Now...You do it

There is no Gospel reading more familiar to us than Jesus feeding the multitudes (Matthew 14: 13-21 ). For now, let’s put aside the inclination to call Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand a miracle. Why? Primarily because it misses the point and distracts us from the true miracles that take place in the story.

Matthew called Jesus in his very first Gospel, Emmanuel, “God with us.” So for the one who made the world out of nothing, multiplying some loaves and fishes was no major feat. On the other hand, John tells us that the signs Jesus performed throughout his ministry were always indications of the character of God’s love whose divine presence in Jesus is Love. Make no mistake, what Jesus did is hardly a simple parlor trick but the point isn’t what Jesus did, but why he did it. Jesus reveals the God in him by his compassion, which is the hallmark of Jesus ministry. This single word summarizes God’s unconditional love for us and is at the core of his incarnation in Christ.

Before going further in the story, the scene begins with an important transitional line, “Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.” Jesus had just heard about John the Baptist’s murder by King Herod. The metaphorical juxtaposition of images couldn’t be more powerful. After hearing the news, Jesus needed to retreat and be alone. John was his baptizer, teacher and mentor. Jesus, in the fullness of his humanity, yearned for solace. And yet manages to fulfill the consistent call of the Father to feed the hungry and heal the sick and fill the “empty.”

Ok, let’s get back to our miracle… that was no minor endeavor. What we now call “food scarcity” was rampant in the ancient world. And so the disciples’ suggestion that the hordes of people go away and buy food isn’t just unrealistic it’s ridiculous. First, they were in a deserted place in the middle of nowhere, and second, they would likely not have any money to buy food anyway. And so Jesus tells his disciples to get over their self-concern and desire to be left alone, and feed them… themselves! You do it!

Which brings us to the real miracle of the story: Jesus uses the disciples, even when they would rather look after themselves, to tend to the needs of these thousands of men, women, and children. They go from “we have nothing here but five loaves and fishes” to one of abundance to “thank you, God, for these five loaves and fishes.” Whatever their initial skepticism, or doubt, or self-indulgence, the disciples are caught up in Jesus’ words of abundance and “they all ate and were filled” as God worked through these reluctant disciples to care for the poor and hungry that he loves so much.

When a parent puts his/her own dreams aside to care for the needs of their children or aging parent, how is that different from what the apostles did? God is working that same miracle when a community of faith makes a promise that no one that comes to its doors will be turned away hungry, or when a group of demonstrators form a human chain to protect police officers from being seriously beaten by an out-of-control rioting crowd. God is still at work performing miracles through us, his disciples eager, reluctant, and everything in between.

The real wonder of this story is that it continues. God cares deeply and passionately for those who are most vulnerable:  the poor, the homeless, the hungry. And God continues to use us to care for them.

Just maybe if we are serving our “needy,” however poor or rich, we are reminded of the similarity that exists between the scenes in Matthew. Let those of us who have been fed by God’s heavenly food go and do likewise by sharing God’s love with all we meet and especially with those in deepest need.

There are two miracles in this story. They have little to do with simply multiplying loaves and fishes, and by remembering them, we are hopefully prepared to continue to follow Jesus and care for those in need. And that is no small thing at a time like this. Thank you God.

I once was lost but now I'm found

Let’s assume that Jesus is the treasure in Matthew’s gospel (Matthew 13: 44-52) that we’ve accidentally discovered in the field So we hurry out to raise the money to buy this invaluable field. Not wanting anyone to find our treasure we would, consistent with the script, hide him in the field.

Ok, now let’s take this reading from a different perspective. Suppose that we are the treasure in the field. I know, I know, we are rather shy about calling ourselves a treasure. After all our initial spiritual self- image was lacking. We were taught that we were born with a stain on our souls and man was depicted as a sinful character, unworthy of salvation.. So what possible value would there be for the like of us, as characterized in some of the readings of the Old Testament and derivative religious teachings? Unless God sees some unknown value in us than why would he bother?

Thankfully on our later spiritual journey we have come to know that we are the hidden treasure not lost to God but somehow still incapable of getting are arms around how much we are loved by Him. Why? The beautiful imagery of the Gospel reveals that human beings, despite how lost we may feel, are precious to God and never lost to Him. The whole purpose of God’s incarnation in man was to show us His face, His glory and his love and to lead us out of our lostness and back to the Him from whom we came.

In every age, in every generation, God seeks people who will follow Him and be willing to function as His light in the world so that others might be released from their lostness and brought back to Him. In this turbulent world of Covid 19 confinement, and racial intolerance, we tend to withdraw from the world and hide where it is safe. When is it safe to come out; when is it time to take a stance and strive for tolerance and racial justice. We know we are loved but do we really have the conviction of that love so that we may follow His will without being afraid? When we hide from each other and stay silent, aren’t we hiding our light from God. Yes, our life is hidden in Christ, but it is still a life lived out here on earth. We still are required to live fully to face our mortal tribulations. As children of God, we have inherited Christ’s legacy, we are in the world nut not of the world. St. Paul writes there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28.

