Here is the sermon:

 

And the words:

God’s Marvelous Multiplication

Matthew 14: 13 – 21

 

(preached on August 2, 2020)

 

If you’re following the news these days, you’ve probably heard a lot to make you discouraged.  The virus, COVID 19, continues to rage among people young and old, in countries all over the world.  In this country the economy is struggling.  Looking ahead to September, school administrators, teachers, and parents try to find the best way to educate our kids, while keeping them safe.  These are difficult times.

 

All this discouraging news can get to you.  You might find yourself feeling a lot of different emotions.  I know that’s happening for me.  I feel sadness about the people affected by this horrible illness.  I feel anger at the leaders who fail to offer guidance that will make us safer.  I feel fear that the pandemic will get even worse.  While you and I might be feeling many different emotions, it seems to me there are basically two ways we can react to these difficult times.  We can react by trying to avoid the bad news.  We change the channel on the TV.  We can unsubscribe from those news updates that light up our phones minute by minute.  We can tell ourselves that for the sake of our sanity we have to insulate ourselves from bad news.

 

Another way we might react is not by avoiding bad news.  Instead, we pay attention, and we gradually begin to feel overwhelmed by it all.  We begin to feel that it’s impossible to find a way out of these problems.  It’s too much to deal with.  We slip, little by little, into depression.  We become paralyzed by despair.

 

Speaking for myself, that’s what tends to happen for me.  When I think about these difficult times, I feel overcome with sadness.  And then another feeling kicks in: a feeling of powerlessness, a feeling that I can’t do anything about it.  In a way, that’s the hardest of all, that feeling of powerlessness.  It’s a kind of paralysis.  It’s harder to deal with than sadness.  It’s very difficult to dispel the feeling that bad things are happening and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

 

As followers of Jesus, you and I look to him for guidance.  We ask, what would Jesus do in this situation?  We might be asking that now.  How would Jesus handle this?  Well, what I’m about to say might surprise you, because in church we generally think about Jesus as strong and powerful.  But, while it may be a surprise, it’s true that Jesus felt powerless at times.  Just before our gospel passage from Matthew’s gospel begins, Jesus must have felt very powerless.  His cousin, his fellow preacher John the Baptist, had been put to death.

 

John had been the one who foretold the coming of Jesus as the Messiah.  John baptized him.  Now John had been murdered by Herod the Ruler, in a very brutal way.  Jesus was a bold preacher like John.  He often said things that the people in power didn’t want to hear.  Now, as he hears of John’s death at the hands of a malicious ruler, does Jesus see a sign of what is ahead for him?  Does Jesus see in John’s death a frightening portent of his own death?

 

Of course we can’t know what was going through Jesus’ mind, but we do know how he responds to the news of John’s death.  He withdraws to a quiet place, by himself.  As he has done many times before, Jesus goes off by himself, to spend time with God in prayer.  But he isn’t by himself for long.  The crowds soon discover him and gather all around him.  He can’t escape the people who have flocked to him for help.  Did you notice how Jesus reacts when the crowd surrounds him? Does he tell them to go away and leave him alone?  No. He has compassion for them.  He sees their need.  He heals their sick.

 

Jesus is grieving the death of his dear cousin.  Along with sadness, a sense of powerlessness might be welling up inside him.  But Jesus doesn’t give in to that sense of powerlessness.  Look at what happens when the disciples come to him that evening, concerned about the people’s hunger.  Jesus doesn’t throw up his hands.

 

The disciples tell him, “These people are hungry, but all we have is five loaves of bread and two fish.  What are we supposed to do?  How in the world can we feed all these people?”  In response, Jesus takes the bread that has been offered.  He gives thanks and blesses it.  He breaks it and gives it to them, and it’s more than enough for everyone.

 

By this simple, miraculous act, Jesus demonstrates something very important:  he shows that God can use what we have to give.  He shows that God can multiply what we have, so that it becomes more than enough. What we have may not seem like much, but Jesus shows that in God’s hands it will multiply and bless the world with abundance beyond our wildest dreams.

 

By feeding all these hungry people with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish, Jesus shows us that we can never assume that what we have to offer isn’t of any use.  Whatever we have to give, whatever number of loaves we have to offer, Jesus can multiply, until our small gift becomes a blessing of abundance to a world in need.

 

Dr. H. King Oehmig tells a story about a time that a congregation from Georgia wanted to start a Habitat for Humanity group.  It was in the early days of Habitat, so the group traveled to Americus, Georgia to meet with the founder of Habitat, a man named Millard Fuller.  The group took a tour of the Habitat facilities and viewed a presentation on how groups operate.  Then Mr. Fuller took some time to meet with them.  During the course of the conversation, one of them said to Mr. Fuller, “We think this is what God’s calling us to do.  But before we begin, how much money do you think we should have in the bank to get us off the ground?”

 

Fuller leaned toward the man.  In a very low and serious voice he said, “My friend it would be wholly irresponsible, completely negligent, totally feather-brained if you started a Habitat affiliate without at least one dollar.  You have to have one dollar.  Don’t dare to make a move without it!”

 

My friends, what you have to offer may not seem like much, but never assume that what you have to offer isn’t of any use. Because, whatever you have to give, whatever number of loaves you have to offer, Jesus can multiply, until your gift becomes a blessing of abundance to a world in need.

 

God can multiply what you have to give.  So when you feel that your energy is depleted, when you feel that you don’t have another minute to give, when you feel powerless in the face of the needs around you, remember that God can use what you have.  In God’s hands, the little you have will be multiplied, piled up, running over, bursting with blessing for a world in need.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rev. Elva Merry Pawle

Pentecost 9