This sermon was preached on Sunday,
July 29, at St. Paul's Lutheran in Scottdale, PA, and St. John's Lutheran in
Connellsville, using John 6:1-21.
...
In today’s Gospel reading, we heard
the story of the feeding of the 5,000. This is one of the few stories that
appears in all four Gospels. So, what is it that’s happening here that’s so
important that all the Gospel writers were sure to include it? What do we learn
about who Jesus is?
In reading this familiar story, I
was struck by Jesus’ instructions to his disciples to “Gather up the fragments
left over, so that nothing may be lost.”
I’m picturing what the parking lot
must look like after a Steelers game or a Kenny Chesney concert or even your
house after a particularly raucous party - empty cans and bottles strewn
everywhere; the ground littered with pizza boxes, crumpled napkins, and paper
plates with hints of the feast they carried - a stray baked bean, a bit of hot
dog bun, a few pulverized chips.
Someone has to clean that all up,
probably shoveling it into garbage bags without a second look. But can you
imagine, instead, twelve people roaming through the mess, picking up every last
scrap and placing it carefully in a basket? What kind of food would merit such
careful attention? What kind of host would be so meticulous about even the
fragments left over from the feast?
In the Gospel story, the food
itself, or rather the abundance of it, is miraculous. Five barley loaves and
two fish from some kid’s lunch become in Jesus’ hands enough for a crowd of
thousands. When people were hungry, Jesus’ response wasn’t “Too bad, you should
have planned ahead.” And when the bread and fish were multiplied, he didn’t
say, “Okay, everyone who’s earned it, line up over here,” or, “Limited
quantities, available while supplies last!” Instead, Jesus took the loaves, and
when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also
the fish, as much as they wanted. Everyone ate until they were satisfied.
When the disciples gathered up the
fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled
twelves baskets. The leftovers point to the abundance that is characteristic of
God, while Jesus’ instructions to gather them up reminds us that nothing is too
insignificant or worthless when it comes to God.
Jesus’ care and attention for the
fragments and leftovers of the five barley loaves speaks a word of good news to
those of us who are feeling fragmented, and those of us who are feeling like
leftovers, cast aside and forgotten.
Perhaps, like the bread, you feel
fragmented, torn apart, broken. Perhaps you feel fragmented by too many
commitments, or too many demands on your time and energy. Perhaps you feel
fragmented by disagreements or estrangement in your family. Perhaps you feel
fragmented by the distance between your expectations, hopes, and dreams and
reality. Perhaps you feel fragmented by illness, pain, depression, addiction,
or anxiety.
Hear this good news: Jesus gathers
the fragments and binds us together. In the cross, Jesus’ arms are open as he
draws all people to himself. In the Body of Christ, we are made one. No longer
fragmented or cut off, we are gathered in by love, for love. No one is too
broken, too fragmented, too far from God’s embrace. All are gathered in.
Perhaps, like the bread, you feel
cast aside and forgotten. Perhaps you feel cast aside and forgotten in your
grief, as the world places limits on how long and in what ways you can live
with loss and sadness. Perhaps you feel cast aside and forgotten because your
body is failing you and you can no longer contribute in the ways you are used
to. Perhaps you feel cast aside and forgotten in your relationships – friends
who have left you behind, a spouse who was not faithful, children who never
call or visit. Perhaps you feel cast aside and forgotten because you’re no
longer working due to layoffs or retirement. Perhaps you feel cast aside and forgotten
because of who you are – your age, ability, sexual orientation, gender
identity, race or ethnicity.
Hear this good news: Jesus gathers
that which has been cast aside and forgotten. Jesus never forgets, never
abandons us, never sends us away. Jesus sees you even when no one else does. He
always seeks after the ones who feel lost, forgotten, and cast aside, and
lovingly draws us into relationship.
This work that Jesus does to gather
us in is also the work of the Church. Like Jesus instructed the disciples to
gather up the fragments so that nothing may be lost, we too do the work of
gathering up.
As Jesus’ hands and feet in the
world, we are the voices that call to the scattered, the eyes that seek out the
lost, the hands that tenderly gather up the fragmented and cast aside. This is
our call, as the church. We are the ones who shake our heads at the myth of
scarcity and point instead to the abundance of God. We are the fragmented ones
who gather other fragments. We are the ones the world has cast aside and
forgotten, doing Jesus’ work of remembering and gathering others who have also
been tossed away as worthless scraps.
Where in our world do you see the
falsehood of scarcity instead of the reality of abundance, the pain of
fragmentation, the despair and longing of those who have been cast aside? Where
are the tender, vulnerable places in need of the promise that God never leaves
us or forsakes us, the promise that God gathers us up even when the world
leaves us feeling fragmented and cast aside? From our own places of brokenness,
from our own position as the ones cast aside, we are united with Christ, filled
with the Holy Spirit, and sent to share this powerful good news. Thanks be to
God, Amen.
...
Check out this great poem by Jan
Richardson: Gathering the fragments
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