Isaiah 55:1-5
Matthew 14:13-21

Take a stroll through the farmer’s market and you will behold an abundance of fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, fresh cut flowers.  There is more than enough for everyone.  Stroll through the parks that run parallel to the beaches in Chicago and the suburbs and you will behold an abundance of food cooking on grills, chilled in coolers, piled on picnic tables.  There is more than enough for everyone. 

Have you been to a reunion lately?  There is always more food, more dessert, more lemonade than would be needed by a group twice the size of that in attendance.  In our context here on the north shore, there are few places that most of us will go, that don’t have an overabundance.  That, of course, was not the context for those who followed Jesus across the lake to be healed by his words and his compassion.

Jesus had just heard the news that his mentor, John the Baptist, had been beheaded – as part of the entertainment at a party thrown by Herod.  Shortly before hearing this, Jesus had been rejected by his family and friends when he returned to his hometown of Nazareth.  Jesus was feeling depleted and needed time away.  It was not to be. 

There is so much going on in this story – any part of it could grab you and pull you in.  But will you let it.  Are you ready to let yourself be drawn into the story to discover the message that it has for you. 

The Gospel of Matthew was written late in the first century or early in the second century of the common era.  That means that it was written at least 60 years after Jesus died, and the author would not have been an eye witness to any of the events he is reporting.  This gospel draws heavily from the Gospel of Mark and from another source, referred to as Q for the German word meaning source.  Scholars have recreated Q by drawing from shared elements in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke that do not occur in the Gospel of Mark.

This section of Matthew’s gospel is filled with tension.  It begins with Jesus’ return to and rejection by his family and friends in his hometown of Nazareth.  It continues with the story of John the Baptist’s beheading, through this story of the feeding of the 5000 and on to Jesus walking on water, his controversies with the Pharisees, healing, feeding 4000, and two predictions of the passion (Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament, Doubleday, New York, 1997).  There is a lot going on that gets us churning inside. 

Matthew ties the words and actions of Jesus to the Jewish tradition, in which they were both steeped.  In this story of the feeding of the 5000, “not counting women and children” there are connections to be drawn with a story of Elisha in the Second Book of Kings (4:42-44) in which Elisha feeds 100 with little food and has some left-over.  There is also a tie with Moses as the Israelites were fed in the desert (Exodus 16:4-8).  These connections to the tradition are important to Matthew.  It grounds this story in the story of his people (The Acts of Jesus, Robert Funk and the Jesus Seminar, Harper Collins, San Francisco, 1998).

One of the beauties of Matthew’s writing is the parallel he presents between the story of Jesus’ life and teachings and the story of Israel.   Another delight of his writing is the parallel he offers within this gospel.  We see that when Jesus blesses, breaks, and gives the bread to the disciples.  He does that in this story of the feeding of 5000 and in the last supper.  These parallels within the gospel itself and between this gospel and the story of Israel have a powerful impact on Matthew’s audience.

Matthew places this story of Jesus feeding 5000 on a hillside with a couple fish and some loaves of bread immediately following an elaborate birthday celebration for Herod with dancing and eating and drinking and beheading.  It’s the ruling class gone wild, while Jesus heals and feeds those who are diseased and hungry.  We have an ornate and bawdy celebration juxtaposed with a pastoral picnic in which what is found is shared. 

Some of you may have seen the award-winning film called “Indestructible” that was screened recently at the Gene Siskel Film Center downtown.  It’s a film about ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) created by Ben Byer who was diagnosed with it six years ago at the age of 31.  This is the very intimate story of Ben’s grappling with ALS, his commitment to continue parenting his young son, and his willingness to ask the difficult questions.  Ben interviews medical experts and other people who have the disease.  The everyday acts that most of us take for granted – feeding ourselves, dressing ourselves – quickly became impossible for Ben.  In the movie we see him struggle to take off a tee shirt, we watch as his brother bathes him, we giggle as his 5 year old son feeds him huge forks full of spaghetti. 

