovers in the United States and Europe spend on pet food in a year.
A friend told me of a family who had adopted a child who had been severely neglected. The first few weeks, even after she had plenty to eat at the table, she would wrap up food and hide it in her room. Her anxiety for food completely consumed her. In some ways many of us are like this child, especially those who have lived through tough times. It is easy to allow our fear of not having enough or our insatiable desire for material things to possess us. There is a temptation to hoard rather than share.
There is a tremendous hunger in the stomachs of many people but there is also a hunger in the hearts and souls of many people who cannot be fed by material things or by hoarding, but only by sharing.
Conclusion
The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 shows us our role in the feeding of the hungry as disciples of Jesus Christ. In the story, the disciples were very much involved. They recognize the need - hungry people. Then they became the distributors of the food. They found out that there was more than enough when Jesus took what was available - five loaves and two fish - and blessed it. The bread and the fish became a feast for the multitude. That is what Jesus does in our lives. He takes our time and money, blesses them, and gives them back to us to use in order to show compassion to others. A miracle takes place in our hearts and as a result, God feeds millions of people with our gifts.
How much is enough? How much bread, how much money, how much compassion is needed? A lot is needed, but there is enough. God has given us more than we need or ask and just as Jesus' disciples distributed the food to the 5,000, it is through sharing that the gap between the haves and the have--nots will be narrowed.
No matter how much or how little we have, no gift is too small. After all, five loaves and two fish provided the means for a multitude to be fed. Amen.
A pastor friend has a parishioner who makes the best homemade rolls. They just melt in your mouth. But there is a problem. The pastor has discovered that for her bread is not only a treat that meets her hunger needs, it is also a temptation. She hoards it and eats more than she needs or should.
I share this with you because I believe today's Gospel of the feeding of the 5,000 raises an ongoing question for all of us, whether it is bread or something else - How Much Is Enough? I ask this question not only in relation to bread, but to all things that we need to live. Martin Luther in his explanation of the petition, "give us this day our daily bread," in the Lord's Prayer, defines bread to include everything needed for life - "food and clothing, home and property, work and income."
How much daily bread is enough? How much bread and fish were needed for Jesus to feed the 5,000? According to today's Gospel, Jesus needed only five loaves and two fish to feed them.
The Significance Of The Miracle
This story of the feeding of 5,000 men plus women and children with five loaves and two fish is recorded in all four Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This signifies to us that this was an important incident in Jesus' ministry. In fact it is the only miracle story recorded in all four Gospels.
This miracle is also depicted in early Christian art. Those who have gone on a Holy Land pilgrimage likely have seen Tabgha, a church built on the shores of the Sea of Galilee to commemorate this miracle. In the church are remnants of a magnificent mosaic floor which depicts the five loaves and two fish.
Why is this miracle so important that it is told by each of the Gospel writers and depicted in early Christian art and even has a church built to commemorate it? There were likely many reasons. For instance, perhaps each Gospel writer told it because it was the biggest church picnic ever in that day. Or perhaps they all told it to show that with God all things are possible. Or perhaps they felt this miracle story proved that Jesus truly was the Messiah, the awaited one. Or perhaps it was told to show that the way to satisfy people is to feed them. All these reasons are possibilities, but I believe it is included in all four Gospels because the multiplication of the bread and the fish shows us that God is concerned with not only the spiritual but also the physical needs of people.
The basic message of the Bible stories, including this miracle story, is God's love. God is a loving and compassionate God who came in Jesus Christ to heal, to teach, and to proclaim the kingdom of heaven, God's eternal reign of love. According to Matthew, Jesus was mourning the death of John the Baptist, his cousin and colleague who had been beheaded. Yet, when he saw the people, he forgot his need to get away and he had compassion and ministered unto them. He fed them not only spiritually but also physically with the five loaves and two fish.
The Miracle
Imagine that day when Jesus performed the miracle along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. It was getting late in the day and the crowds that followed Jesus to this place showed no sign of leaving and returning to their homes. The disciples called Jesus' attention to the potential hunger problem and encouraged him to disperse the crowd so that they could go and buy food in the villages on their way home. In those days one could not call and have pizza delivered, as we can.
Jesus had already given the people a lot of his time by teaching and healing the sick and the disciples likely thought enough was enough. Jesus disagreed and told his disciples to give the people something to eat. They thought that it was impossible. How were they to feed 5,000 men plus women and children with five loaves and two fish? How could that be enough?
