Coming for the Blessings

Sermon preached on Matthew 14:13-21 at First Lutheran Church in DeKalb, IL

Grace, peace, and mercy be to you from God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, amen.  

Often I have found that the texts that are most familiar, the texts that are found in all four gospels, the texts that are the nuggets we heard growing up in Sunday School, the ones that are in the media, are the hardest texts to preach on. I think that they are the hardest ones because they are so widely known which means that people have opinions on them, they are the ones that have been taught over and over, and it is almost as if we can’t see any deeper than what it is right in front of you. 

Take today’s gospel for example, we have probably all heard the feeding of the 5000 a dozen or more times. It is found in each of our four gospels, each providing slightly different information, and different details but at its core, the story stays the same. Jesus has the masses on a hillside, it is getting near dinner time and instead of listening to the disciples urging to have Jesus send everyone home, Jesus performs a miracle. He takes his two fish and five loaves and feeds more than 5000 people with a basket full of food left over. It seems that even though it is widely known, there is still much debate on how many people did Jesus actually feed that day, was it just 5000 men, was it 5000 families which would equate to be more like 10,000 to 20,000, does it really matter how many were fed other than the crowd?

 

This gospel has been associated with feeding ministries, the act of taking little to feed the masses. It was the scripture that a group I was involved in high school was based on, Youth 5000, was dedicated to spreading the awareness of hunger with other youth in the Rocky Mountain Synod. This gospel is sharing us how we are being called to support feeding ministries, like the Bethlehem Feed My Sheep Food Pantry, or Meals on Wheels or even our very own Blessing Box. This gospel is reminding us about how we can take something small, something as simple as five loaves and two fish can be life-changing, life-transforming for someone else. 

 

But what if…what if this Gospel is less about food, or maybe not about food at all but rather that we as humans are seeking blessings, seeking a sense of belonging, a sense that we matter and are loved, what if that is what draws us to the table each week, draws us to the promise of the water, draws us to be in community with each other. 

 

These crowds are following Jesus from town to town, these are people who are taking day-long trips to simply be in the presence of someone they have just heard rumors about, they are seeking something deeper, something more real, regardless of what the cost is. They are coming to find authentic compassion, authentic empathy, and healing that allows them to be welcomed back into a society that is only concerned with the self. 

 

These crowds came less for the words that Jesus proclaimed and more for the love that Jesus emitted, the acts of healing, the compassion that he showed. Jesus knew that when they massed had gathered, they were needing more than just physical food but rather things that nourished their souls. 

 

Seeking, giving, and receiving blessings is what we are called to do, it is what is part of being people of faith. As humans, we are broken, we are hurting, we live in a world that is constantly telling us we are not good enough, that we do not have enough, that we need to work more, buy new things, to do better. But that’s the thing that Jesus is telling us in our texts, in our faith, we are enough, we do matter, we are loved and we are blessed.

 

The blessings we receive are not the miracles that Jesus performed, it’s the love and acceptance that we feel when we are able to be authentic, to be whole, to live into the grace that we have been given. To be blessed is to be respected, to be honored, to be remembered, to be supported and to be held accountable so that we can always be living as we are called. 

 

When we gather here, gather in quilting or in LWR work days, we are filling out cup of blessings till they overfill, we are then being sent out in the world, with these blessings guiding our days to share our blessings with our neighbors. 

 

Sharing the blessings that we are filled with through Jesus' life, death and resurrection are not blessings that we should or need to keep to ourselves, these blessings are designed to be shared as we know the more, we share the deeper we will feel the blessings in our own lives. Let this gospel, the story of feeding 5000, be a reminder that we are not called to store up blessings but rather to share them, for when we share them they multiply, and they are able to keep on giving, to keep on nourishing others and ourselves. 

 

I often think about the ways in which we can share the blessing we have, we are intentional about sharing the blessings in this space, each week we have blessed different parts of our lives, but how we are going out in the world and sharing those blessings?

 

One of the ways we have been sharing books outside these walls is through our Flat Jesus project, reminding us of being connected to one another even when we are exploring all ends of the earth. Another way is through our Breakfast and Books projects, the books that we celebrate each month, are being shared outside this community in meaningful ways and reminding us that the simple act of sharing books, can brighten someone's days. 

 

Another way that we have been sharing, that the youth from VBS to Sunday School and even Confirmation have been doing is partaking in the Kindness Rock Project. Taking rocks, of all shapes and sizes, and painting messages of hope and love, sometimes with words and sometimes with just images. These rocks then were either taken home to be placed somewhere to remind them and others about God’s love. Many of the rocks were kept here to be distributed later and placed around. The kids had a blast working on these rocks, thinking of what they needed on those days and translating it into a rock. As you leave this place today, with your books, grab a rock and place it somewhere in the community, to remind others about the love that fills us here. 

 

How might you share God’s blessings with others this day?

 

As you explore how you are called to share God’s blessing, I share a blessing for being human beings from Kate Bowler. (for more information on Kate Bowler, and other blessings please visit her website at www.katebowler.com)

            Blessed are we, living in this small space, 

            In these bodies we now inhabit, 

            Within the wall of circumstance,

            In these short years and finite strength,

            And with these eyes that see only so far. 

 

            We are fragile, contingent beings. 

 

            Yet blessed are we, 

            Recognizing that it is our limits as well as our gifts

            That can shape the natural contours of what is possible, 

            That guide us to what is ours to do.

 

            Blessed are we when it is not our greatness

            That speaks, but our littleness.

            For it is our vulnerability that is the truest thing about us, 

            The place where mutual connection is possible,

            Where competition ends and community begins. 

            

            And o how blessed are we in our fragility

            And dependence and brokenness,

            Knowing that You, O God, hold all things together. 

 

            There is no cure for being human…

            But for each other, we are all good medicine. 

 

Amen.