Seventh Sunday after Trinity,
2014
Rev. Stephen E. Stults
St. Paul’s Anglican Church
Aug. 3rd , 2014
Today’s Gospel relates one of the archetypal stories in
Christendom: the feeding of the four thousand.
It is the second time that Christ fed the people, the first being the mass
of “about five thousand men, as well as women and children.” It is the lesser
known of the feeding miracles, being related only in Matthew and Mark, whereas
the feeding of the five thousand is related in all four gospel accounts.
The real significance of this events is manifold, even if
one doesn’t “merely” dwell on the miraculous nature of the feedings themselves.
Of course, not to marvel at the wonderful physical multiplication of the loaves
and fishes is to do God a grave disservice. The very fact that Our Lord took
the bread and the fish, blessed it, broke it and distributed it to his
disciples is wonderful beyond words. The word “miracle” doesn’t even do it
justice. It had not been done before, and we doubt if it will ever be done
again. It was truly a marvelous happening.
Yet, we actually must go beyond the physical marvel into the
“how” and “why” beyond the act to begin to truly appreciate the significance of
it. Without sounding too pompous, we
must enter into the metaphysical realm to see why it is significant to us
today.
We believe that the true significance of this act goes
beyond Christ’s compassion shown on the multitude. Of course, on the first
level of meaning, this is truly marvelous and blessed to behold. Christ had “compassion” on the crowd, because
they had been with him three days with nothing to eat. This shows what great power Christ’s words
had, as well as the power of his preaching. The crowd was so spiritually hungry
that they neglected their bodily needs in order to hear His words of
truth. Can you imagine? Christ had such
wisdom and eloquence that He
held their attention for three days. Yet, even so, Christ
cared about their physical welfare, as well as their spiritual welfare. Thus,
Christ “begged the question” as his disciples made the doubtful query, “Where
can one find bread in the wilderness, and especially enough to feed so many?”
No doubt Our Lord wanted them to ask the question, so that
they could be still and behold the works of God. They needed to see Christ at
work, because at this point, there were some among them that still doubted
whether or not He was the Christ.
Now, we come to the metaphysical part. This is the area which transcends the mere physical and takes us up in to the mind of
God, as much as we are able. Note first
that Christ asked how many loaves the disciples had on hand... Whether this came from the crowd, or from the
disciples themselves, we not know, because Scripture is silent.
The disciples answer, “Seven.” We also learn that there were
a few small fish available as well.
Thus, let us pursue the truth at hand. Our Lord then set the
pattern for the four-fold action of the Holy Eucharist, when he took, blessed,
broke, and gave to His disciples.
Now, to the crux of the matter….. Please note that Christ
did not, shaman-like, create an illusion of abundance. That is, it didn’t just
look as if the bread and fishes were multiplied. They actually were increased beyond belief. Also, and just as important, is the fact that
Christ didn’t do magic. He did not wave
his hand and the fish and bread appeared. Recall that magic is a manipulation
of nature, making it do something that is against its own essence. For example, things do not just appear out of
nowhere. Something from nothing is not
natural. The only time something was
created ex nihilo, out of nothing,
was the Creation itself. It is this
priest’s opinion that God created the atoms, the chemical compounds, and the
other building blocks of matter, which he in turn, fashioned into our
Earth. In this respect, Science and
Religion do not have to be at odds. After all, we know that God is the ultimate
Scientist, just as He is the ultimate expression of all that is good.
Instead of something out of nothing, our Lord did something
else: He multiplied. He magnified, He amplified. Taking the things already at hand, Jesus
multiplied them. Thus, seven loaves became enough to feed thousands.
What lesson can we take from this, both individually and
corporately?
Simply this: God takes what we have and grows it. He multiplies anything that is truly given to
Him. One simple example is our “sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving”, which we
each individually offer every Sabbath day during our worship. This priest knows that he always gains
something from each experience of holy worship.
After all, how can we not, as we seek to draw near to the Holy One, when
we approach His Altar with “boldness”, to cite Heb. 10:19. Thus, when we
approach God with our gifts, even though they may appear to be meager , God takes
and multiplies them. He takes us and
sometimes He must first break us, before He can bless and magnify us.
We are the loaves and the fishes. We are that worthy material God uses to spread
His Glory to the community. As we
continue to give ourselves to Almighty God in faith, in hope, and in love, God
will multiply us.
Therefore, let us not be as the incredulous and unbelieving
disciples, who asked, “From whence can a man
satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?”[1] Rather, let us be like the waiting multitude,
which was fasting, yet expectant; hungry, yet hopeful.
Beloved, we are the
loaves and fishes. We are the faithful remnant. As we remain faithful, we will
be magnified.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost, AMEN
