Notes, Mark 6 Feeding of Multitudes July 22, 2018 Sermon Title: Twelve baskets leftover

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Lilian Perry
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1 Notes, Mark 6 Feeding of Multitudes July 22, 2018 Sermon Title: Twelve baskets leftover HPMF Mark 6: The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while. For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 35 When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; 36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat. 37 But he answered them, You give them something to eat. They said to him, Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat? 38 And he said to them, How many loaves have you? Go and see. When they had found out, they said, Five, and two fish. 39 Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And all ate and were filled; 43 and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men. 45Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

2 Some of you all were at The Flicks this past Thursday for the movie Skid Row Marathon what a story this judge Craig Mitchell lives in Los Angeles. 59,000 homeless citizens in L.A. 59,000, that would make the homeless population of L.A. the 5 th largest city in Idaho more people than live in Pocatello. He was asked to come down to see the Midnight Mission in Skid Row where someone he had sentenced was now living and trying to get their life back in order. And at some point, at the end of his visit to the Midnight Mission, they asked him, is there any way you might get involved here? Anything you might have to offer? And he thought, well, I run. So, just like that he started coming to Skid Row at 5:45a every morning and started a running club. And his running group runs marathons together they run one international marathon each year. The first one there were just three of them that went. The next one, 25. Incredible. People changing their lives by running marathons with this judge. In the face of 59,000 homeless citizens, someone asked him, what have you to give? And he said, well, I run. So, they gave it a try. Who would have thought that would work, running marathons with folks living in a shelter. Why not give it a try? Our miracle of Jesus this morning does not have quite as impressive of number, not 59,000 people Mark says it is of five thousand men another recognition of the deep patriarchy which is part of our Holy Scripture only the men were counted which would mean likely 12,000 or more people in this feeding story. 12,000 men, women and children which would be the 19 th

3 biggest city in Idaho, just smaller than Mountain Home. 12,000 + people sat down and ate their fill on five barley buns and two fishes. It is the only miracle agreed upon by all four of the gospel writers. Which means, at the very least, that this was an event remembered by many that each various source the Gospel writers went to, they met those who remembered this miraculous story of bread and fish being multiplied until there was enough to feed a small town. But, miracles tend to nag those of us who do not experience them very often. With that nagging have come a few different interpretations of how this might have actually gone down: 1. That the meal was symbolic that Jesus pinched off teeny, tiny pieces of those loaves and fish until there was enough to go around. In this way, it was sort of a first communion for those gathered. Thought I am not sure that that interpretation says about the 12 baskets of leftovers. 2. There is the Stone Soup Interpretation that most people present actually had a bit of food hidden away in their tunics, but they too, like the disciples, knew they didn t have enough for everyone so they kept what they had hidden. It wasn t until one person started sharing, that then everyone was willing to take out what they had to share as well. This certainly would be miraculous, getting 12,000 people to share and believe that what is theirs actually belongs to everyone just not the type of laws of physics breaking miracle that we normally think of with Jesus. 3. Maybe it was actually a miracle (the law of physics being broken, kind). That Jesus took five loaves and two fishes and by the grace and mystery of God, used them to cater a dinner for a crowd the size of a sold-out Taco Bell arena with plenty of leftovers.

4 So those are the three main possibilities are limited brains have used to try and make sense of this story, and there is no one to say which we must believe. As Barbara Brown Taylor says, The Bible is not a book with the answers in the back, but as a rule, the answers we choose tell us something about our faith. This story does not stand alone in the Bible, the feeding of the five thousand is a story that carries echoes of other stories: -When God sent manna to sustain Israel in the wilderness during the forty years they wandered in the desert after being liberated from Egypt. -Of when Ravens came to feed the prophet Elijah in the wilderness, bringing him bread and meat. -And in the book of 2 Kings there is a story much like today s when the prophet Elisha fed 100 soldiers with a few barley loaves and ears of corn. In each case, the situation seemed hopeless in the wilderness with no food and a growing hunger the people despaired, and in a seemingly miraculous way, God provided. So, the crowd listening to Jesus that day might have been hopeful as they hungrily listened to this rabbi Jesus rumor had it that he, like Moses, Elijah and Elisha before him, was a powerful prophet of God. This morning s miracle story is one in a series of bread miracles in the Bible.