Jesus did not come into the world for those who did not fit the denominational label adapted by his followers. He bought them all and paid dearly for them. John writes in 1John 2:2. He Himself is the atonement for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. In other words, the treasure in the field, are all those lost in the world. They are His by right. He bought them all! He gave His life for all. What price are we willing to pay?

Little boy lost

In search

Of little boy found

You go on wondering, wandering 

Stumbling, tumbling

'round. . . 'round. 

When will you find

What's on the tip of your mind 

Mmm...why are you blind

To all you ever were 

Never were

Really are 

Nearly are

Little boy false 

In search

Of little boy true 

Will you be ever done

Traveling 

Always unraveling

You, . . you. 

Running away

Could leave you farther astray 

And as for fishing in streams

For pieces of dreams 

Those pieces will never fit

What is the sense of it 

Little boy blue

Don't let your little sheep roam 

It's time come blow your horn

Meet them on 

Look and see

Can you be far from home...

Pieces of Dreams

(Marilyn and Arthur Bergman and Michel LeGrand

Treasures

The grain of mustard seed – the smallest of all the seeds, breaks through a weedy patch to become the largest of all the bushes and offer shelter to many birds. The tiniest amount of yeast can raise flour into bread and yield enough to feed a town. The smallest pearl in its natural purity, stands out among counterfeit gems, and has far greater value than everything we own. An unexpected treasure, found in the field of our lives will require everything we have to mine, hone and protect.(Matthew 13:24-43)

Each of these parables requires that we go all out to pursue. The price for the treasures of God is everything we have. Who are we to be purchasing pearls? To be selling the farm for some little thing we found in a field? To be wasting all our yeast to raise barrels of flour to make bread for strangers? Who would plant a mustard seed that results in an invasive plant of little value instead of fig trees or olive groves?

And none of these would get any attention or credit for our decision; no, rather most would result in rolled eyes and derisive remarks. It takes courage to know and follow God’s will. To break from the crowd whose numbers may provide safety and shelter, is risky. To be willing to say and do the right thing when the crowd exhorts us to follow what we know in our heart just doesn’t feel right. Isn’t that the Spirit speaking to us…it just doesn’t feel right? It’s a quiet thing in the midst of the chaos and noise.

When it all comes true

Just the way you'd planned

It's funny but the bells don't ring 

It's a quiet thing

When you hold the world

In your trembling hand

You'd think you'd hear a choir sing

It's a quiet thing 

There are no exploding fireworks

Where's the roaring of the crowds

Maybe it's the strange new atmosphere

Way up here among the clouds… 

(Kander and Ebb, "It’s a quiet thing") 

Jesus reminds us that what’s really precious and invaluable may likely be judged as worthless junk by some folks, yet likely to require a great deal from us. All the stories in our readings ask us to make ourselves available to God.

It’s the cutting edge of making choices,

splitting what you choose from what you don’t choose.

And making your choices will set you apart

from others, even friends and family.

This is the work of becoming your own self.

When your choices upset those around you

it may be because you’re being foolish.

But it may be because you’re making your choices

instead of letting them. It will be like this.

Abandon that owned self, and find your own self.

Listen deeply to God.

Let God alone lead you.

Make yourself available to God

as an instrument of righteousness,

and know that even as you let go of your life

you receive life.

-Steve Garnaas-Holmes

...I never promised you a rose garden

My love for roses began when I was a child. I can remember the climbing rose outside my bedroom window, impervious to the hostile elements of city dirt. Aside from its incomparable beauty, I especially recall the delicate fragrance that filled the room on summer mornings. 

And so, when I bought my first house and had a real back yard, I decided I was going to start a garden and plant roses. I was convinced the soil would be perfect since the house was only a few yards away yards away from a babbling brook. Well this bucolic setting did not live up to its billing: the under-soil was clay and rock, and the stream, eventually taught me more than I ever wanted to know about ground water, hydrostatic water pressure and flooded basements. 

I spent hours digging just one hole, extracting rocks and breaking poor quality spades to plant one rose bush. I persevered and in time, I had a row of beautiful multi-colored roses which I fed and watered faithfully. For a few weeks I took pride in their growth but it wasn’t long before they began to wither, one by one, and die. What could have happened? Despite, my relentless tending, I learned that the ground’s inability to drain caused the roots to “drown.” With all my digging and watering, I learned that I never amended the soil properly to begin with and that clay soil his a hostile environment for most flowering plants.

In many ways my initial efforts as a rose gardener efforts can serve as a metaphor for many moments in my life. Sometimes, everything’s coming up roses and sometimes I come up with rocks and wind up breaking things in the process. Sometimes, I just give up and say the heck with it.

Jesus is asking us here to bring in our best dirt and appropriate fertilizer, so that his Way can take root deep within us. This isn’t something that happens by chance, or because we’re fortunate to have good genes. It’s something we work at. We’re the ones charged with tilling our own soil so that the Life which Jesus sows may grow in us, and produce a bounty…even if we wind up breaking a few shovels and spades in the process; there’s no giving up. The prize is worth it.Matthew 13: 1- 9, 18-23