“You Give Them Something to Eat”

(Mark 6:30-44) 

The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught.  He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”  For many were coming and going; and they had no leisure even to eat.  And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.  Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.  As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.  When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.  But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.”  They said to him, “Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?”  And he said to them, “How many loaves have you?  Go and see.”  When they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”  Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass.  So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties.  Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people and he divided the two fish among them all.  And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.  Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

               There was a church that I used to drive by frequently, and, unlike what is on most church signs, this one has stuck with me.  On it was the pastor’s name and underneath that it said Ministers: All the People.

               I have liked that way of looking at mission and ministry in churches.  It has become very real in churches like ours who can no longer afford or justify having a full-time pastor and, for larger churches who cannot hire staff like they did once upon a time. 

Back in my day we clergy thought we had to have our hands in everything, keeping alive the foolish concept that we have some super power to do ministry that belongs only to us by virtue of our ordination.  This approach denies the lay folks opportunities to minister to each other and certainly out in the world.  That church sign is the kind of reminder we need that being part of a church is to be in ministry—to be a minister.  So, I think that really has set us up to spend some time with today’s Mark lesson.

               This is one of my favorites in the Gospel of Mark, and the Gospel of Mark almost always inspires me to preach. 

               …The disciples had just returned from their missionary trips in which Jesus had entrusted them with spreading the Gospel.  You heard about all that last week.  They had lots to share with Jesus about their experiences, so presumably, in order to do that, Jesus had invited them to come away to a quiet place to rest.  Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?

               By the time Jesus and the disciples had arrived to that place by boat, the crowd, unfortunately, had hurried on ahead of them and met them at the lonely place that Jesus had chosen.

               Jesus saw the crowd, and his response was to feel compassion toward them because “they were like sheep without a shepherd.”  So he began to teach them.

               Apparently the disciples kept quiet even though they must have been feeling disappointed that their retreat to the quiet place had been invaded.  They didn’t say anything that we know of, even amidst all that chaos. 

               But then it began to grow late.  They suggested to Jesus that he needed to send the crowd of people into the villages—away from that lonely place—so they could buy themselves something to eat.  Seems like a logical suggestion, right?

               It’s easy to imagine ourselves in the disciples’ shoes, isn’t it?  You have been bursting to tell your teacher all about your experiences out on the road during these past weeks.  There were no phones, no social media, no contact other than face to face.  You have so many good stories that you have been saving up to share.  And, you may even be hoping you will hear him say something like “Atta Boy.  Good job!”

               Also, you may have been planning to kick back, relax and have the best night’s rest you have had in a long time.  The meal will be simple—you don’t really want much—just to be eating with your friends, quietly letting the conversation go where it will.

So—to your horror—Jesus’ reply to your suggestion of sending the folks away for their meal was this: “YOU give them something to eat.”

               You get that tight feeling in the pit of your stomach and you think, “Oh no, what is going on?  What is he expecting me to do this time?  I have this feeling it’s going to be crazy, and it’s going to mess up our plans even more than they have been already.”  Your reply sounds sarcastic.  “So…what?  Shall we go and spend 2/3 of a year’s wages so we can buy food for all these many people?  Hmmm?”  Perhaps you are thinking that will show him just how crazy his orders are. 

               Jesus’ orders to the disciples probably felt like I would feel if I were asked to teach a class in Electrical Engineering to a bunch of Russian students who don’t speak a word of English.  There is no way.  I can’t even begin to fake it.  I DO NOT have the resources!

               But what happened in our story was that Jesus guided the disciples through the plan.  They collected the food that was available.  Jesus blessed it, broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people.

               Here’s the thing we are told.  They ALL ate, and they were all satisfied.  Somehow, the disciples were given the resources required to do as Jesus asked.  They were able to minister to these people.  The miraculous resources to feed the people were provided.

               Jesus knew that they would be able to manage when he told them, “YOU give them something to eat.”

               I’m sure that each of us has found ourselves telling God, each other, OR our own selves that there is no way we can do this or that.  We simply do not have the resources—the time, the ability, the money, the desire, the energy….

               And the thing is, many times we DO have logic and common sense on our side.  …But Jesus calls us beyond logic and common sense to the realm of imagination.

               You may remember the really wonderful song that John Lennon wrote and sang in 1971 entitled, “Imagine.”  There are a couple of lines that work for me as restatements of Jesus’ words, “You give them something to eat.”  They go like this: “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.  Come and join us and world will live as one.”

               Here’s the thing: God has given us the resources to “feed” the world, literally and figuratively and has clearly directed us to do so.  YOU give them something to eat.  We must not be the ones who agree in principle with God’s work, but always find a reason why it won’t work, or why we cannot participate.  We hear this sort of thing everyday:

–It would be so nice if everyone in the world had a warm meal today, but….

–Wouldn’t it be great if every person in our country had health care, but….

–I’d like to be able to share my faith with people around me, but….

–Our country should take a stand against the proliferation of automatic weapons, but….

–I’d like to stand up for what is right in our village, our cities, our states, our nation, but….

               You know, don’t you, that we do have the resources to make these things and much more happen.  We do.  Our nation has the resources to make sure that no child goes to bed hungry, that no one goes without health care, that families have what they need to provide food and shelter, that we can live in a nation not driven by hatred and cruelty.

               There may be times when we feel empty and depleted, as though we have gone to the well, to our resources, too often.

               Yet Jesus is still calling us to give more—to hang in there a bit longer—to dig a little deeper.  I guess we have to trust that our resources tap into God’s reservoir.  And God’s reservoir never runs dry.  It is truly deep and wide and flows within us-individually and as a group.

               Each of us can minister to each other and to ourselves in the ways that we are able because the river of God runs deep within us, refreshing, renewing and providing the resources we need to feed and give drink.

               It enables us to respond to Jesus’ directive, “You give them something to eat,” ending up with enough bread and fish to feed the 5,000.  If we work together, pooling our resources we will have enough to meet the needs of the people.  This, of course, requires that those who are making millions of dollars a year and demanding more, share the wealth.  And it requires us all to stand up and say, “enough is enough.”  How much does it take to make a good and plentiful living?

               Listening to our missionaries, Lulu and Rich, yesterday was a huge reminder that we have so much for which to be grateful and to be hope-filled about.  They work and live in Guatemala.  They patiently wait and hope for the change that will allow women and children to have justice in a male-dominated and cruel culture.  They work toward that dream by putting together programs and projects that support a whole new world.  They respect the ancient Mayan culture that is embedded deeply within these folks.  We who were there were so inspired.  You are going to hear more about this later and in the coming weeks. 

               …Well, Jesus has told us to give folks something to eat.  We, as his disciples, have responded that we can and that we will.  What else should we be doing with our plenty, with our blessings.  How can we imagine a loaves and fishes miracle?  How can we be involved in making miracles happen?  Let’s allow our imaginations to run wild.  Let’s be inspired by our Lord and Savior in all things, at all times  …God be with us as we minister together in this rather upside-down world.  Amen.