17thSunday in Ordinary Time
Pentecost 5
John 6:1-21
(RCL pericope goes to v21)
Because Mark is the shortest gospel
Even though it is the year of Mark
We have taken quite a few side-trips into John
And while each of the Gospels paints its unique ‘portrait of Jesus’
---it’s like walking around a large statue to see it from differing vantage points---
John and Mark are the furthest from each other…
So…we have been looking at Jesus from Mark’s perspective,
With its emphasis on the fully human side.
And we step into John with its fully divine emphasis
For 5 weeks we will be chewing
On the 6th Chapter of John’s Gospel
…what is known as: The Bread of Life Discourse
John has this pattern that he repeats throughout his gospel
---There is a sign
(In John’s Gospel miracles are signs)
---Then there is a dialogue about the sign
Which usually includes some sort of misunderstanding
---And then there is the discourse
…or the teaching about the meaning of the sign
John is clear: Don’t stay at the level of the sign!
The thing about Signs is that they point…they reveal
And in a religiously significant sense
They reveal something about God-----And something about us
But not just any something
This SOMETHING…has the power to UNHARDEN our hearts
So…these 5 weeks…as we ABIDE in John 6
We are asking…listening for…something new to be revealed
Something about God
And Something about us
Something that might unharden our hearts
---
In the Gospel of John
There is one big question
Who is this Jesus?
We know this because peppered throughout
Are these I AM statements
Statements that keep trying to answer that one question
I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
I AM THE DOOR
I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE
And sometimes just plain ole I AM
The I AM…the statement that acts like a kind of punchline for chapter 6
Is I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE
If Jesus is the Bread of Life…
What does that mean
What does that reveal
about me and about God?
------
In the first line…verse 1
We hear about the large crowd following Jesus
But there is a pretty clear sense
that the reasons for their following…is a mixed bag
The text hints that many are attracted to ‘the dazzling’
The spectacle of it all
Who can’t use more healing or more bread?
They see…they see the dazzle
But they don’t necessarily see through
They don’t see what the sign is pointing to
-----
The story begins with tension…Trouble is brewing…So many people
The trek has been long and steep and hot
There is little doubt…The crowd will be getting hungry
Phillip is quite certain of this trouble
It is a quick and easy calculation
· 6 months
· At minimum wage
· Divide by price per loaf
· Divide again by the attendance
= Yep. No brainer. No Can Do!
But Andrew…He’s not so sure
But he’s tempted to second-guess…he knows what a good accountant Philip is
“Do I risk embarrassing myself???”
I imagine he didn’t even realize that he said it out loud
“There is this boy…
There…over there…this boy…5 loaves…2 fish…a boy”
He knows the math
But he has an inkling that maybe this isn’t a math problem
“There is this boy…
If I imagine this story in the hands of a good storyteller
There is this long long pause
“there is this boy…5 + 2…
And then one by one he looks around his group of friends
He looks…searching for some confirmation…a little something
To indicate that he isn’t crazy
They have no support to offer. Blank.
He shifts gears to save face:
“I mean…just kidding…5 + 2…such a small boy…such a large crowd…just kidding…”
Andrew, Andrew…he came so close
Jesus takes over…And with Jesus
There is always enough
No…not just enough…There is always more than enough
Jesus…in the act of distributing
(an act of division)
He actually multiplies
This story is asking me
“What do I have…What gift have I been given
Spiritual-Emotional-Physical
What gift do I have that when I share it
IT MULTIPLIES???
I have an answer…this morning
But I have to admit
That I don’t always…I don’t always have a ready answer
Sometimes …I just feel lonely
And far away from God
Depleted and empty
What could I possibly have that when given away
Will multiply?
-----
I have been focusing…this week…on that small boy
That small boy with his abundance laid out there for Andrew to see
I have been focusing on that small boy
I suppose…because I have had two small boys of my own over the past couple of weeks.
And one after the other
Over and over again
I would pick them up in my arms
…those little bundles of sweetness and goodness and light
And, regardless of drool and slobber, I get as close as I can and whisper:
“I could…I really could…just…Eat. You. Up.”
I want to be all filled up with that sweetness and goodness and light!
I don’t want it to ever run out!
-----
What gift do I have that when I share it
IT MULTIPLIES???
-----
I remember being warned by my supervisor at the hospital
“Cindy…remember you have to have yourself in hand before you can give yourself away”
This story reminded me of that warning
When I remember that it is God who
ENDLESSLY
ENDLESSLY
Calls me into being
Endlessly gives me life…And love…And mercy
When I remember to cup my hands
Just as I do in communion…
I remember to receive the gift of God’s life
Because
It is God’s life that I can give away ENDLESSLY
As it ENDLESSLY multiplies
All I have to do is stay connected to the source
-----
I have a friend who has this beautiful copper water feature in her garden
The water endlessly pours
From on copper lily pad to the next
…they even look like cupped hands
From one lily pad to the one below and to the one below that
Connected to its source
The water pours and fills to overflowing…on and on
---------
In John’s Gospel
Jesus and the father are one…the fully divine part comes through loud and clear
And yet the language is so earthy
So raw…scandalously raw
Eat my flesh…or a better translation is gnaw on my flesh
---------
“I. Could. Just. Eat. You. Up.”
---------
Jesus seems to be asking me to do the same with God
Jesus is the bread of life...He is nourishment…And sustenance
He fills me up…He shows me how to have myself in hand
In order to give myself away
And never run out
Now that is a revelation about God
A revelation about God’s life-giving goodness
And about God’s persistence in the face of human failing
And it is a revelation about us
About our tendency toward Philip-style accounting
And about our Andrew-like timidity or lack of courage
And it is a revelation about God AND Us…About GOD with US
About how resting in God is like having hands cupped to receive…
ENDLESSLY
All So that
We might remember what it is that we have
What gift that
When shared from an unhardened heart
seems to only know how to multiply
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