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Sermon August 2, 2020
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers,
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Ninth Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 13, Year A, Track 2
http://lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp13_RCL.html
And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. Matthew 14:20-21
In early summer 1996, I had the opportunity to take my daughter to Sicily to the town where my grandfather, her great-grandfather, was born and grew up. There was still family living in the town of Riposto, mostly cousins of my mother. I was not sure whether any of my grandfather’s siblings were still living.
I was able to contact one of the cousins, but he said he would be gone while we were visiting. Yet, my daughter and I decided we would visit the town for a day and see if we could find any relatives. My first visit to Riposto had been in 1978 and one of my mother’s cousins and her husband ran a jewelry store. As my daughter and I wandered the streets of Riposto, we found the Consoli Jewelry Store. We stepped inside to find my grandfather’s sister, Giuseppina, sitting in a chair in the Jewelry/gift shop.
I was so happy to see Giuseppina again. I had stayed with her on my first visit to Sicily back in 1978. By 1996, my grandfather had been dead nearly five years. I was so excited to be connected to his family again.
After Giuseppina bought us a gift from the store, she took my daughter and I to the home of her brother, Giovanni and sister-in-law Marcella. They were in their 90s. First, we were scolded for coming to visit unannounced. I tried to explain that we had not intended to do that, but just didn’t know how to reach anyone.
And unfortunately, we had arrived at the middle of the day, traditionally, the time of the big meal. During my visit in 1978, the two days I was with family were filled with huge, multi-course meals at the middle of the day, followed by long naps during the heat of the afternoon.
My great-uncle Giovanni was cooking a little bit of pasta with sauce for he and his wife to eat. But there we were, my daughter and I. I will always remember how Giovanni opened nearly every cupboard and the refrigerator of his home to find food to feed us. We had some pasta and sauce and some ice cream, too. Somehow, we all ate and had a meal.
I thought of this memory that has stayed with me for decades when I read the familiar story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. It is an incredible experience of hospitality, generosity, love and the kingdom of God.
The disciples want the people who had gathered to hear Jesus to be dismissed and find their way to a meal. The disciples are worried about how they will ever feed this huge crowd. “Send them on their way”, is what they are thinking.
Jesus, however, is compassionate. He was trying to get away from the crowds, remember? Yet, they followed him. They were so drawn to him. They were drawn to his teaching. They were drawn to the vision of life that he offered.
I imagine that even though Jesus needed a break, he nonetheless felt deep love and compassion for the crowd. Even though he was tired, Jesus kept teaching them; Jesus kept loving them and sharing the vision of the kingdom with them.
How could he just let them go and try to find food on their own? How would that show love? How would that embody the kingdom he had just been teaching them about?
No, Jesus knew this was an opportunity to unequivocally demonstrate and embody the love, compassion, and vision for our life together. Jesus took whatever he could find – 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes - and prayed and shared it. And there were 12 baskets left over!
That’s how God’s kingdom works. That’s how God’s love works. Maybe we don’t feel like we are much, but God takes us as we are and there is more than enough to do the work God calls us to do.
We may not feel like we have much materially, but when we pool our resources and give what we can, we do great things. There is enough. There is more than enough.
When we truly live in God’s kingdom, there is abundance…there is enough so that all are fed and all are cared for. We do our part in being generous and giving what we have and what we can. And there is joy and blessing.
Amen
