Wh

John 6:1-15

July 30, 2006
“How Much Is Enough?”

Some say there is not enough food in the world to feed all the starving people. If we were to simply use the data our hearts and minds take in day in and day out, from walking down the street to reading the newspaper, we might agree.

But experts know differently, and those who have researched the quantity of food produced each day and the number of people in the world crunch out different numbers. They say there is plenty of food in the world and that the problem is really a manageable dilemma about distribution. The food is grown and packaged in areas of the world where the need is not the greatest.

After reading and praying on today’s scripture, I do also believe that there is enough food to feed all the world. However I do not think the problem is simply one of distribution, but one of motivation. It’s not that those with food to spare don’t want the hungry fed, but, rather, that those who have abundantly fear not having enough.
Oh my goodness, I cannot believe I made this mistake. This is the sermon I started for Bread For The World Sunday in October. I must have accidentally picked it up. Give me a moment…

Ah yes. Here it is!
Some say there is not enough love in the world to feed all the heartsick people. If we were to simply use the data our hearts and minds take in day in and day out, from walking down the street to reading the newspaper, we might agree.

But experts know differently, and those who have researched the quantity of love generated each day and the number of people in the world in need of care, tenderness, and love crunch out different numbers. They say there is plenty of love in the world and that the problem is really a manageable dilemma about distribution. Love is created in areas of the world where the need is not the greatest.

After reading and praying on today’s scripture, I do also believe that there is enough love to fulfill all the world. However I do not think the problem is simply one of distribution, but one of motivation. It’s not that those with love to spare don’t want the forlorn cherished or the lonely treasured, but, rather, that those who have abundantly fear not having enough.

Wait a minute… This isn’t right either. This sounds vaguely like my wedding sermon I am working on for later this month. This isn’t right at all. I am so embarrassed! Let me look once again…

Ah, this is really it. It has today’s date on it and everything! Ahem….

Some say there is not enough mercy in the world to care for all the hurting people. If we were to simply use the data our hearts and minds take in day in and day out, from walking down the street to reading the newspaper, we might agree.

But experts know differently, and those who have researched the quantity of mercy and understanding produced each day and the number of people yearning for forgiveness and hope in the world crunch out different numbers. They say there is plenty of mercy in the world and that the problem is really a manageable dilemma about distribution. That mercy is offered in areas of the world where the need is not the greatest.

After reading and praying on today’s scripture, I also believe that there is enough mercy to comfort all the world. However I do not think the problem is simply one of distribution, but one of motivation. It’s not that those with mercy and compassion to spare don’t want the yearning, aching, hurting people pardoned, but, rather, that those who have abundantly fear not having enough.

How much is enough? That’s the question at the heart of our scripture lesson this morning, and it is a fundamental question at the heart of the Gospel.

The feeding of thousands of people is not only a common story in all four gospels of our New Testament, but it is one of the few stories that is repeated in the same gospel, only with different details about where and how many and so forth. It is a miracle story, no doubt, but we shall miss its importance if we dismiss it too quickly as an otherworldly, supernatural, magical miracle. It is a miracle of the first order: a miracle of human beings overcoming our own worst tendencies.

(retell story)

Now, if you want to leave this all in Jesus’ hands, and allow it to be a mystical miracle, a la George Lucas or M. Night Shyamalan, with loaves of bread magically multiplying before the disciples’ very eyes – and you have every right to do so – then God Bless You. But there is another way of looking at this, a way that allows the deeper miracles of the human heart to shine forth.

Another way to understand this story is to believe that, in fact, every loaf of bread and every fish was already present at the beginning of the story. Many people and families who gathered there that day had food to share, but for one reason or another were unwilling to reveal their surplus, their abundance.

I don’t know why we are or aren’t motivated to share our resources sometimes. I don’t know why there are persons who seem to have as their very nature the willingness and ability to give from their abundance and why there are others who cling tightly to what they have, persistently anxious about life’s scarcity. It doesn’t seem to be at all related to how much you have. I know very rich people who give and very rich people who hoard. I know very poor people who hoard and very poor people who give. There are those who live out a life of abundance and those who live out a life of scarcity, and many of us waffle in-between both worlds, sometimes fear-ridden that we don’t have enough, and sometimes confident that “God will provide.”

