Pentecost 9, July 26, 2015 (full size gallery)
Since Catherine was away in Hawaii, we only had Morning Prayer at 11am. We had 38 on a day that was sunny but with some increasing clouds and temperatures during the day. Elizabeth Heinbach was the officiant, Andrea Pogue the lector and Helmut Linne von Berg the preachers. The bulletin is here and readings here. Cookie provided some amazing sunflowers that dominated the altar and certainly provided a smile for all.
During the service Johnny thanked those who gleaned this past week. Besides himself he named Cookie, Edgar, Elizabeth Heinbach, Jim Heinbach, Becky Fisher, Chris Fisher and Ben Hicks. We gathered 8-9 tons of corn enough to fill 15 truck loads through the week. He felt it was a successful effort.
We celebrated Eunice’s Birthday coming up during this week. Elizabeth reminded all about the Sept 15 Flamenco concert at the Church on Sept 15, 6pm Tapias and 7pm concert.
Helmut’s sermon was on the Feeding of the 5,000 miracle, more specifically on "leftovers". He cited the Kings reading "Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD, `They shall eat and have some left."; the Psalm "The eyes of all wait upon you, O LORD,
and you give them their food in due season. You open wide your hand and satisfy the needs of every living creature."
Today we live well year round, eating what we want. There is an abundance of food and many leftovers. He noted in restaurants much food leftover which he hoped was not thrown away. People can be wasteful. He cited people that eat bread and push the crust aside.
John’s Gospel says there were 5,000 and that from five barley loaves and two fish he fed them all. But there is much leftover. "He told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost." So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. " There was more left over than when they started!
The food has symbolism. He left them with healing food. We are fed in the bread representing his body. The bread was blessed for all indicating the compassion of Christ. We encourage all to come to Eucharist table – those lonely, sorrowful – anyone who has needs. We turn no one away citing Isaiah. Helmut related the setting on a grassy knoll overllooking the Sea of Galilee as linking the Eucharist with baptism.
The leftovers can be seen for those who live in the dark who have never been to the table and known the love of Christ. We don’t realize how blessed we are.
In all we do in our religious lives, the little we bring can be joined with others and have a larger effect to relieve hunger and fight injustice.
Commentary by Canon Lance Ousley, Diocese of Olympia
John is the Gospel of Signs, because he does not describe any of Jesus’ miraculous acts as "miracles." He did this because signs point to something greater than themselves, and he didn’t want us to get wrapped up in the miracle but rather to the Truth of what the miracle pointed to us. But these signs are an integral part of fulfilling the scriptures authenticating Jesus as the Son of God, the Christ of God’s kingdom. Our stewardship is a sign, too, that points to something greater than itself. The giving of ourselves, our time, our God-given abilities and our financial and material resources point to our faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the Christ of God’s kingdom in our lives. While these faithful actions could be referred to as "miraculous" by some in our materialistic culture today the truth is that they are an integral part of the authentication of our faith in Jesus as Lord both in our secular and sacred world. I take James’ position on this, that these "works" show our faith to the world. In idiomatic terms, the proof is in the pudding. Our faithful stewardship is a sign of the fullness of our faith!
I believe it is no mistake that the lectionary editors include the sign of Jesus walking across the water along with the feeding of the 5000 recorded in John’s gospel account. It is easy for us to get wrapped up in the miraculous sign of the feeding trying to explain it one way or another losing sight of the Truth of whom it points. Yes, it is a stewardship story in many ways. The boy gives all that he has for Jesus’ use for the common good of all gathered there that day. He does not get locked in the fear of not-enough. But even more wonderful is the faith in him to which it points in Jesus as the Christ. Too often, we skip over what the implications of this young boy’s sign of faith have on us as professors of faith. Too often, like the disciples in the boat in fear we fail to recognize Jesus in our midst, and we fail to witness him to the world as the Son of God. What signs are we erecting with our time, or God-given abilities and our financial and material resources?
Both options from 2 Samuel and 2 Kings have deep stewardship messages each with their own commentary on either a subscription to the faithful stewardship of the boy with the loaves and fishes, or the fearful blessing-stealing perspective of scarcity of Philip. In 2 Samuel, David has been overcome with a scarcity perspective claiming things and people who are not his to claim. In self-absorbed blindness he does not act in faith failing to recognize the providence of God in his life. This sets into motion a chain reaction of sins which results in the death of Uriah and David’s future illegitimate son. Through this Davidic tragedy we can easily see the destructive nature of failing to see and to have faith in the abundant providence of God in our lives. The story from 2 Kings serves as a precursor to the feeding of the 5000, and it challenges us to erect faithful signs that point the One in whom we say we believe.
Both the Psalms echo the futility of the theology of scarcity and the blessings of the theology of abundance. Stewardship signs can be erected out of a theology of abundance whether the sum of our "possessions" equal the widow’s mite or the treasure of Solomon. Each point to faith in Jesus as the Lord of our lives, the Christ of God’s kingdom come into our midst.
Paul reminds us and the Ephesians that when we are filled with our faith in Jesus as Lord and we erect signs as stewards that point to the Truth of our faith, God can accomplish abundantly far more than we ever ask or imagine with our offerings pointing the world to Jesus, the Christ.
I wonder how I might overcome fearful doubt and use who I am and what God has given me more faithfully to erect signs that point to Jesus as the Son of God, the Christ?