Scripture:

After Jesus had left [Tyre and Sidon], he went by the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, sitting down there. Great crowds came to him, bringing with them disabled, blind, and mute people, and people missing body parts, along with many others. They then put them at his feet, and he healed them so that the crowd was amazed when they saw mute people speaking, people missing body parts made whole, disabled people walking, and blind people seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have stayed with me for three days now and have nothing to eat, and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might collapse on the road.” The disciples said to him, “Where are we to get so much bread in the desert as to feed so great a crowd?” Jesus asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” Then ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish, and giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples; the disciples gave them to the crowds.” And all of them ate and were filled, and they took up the abundance of fragments, seven baskets full. Those who ate were women and children, besides four thousand men. Then sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

~Matthew 15:29-39

Meditation

I love this story so much.

For one thing, I love that this story always comes up in the lectionary in the summer, that time when we are most likely to venture outdoors, to enjoy the sun, to have a meal on the porch or in the backyard or on a blanket at the park. I love that we are sharing this story on a day when we are poised to do exactly that: to share the meal so central to our faith in the open air, in the shade of trees, with the warmth of the sun all around.

I love how this story begins: it begins with people who are suffering, people who are in pain. People who are not able to get around. People who cannot see. People who cannot speak. People missing body parts. It begins with people who are on the fringes of community life because of these ailments—people who can’t get a job, who can’t support a family. People who are set aside.

I love how this story moves through their pain to healing. Recently our confirmation class heard Lisa Schrott, a pastor in North Carolina, talk about what it means to her that Jesus is Lord. She said,

It is to Jesus that I look, to understand who God is. Jesus shows me what welcome looks like. Everyone is invited to the table. Everyone. Even the people that the rest of the world would say don’t belong.[i]

I love that this story shows us exactly what Pastor Lisa is talking about: The story begins with people that the rest of the ancient world says don’t belong (and, to be honest, much of our world today says that, too). But these people are not on the fringes of this story, they are at the center of it. Pastor Lisa continues,

Jesus shows me that healing is different than curing a disease. Instead, it looks like a person regaining dignity, being embraced by community. Declaring Jesus as Lord moves me away from thinking that everything is about me, that I know best. It reorients me toward God.

I love that this story of people being fed begins with healing. This story of coming to the table starts with the dignity of these people being restored. That restoration is made complete as they are welcomed to the table.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I love what happens next: after healing, restoring dignity, so powerfully that “the God of Israel is praised,” Jesus is still looking at the crowd, discerning carefully what they need. And Jesus, realizing this enormous gathering has been hanging around for three days, has compassion for them.

I love that the word for compassion that Jesus would have said is an Aramaic word that means, “womb-love.” I love that Jesus looks at the people the way a loving mother would look, realizing that her children desperately need to get some food into their stomachs. Jesus says, “I don’t want to send them away hungry.”

And I love that Jesus hands the job of obtaining the food to the disciples. He’s a good delegator! A critical part of leadership. And the disciples’ first reaction is, where could we possibly get enough food for this crowd, a number we’re later told is four thousand men, not counting the women and children.

And I love that the disciples end up offering what little they have—seven loaves of bread, and a few fish—and to their astonishment, they find that it’s enough. Not just enough—more than enough. There are basketsful left over.

I love that this part of the story is still happening today, is happening, in fact, right here at our church. Our Food Pantry, which has not missed a single scheduled day since opening in 2018, is a present-day parable on a level with this feeding of multitudes. Our pantry, each week, is feeding multitudes. One recent Wednesday they had 25 families, in need of food. And I love, love, love, that the work they do is filled with that very same compassion for people who are being hit hard right now by the wonky state of our nation, by the soaring prices for food. Our volunteers are cobbling together, every week, not just enough, but more than enough. I love that they have taken absolutely to heart Jesus’ delegation of this work to them—to us—of this task, having compassion for the hungry, feeding them, welcoming them to the table.

Recently at a Presbytery meeting, one of our former moderators noted that one measure of church vitality is this: If your church disappeared, would anyone notice? Thanks to our Food Pantry and the incredible people who manage and staff and support it, I know that the answer to this is yes. I love the fact that the answer to this is yes. UPC would be missed.

I love this story. I love its insight into the compassionate heart of Jesus, and its mandate for those of us who seek to follow him today. I love that each of us is invited into this work of compassion, of seeing the dignity in every person, of centering their need, and responding to it in love.

I love this story. And I love that our Lord Jesus, who is at the heart of all the good we can try to do, invites us to this table, now.

Thanks be to God. Amen.