Ben’s family was very involved in his struggle with ALS and in the making of this film.  They are included in the film as they deal with the challenges that confront them.  In one of the scenes in the movie, Ben is talking with his sister and his parents when they get into a very heated argument.  It is awkward and embarrassing.  And it is very real.  A strength of this film, which is ironically uplifting, is how real and human it is. 

Following the screening at the Siskel Center, Ben’s sister Rebeccah Rush, the film’s producer, answered questions.  What became clear was that this film has given many people a sense of hope that they too can live through an experience like this.  It has also affirmed the humanity of those in the audience.  Anyone who has struggled with challenges like this knows the toll it takes on themselves and those they love.  By showing all of it, Ben helped bring this disease out into the open.  He helped those who are living with it have a sense of community. 

Rebeccah was asked about the scene in which the family is arguing.  She acknowledged that it is a hard scene to watch and that she wasn’t at her best.  However, it is one of the scenes that receives the most comment.  Families with similar challenges express their gratitude for this scene being in the film.  It helps them understand better what they are going through and allows them to be more forgiving of themselves when they explode from the anxiety. 

This movie has been screened at many film festivals and won numerous awards.  Following each screening there is a time for questions.  Those interactions provided feedback to the film-makers that was used in the final editing of the movie.  Those interactions offered Ben a glimpse of just how important this film is. 

When we read the story of Jesus feeding 5000 we are likely to impose our 21st century perspective on the story.  Perhaps we see a picnic in the park or a family reunion with games and food and fun.  Perhaps you’re picturing an evening at Ravinia.  It was not that.  It was a gathering of an overwhelming crowd of people who were on the edge of existence.  They had little or less.  They came to Jesus because they had heard about him – how he healed those who were sick, how he talked about the realm of God, how he interacted with them as if they were important.  What a contrast to the party at Herod’s, with everyone dressed in their finery, food weighing down the tables, drink freely flowing, music and dancing – and of course the beheading of the one who told Herod he shouldn’t be involved with his brother’s wife.

What is God’s abundance?  Clearly in the gospel message it is not the party at Herod’s place.  Rather it is a scene overrun with hungry, yearning people -- looking for an answer, looking for a connection.  And that’s what we see in Ben Byer’s film – someone seeking a cure, seeking understanding, seeking connection with the world around him.  We see Ben connecting beautifully with his son, Jon, with his parents and siblings, with experts in the field and with others who have been diagnosed with the disease.  Ben had an abundance of love, humor, tenacity – undiminished by the challenges of ALS.  He was not willing to give up.   He would have loved to attend the Siskel Center. He died two weeks before the screening.  His message, however, has not died (www.indestructiblefilm.com).

At the opening of our scripture this morning, we see Jesus worn out and in need of solitude.  How often is that true for you?  It’s been a long day, a long week, a long year.  You’ve just received some more bad news and it’s too much.  You need some time to think – or not to think.  You need a break.  And yet, there’s someone or something clamoring for your attention.  You know what Jesus was going through.

How did Jesus turn from his grief and continue to heal those around him?  When the disciples were talking about sending the crowd away because it was late, what made Jesus suggest another plan?  Where did he find the energy to bless and break the bread and feed all those people?

One of the things we know about Jesus, with relative certainty, is that he was spirit-filled.  He experienced a strong and immediate connection with the Holy.  I can only assume that the strength of Jesus’ connection with God renewed his energy so that he could heal and feed.

Before you get the impression that I am suggesting that no matter what challenges we confront, we can and should just keep going, let me remind you.  This is one story of Jesus.  There are others that talk about him getting away from everyone so that he can be renewed.  That is an important strategy.

The truth is that God’s abundance is all around us.  When we are feeling renewed ourselves, we can see and experience that abundance.  When we are worn out, when we’re at our wit’s end, when we need to experience God’s abundance, we may forget that it’s right here.

As we consider God’s abundance we approach a most powerful symbol of that abundance – we approach the communion table.  Today, we celebrate communion.  We remember how Jesus sat with those around him, no matter who they were.  We remember how he blessed and broke the bread and shared it with those who were gathered.  Jesus showed us how to experience God’s abundance.  As we prepare to celebrate communion may we reflect in silence on God’s abundance all around us.  Amen.