It is interesting to know that in Jesus' day, bread was the mainstay of a person's diet. It was the mainstay because it could be stored and transported easily. Thus when people went on a journey, they would hide a number of loaves under their cloaks and ration it out sparingly until they were close to home. Then they would be more generous as there would be no need to bring any bread back home.
When I read this story of the feeding of the 5,000, I thought of the children's story, "Stone Soup." If you don't remember it, in one version author Marcia Brown retells an old tale of three soldiers marching down the road to a small village. The peasants see them coming and they know that soldiers are always hungry, so they hide their food under mattresses or in their barns. When the soldiers arrive and ask for something to eat, each family has a tale of woe as to why they have no food to share. The soldiers are clever and say to the people that then they must make stone soup. They begin with a kettle of water and three smooth stones. Of course if it is going to be a tasty soup, one must add some seasoning, a carrot or two, some potatoes, and some meat. Miraculously, all of these ingredients appear and they end with a soup that is fit for a king. There is more than enough for everyone. It seemed like magic.
I wonder if some of the people who were there that day to hear Jesus had bread hidden under their cloaks and did not want to share it because they were afraid they did not have enough. Only a boy, according to John's account, was willing to share what he had - five loaves and two fish.
The miracle that happened that day may have been that people began to share the bread they had hidden under their cloaks. After Jesus blessed the five loaves and the two fish and the disciples began to pass it around, perhaps the others stopped worrying about having enough and they began to take their bread from under their cloaks and began to share it. All ate and were satisfied and when the remnants were gathered, it was evident that there was more than enough. The miracle that happened that day has changed hearts. Instead of hoarding, people were willing to share.
Now some of you may be thinking that I may be trying to explain away a wonderful miracle story and not give Jesus credit for multiplying the bread and fish. I believe Jesus could do either - multiply the loaves and the fish or change hearts. Either way it was a miracle. In fact, changing hearts to share is probably harder to do than multiplying the bread and the fish. Whatever happened that day, Jesus did a miraculous thing. Five loaves and two fish were more than enough to feed the multitude.
Another Miracle Is Needed
I believe that another miracle is needed today. The question we must face is: What are we going to do about all the hungry people in the world today, people hungry for daily bread - food and clothing, home and property, work and income? According to Bread for the World, in the year 2000 more than 800 million people in the world went hungry. This includes twelve million children in the United States who live in households where people skip meals in order to make ends meet. There is an even greater number of people in the world living in poverty. Many are without access to basic sanitation, safe drinking water, adequate housing, health services, or nourishing food. According to the June 2000 issue of the Ministry of Money Newsletter, in the United States, a "developed" nation, 12.7 percent of the population fell below the official poverty level. Yet, in these last few years, there has been incredible growth in the stock market in this country. However, ninety percent of all stocks and mutual funds are owned by the richest ten percent of Americans. It seems the gap between the rich and the poor is growing wider and wider.
Now most of us are not in that ten percent group owning ninety percent of the stocks and mutual funds, but most of us have more than enough. All that is needed, according to Bread for the World is an estimated $13 billion a year to meet the basic health and nutrition needs of the world's poorest people, the amount that animal lovers in the United States and Europe spend on pet food in a year.
A friend told me of a family who had adopted a child who had been severely neglected. The first few weeks, even after she had plenty to eat at the table, she would wrap up food and hide it in her room. Her anxiety for food completely consumed her. In some ways many of us are like this child, especially those who have lived through tough times. It is easy to allow our fear of not having enough or our insatiable desire for material things to possess us. There is a temptation to hoard rather than share.
There is a tremendous hunger in the stomachs of many people but there is also a hunger in the hearts and souls of many people who cannot be fed by material things or by hoarding, but only by sharing.
Conclusion
The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 shows us our role in the feeding of the hungry as disciples of Jesus Christ. In the story, the disciples were very much involved. They recognize the need - hungry people. Then they became the distributors of the food. They found out that there was more than enough when Jesus took what was available - five loaves and two fish - and blessed it. The bread and the fish became a feast for the multitude. That is what Jesus does in our lives. He takes our time and money, blesses them, and gives them back to us to use in order to show compassion to others. A miracle takes place in our hearts and as a result, God feeds millions of people with our gifts.
How much is enough? How much bread, how much money, how much compassion is needed? A lot is needed, but there is enough. God has given us more than we need or ask and just as Jesus' disciples distributed the food to the 5,000, it is through sharing that the gap between the haves and the have--nots will be narrowed.
No matter how much or how little we have, no gift is too small. After all, five loaves and two fish provided the means for a multitude to be fed. Amen.