What I do believe is that Jesus modeled for us a spirit of abundance, and all the stories in the gospels about feeding thousands are stories modeling a life of abundance. What did Jesus do? He recognized the needs of the people. He empowered his disciples to try and meet those needs. He asked people to give to a good cause. He blessed all that had been gathered to God and then gave it away indiscriminately. Then they took account of the leftovers in order to be good stewards of all that remained.

Thinking about those who model this life of abundance, who give from the heart, I’m reminded of a story. It is a story of a volunteer at a hospital, who got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her younger 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness.

The doctor carefully explained the situation to Liz’s little brother, and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister.  The boy hesitated for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes I'll do it, if it will save her."

As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.  He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?"  Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her. 1

This little boy lived a life of sacrificial abundance. He knew that he had something that would save another person’s life, and out of love he was willing to give it all. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Each week, at the table of Holy Communion, we remember a man who lived a life of sacrificial abundance, who offered a blood transfusion for us who are in need, and who was, in fact, willing to die doing so. All out of love for us, undeserved, and frequently unacknowledged, but given nonetheless.

Now, thankfully we are not usually called upon to give it all away, but those who model for us a life of abundance don’t seem to worry about that. A life of Christ-like abundance is not filled with taking stock, carefully counting the cost, measuring out exactly how much needs to be held back, fearfully weighing giving vs. receiving.

But don’t get me wrong: living a life of Christ-like abundance is not the same thing as living carelessly, excessively, or wastefully. That would be living the lie of scarcity.
• Christ-like abundance is not taking a huge handful of napkins or ketchup packets at the restaurant and throwing most of them away unused just because you can. That’s actually living the lie of fearful scarcity and arrogant wastefulness. God will have nothing of that!
• Christ-like abundance is not getting yourself into financial debt again and again because you know there will always be someone – or the church – to bail you out. That’s living the lie of careless scarcity and arrogant presumptuousness. God will have nothing of that!
• Christ-like abundance is not relating to others as a game of tit-for-tat, always holding back your gifts and graces until you’re absolutely sure the other person or persons will put out, and when they don’t you go running off saying, “See, I told you so!” That’s living the lie of judgmental scarcity and arrogant detachment. God will have nothing of that.

Christ-like abundance is thoughtful, but not calculating. It is aware of needs, but not anxious about them. It is relaxed, but not careless. It is extravagant, but never inefficient.

Now, here’s the kicker: Christ-like abundance is so wonderful, we want to find a way to keep it going, make sure it happens again and again. But as fantastic as it is, Christ-like abundance can’t be managed, organized, protected, written into the constitution, built into the system, inherited or bought. We want it to be, because then we believe it would be so much easier to do. And, it would insure that if we gave all of our bread and fish away, then we won’t be left “holding the bag.” Others would have to give, then, too.

That is why John’s gospel reports what happened after the miracle occurred. “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’ When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” Ah, if this miracle of Christ-like abundance can happen here, on this hillside, then we must institutionalize it by making the giver of this feast our king, raise him up on a pedestal, insure that it will always happen just this way.

But Jesus knew that living a life of abundance was not something that you can write into law, for it is a matter of the heart. Sacrificial giving can never be mandated, because to do so would be to sever it from the very life line that keeps it the miracle what it is: Love. Love cannot be commanded or forced, it can only be discovered and lived. Knowing there is enough in our world – whether it is enough bread, or enough love, or enough mercy, or enough whatever – and then being willing to share what you have for the common good must come from within. Thank God we have such great role models of Christ-like abundance: Jesus, a boy with five barley loaves and two fish, and each and every one of you.

Amen.

Rev. Allen V. Harris
Franklin Circle Christian Church


Rev. Allen V. Harris
 

1. Copied from an e-mail.  No attribution given.

Copyright 2006 -- The Rev. Allen V. Harris

Franklin Circle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

1688 Fulton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113-3096