5 Those crowds they had watched Jesus, followed him many had pushed their way to the front, reached out their hands to him, implored him for healing, wisdom, food, acceptance. And he healed many, but on this particular day, Jesus seems weary. He is needing a break. He has been separated from the disciples for some time, they have just returned from traveling the countryside in pairs. And with their return, they have brought the news of the death of John the Baptist killed, like so many (then and now) at the whim of the powerful. Perhaps Jesus wants time alone with the disciples to mourn or to absorb this news the loss of a relative, of the one that baptized him. I wonder if John s death was a harsh reminder for Jesus, that despite the crowds he and his message were attracting at the moment, his death too was likely not too far off it is the way of prophets. So, perhaps for this reason, or some other, he tries to get away from the crowd for a bit. The beginning of this story tells us that Jesus wanted some time away with just his disciples, so he tells them, Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while. For, as the scripture says, the crowds were so numerous and their demands so great, they didn t even have time to eat. So, they did. The disciples and Jesus climbed into a boat together and sailed down the shore a ways, hoping to get a break from the crowd. But the crowd was not ready for them to go, so the crowd followed along the shore. They must have been able to see up ahead where Jesus and his friends are likely headed, so they make their way to that spot. So when Jesus and his disciples finally dock their boat, they step into the midst of this same crowd they were hoping to leave behind for a bit. It is not hard to imagine Jesus having several realistic responses to this situation:

6 -frustration, exacerbation just wanting a few minutes alone -he might return to the boat, push out onto the sea for a new spot of quite -or scold the crowd for their neediness don t you see I am just one person that we are just a small group Can t you see I need a breather. But Jesus chooses none of these. He chooses compassion. He looks at the crowd and through some holy optical illusion he sees not a crowd, but a collection of people he sees all these people, and he lays aside his own need in favor of theirs. He may not have much energy left to offer them just now, but what he has, he gives and begins teaching them. When it grows late his disciples, whom we may imagine as a little less compassionate than their friend & teacher, point out to Jesus that the sun is going down and there is no food in sight. Send them off to the farms and villages round about, to buy themselves something to eat, they suggest. Perhaps they are hearing grumblings. Perhaps they are just tired. Or perhaps, they themselves, are simply ready to eat. But Jesus has another idea. You give them something to eat, is his answer. But of course it is a hopeless situation. There is not nearly enough money or food to feed what Idaho s 19 th biggest city to feed all of Blackfoot, plus a few more. It is hopeless. Even if they pooled all the money they had, it would not make a dent in the face of such numbers in the face of such hunger. I imagine the disciples getting angry at Jesus request. Or frustrated at their lack of resources in the face of such need.

Or perhaps embarrassed, that despite their positions as disciples, there is so little they can do. Or perhaps they are a bit beaten down they want to help, but what can they do?

7 Or perhaps embarrassed, that despite their positions as disciples, there is so little they can do. Or perhaps they are a bit beaten down they want to help, but what can they do? Would could they possibly do? Jesus asks them, How many loaves have you? How many loaves? What does it matter even if they had 100, what difference would that make for 12,000 people? Go and see. Is all Jesus says. Just see. Just have a look. Just go and try. Maybe it will help. But in the face of such hunger. In the reality of so many.

8 In the enormity of the numbers. What can we possibly do? difference. Just go and see. Let s just see what we have to work with just in case it might make a Stop staring at the enormity of the problem how unachievable it seems.

9 Stop looking at the numbers. Stop looking at how what is in your pocketbook or savings account won t even make a dent. How many loaves have you? Just go and check it out. Just go and see.

10 We are just one small church Part of one small and shrinking denomination. Let s be realistic here.

We are barely 100 people what can we do in the face of so much trouble? Such pain? Honestly. Just go and see. See how many loaves we do have. Let s just see just try.

Then bless it thank God for what you have for the gifts you have been given, your skills and passions and talents and economic resources (whatever they might be) and make it holy by giving it away in

11 We are barely 100 people what can we do in the face of so much trouble? Such pain? Honestly. Just go and see. See how many loaves we do have. Let s just see just try. Take what you have, whatever you have been given, no matter how small and meager it may seem when compared with the enormity of the situation take it. Then bless it thank God for what you have for the gifts you have been given, your skills and passions and talents and economic resources (whatever they might be) and make it holy by giving it away in love. You don t have to feed the whole crowd, to solve the whole problem, or to fix the whole world. Just see what you have to work with. It is not up to us to feed the whole crowd, just to share what we have got, to feed whatever big or little hunger happens to be in front of you whatever is on your heart, or weighing on your mind. Let s just see what we have. Maybe it will make a difference. Maybe in the grace and mystery of God, it will be enough. Maybe it will be a miracle. Maybe just a few will have their hunger met. Maybe all 12,000. Either way, it would be a miracle.

12 How many loaves have you got? This is all God is asking of us. It is enough. It is enough. Amen.

John Dominic Crossan: God & Empire

John Dominic Crossan: God & Empire 1. The Method: John (the Baptist) had a monopoly but Jesus had a franchise. 2. The Message: The Kingdom of God has come near you. Live like that. 3. The Meaning: Kingdom