What if? A Semi-Spoken-Word-Sermon

Sunday July 26
Kingston Pastoral Charge
Proper 12
John 6:1-15
Ephesians 3:14-21

What if?

What if Jesus walked into a church today

            a church somewhere in Canada

            a church somewhere in Nova Scotia,

and asked the same question that he asked

            on that grassy hill

            by the sea of Galilee?

“Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”

How are we going to feed these hungry people?

5000 hungry people.

            5000 people.

            That’s a little bit more than the population of this town.

            5000 hungry people.

What if Jesus asked us that question today?

I can imagine some of the churches that I know.  Good people, all of them.  I can imagine treasurers and finance committees raising concerns about the budget – “but we only have this much money to spend on outreach this year, so we can only feed this number of people.”  I can imagine worship committees concerned about planning liturgies – “it is more important to feed the spirit than to feed the body.”  I can imagine property committees looking at fire regulations and tables and chairs – “the church hall only seats 150 people, so we will have to have 34 seatings in order to get everyone fed.”  I can imagine UCWs and Outreach Committees working together to fundraise the money – “in 5 years, we should have raised enough to provide a meal for everyone.”

What if?

What if Jesus walked into a church today

            a church somewhere in Canada

            a church somewhere in Nova Scotia

and asked the same question that he asked

            on that grassy hill

            by the sea of Galilee?

“Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”

How are we going to feed these hungry people?

Would we react like Philip reacted?  Would we throw up roadblocks in the way of Jesus’ question?  “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.”  Actually, Philip’s math isn’t too far off, even today.  Minimum wage in Nova Scotia is $10.60 an hour.  Assuming 40 hours of work per week and 52 weeks of work per year, this works out to an annual salary of $22,048.  Six months’ salary would therefore be $11,024.  Assuming that a loaf of bread costs $3.50, for six months’ salary at minimum wage we could buy 3,150 loaves of bread – just over half a loaf for each of the 5000 people who have gathered.

What if?

What if Jesus walked into a church today

            a church somewhere in Canada

            a church somewhere in Nova Scotia

and asked the same question that he asked

            on that grassy hill

            by the sea of Galilee?

“Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”

How are we going to feed these hungry people?

Would we react like Andrew reacted, offering impossible solutions to the problem at hand?  “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.  But what are they among so many people?”  Shared among 5000 people, each person would get barely a crumb of that bread.  Do we do that today?  When faced with a problem, do we talk around in circles?  Do we propose non-solutions, and argue back and forth until the problem is lost amidst the debate?

What if?

What if Jesus walked into a church today

            a church somewhere in Canada

            a church somewhere in Nova Scotia,

and asked the same question that he asked

            on that grassy hill

            by the sea of Galilee?

“Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”

How are we going to feed these hungry people?

We are told that when Jesus asked the question, he already knew what the answer was going to be.  Jesus already knew that God was going to provide for the people gathered.  John writes that Jesus asked the question to test Philip.  What was the test?  Did Philip pass the test?  Was Jesus testing Philip’s creative problem solving skills?  Was he testing Philip to see if Philip had paid attention to Jesus’ previous miracles?  Was he testing Philip’s faith – could Philip see though the problem to God?  Could Philip trust that God would provide abundantly?

What if?

What if Jesus walked into a church today

            a church somewhere in Canada

            a church somewhere in Nova Scotia,

and asked the same question that he asked

            on that grassy hill

            by the sea of Galilee?

“Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”

How are we going to feed these hungry people?

What if?

What if instead of reacting out of fear

            or bewilderment

            or a sense of scarcity,

What if we could react like the young boy,

            offering his lunch to Jesus and the disciples?

Knowing that his five loaves of bread and two fish

were nowhere near enough to feed a crowd of 5000.

Knowing that once he gave away his bread and fish,

            he would go hungry with no food to eat.

Knowing that he had followed Jesus a long way to get there,

            and that he would have a long walk home afterwards.

What if we could react like that young boy?

I can just imagine that nameless boy – one boy who, along with 4999 others, made up the crowd that followed Jesus and the disciples.  I can imagine his mother packing his lunch for him in the morning, with freshly-baked bread, tucking in a few extra loaves so that he could share with his friends.  Maybe they bought the fish from a fisherman, or maybe his family caught them in the Sea of Galilee.  He had enough food for himself, and maybe a bit extra; and then he gave it all away.  He trusted Jesus.  He trusted that Jesus would take whatever it was that he could offer, and make it enough to feed the whole crowd.

What if?

What if Jesus walked into a church today

            a church somewhere in Canada

            a church somewhere in Nova Scotia,

and asked the same question that he asked

            on that grassy hill

            by the sea of Galilee?

“Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”

How are we going to feed these hungry people?

What if we could offer whatever we have to Jesus,

            whatever small amount

            a ridiculously small amount

            so small as to be laughable

What if we could offer that to Jesus,

            and have the faith to know that Jesus will see it as enough.

Jesus took the loaves and the fish.

Jesus gave thanks for the loaves and the fish.

            Gave thanks to God for providing.

            Gave thanks to the boy for sharing.

Jesus began sharing the loaves and the fish

            and he kept sharing

            and he kept sharing

            and he kept sharing

Until all 5000 people had been feed.

Until all 5000 people had eaten enough.

Until all 5000 people had eaten as much as they wanted.

If we look around the world today, there is so much cause for despair.  There are so many hungry people in the world – many, many more than just 5000.  There are so many people living without adequate shelter.  There are so many people living in fear.  There are so many people crying out for justice.  There are so many people living in war zones.  It is so easy to look at the problems of today’s world from the perspective of Philip and Andrew.  We don’t have enough resources to solve all of the world’s problems, so why should we even try.

But then we can look to the example of the boy.  He knew that what he could contribute wasn’t enough.  But he did anyways.  He did what he could do, and trusted that God would do the rest.  He trusted that God is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.

Jesus taught about God’s kingdom of abundance, where there is more than enough for everyone.  Too often, the world follows a teaching of scarcity – a fear that there isn’t enough to go around, so we should look out only for ourselves.  If that one boy had followed this teaching, he would have kept what food he had for himself.  But instead he took an attitude of abundance, and he shared, and trusted that there would be more than enough.  And there were twelve baskets of leftovers at the end of the feast.

What if?

What if Jesus walked into a church today

            a church somewhere in Canada

            a church somewhere in Nova Scotia,

and asked the same question that he asked

            on that grassy hill

            by the sea of Galilee?

“Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”

How are we going to feed these hungry people?

What if?

What if each person, each group, acted like the young boy?

What if each person, each group, gave,

            trusting in God’s abundance?

What if each person, each group,

acted as though we believe in the God that Paul wrote about,

God who is able to accomplish abundantly,

            far more than all we can ask or imagine.

What if?