The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Year A The Rev. Dr. Howard J. Hess

Was There Enough? Is There Enough? Will There Be Enough? July 31, 2011


I. Introduction. Today is my birthday. I am pleased and grateful to be sharing this day with you. One of the customs in our family and often in our staff birthday celebrations is to ask the question, “What have you learned in the past year?” My answer to that question in 2011 is rooted in today’s Gospel. I have continued to learn anew an old lesson; I call it the lesson of abundance and sufficiency. During this past year, I have had opportunities to re-learn that, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, I am challenged to live out the truth of abundance in the way I use my time, my money, and the gifts that God has given me. But there is a caveat to this truth. Over and over again, left to my own devices, I will move, particularly under pressure, to my default position of scarcity and worry. It is humbling that the lesson of abundance is one that I re-visit in new situations and new life stages. The questions about abundance are often found in changing circumstances of our lives. Will there be enough if I can’t find a job or advance in the one I have? If we decide to tithe? If one of us works less to be home with our young children? If our home loses value? Or if our retirement savings decrease and there are changes in Social Security benefits? Will there be enough?


II. There is Very Good News About Having Enough in Today’s Gospel. Enter the disciples: Oh no, Jesus, we can’t feed all these people! Are you out of your mind? We promised them an afternoon of teaching and healing, but not a meal. We are not prepared. This project is not sufficiently funded for a meal! There is simply not enough food here to do what you are asking us to do. We are your disciples, but sometimes you’re just not realistic. You ask us to do the impossible – even the ridiculous. Please, let us send these people away. The disciples’ responses to Jesus were based upon the model of scarcity, which often masquerades as reality! But Jesus broke right through what we might call conventional thinking. The miracle of the loaves and the fish that follows is a core story of our faith. It is reported in all four Gospels. With what begins as a very small amount of food, the entire crowd was fed. And not only were they fed, but twelve baskets of food were left over. Despite the disciples’ fears, there was abundance, not scarcity.


How could this be? There are varying points of view about how this miracle took place. In our Wednesday morning Bible study, several different explanations were expressed. One view would claim that Jesus’ miracle was creating food that didn’t previously exist. A second view is that Jesus’ miracle was to move the hearts of those in the multitude to share the food that they had brought. Scholars and theologians debate these points vehemently and look to find the exact truth behind the narrative. I think frankly that they are missing the key point. What I am saying is this: too heavy a focus upon the mechanism of the miracle (how it happens) overcomes our comprehension and application of the miracle itself.


In our Wednesday Bible Study on the Lectionary, although there was difference of opinion about the method of this miracle, there was unanimity that Jesus was enacting a miracle of abundance. He was first and foremost making sure that those who came to be healed, taught, or even to satisfy their curiosity were cared for. You see Jesus loved those people. Secondly, Jesus was teaching his disciples an extraordinarily important lesson – when you follow me, do not focus upon limitations, but focus instead upon the unlimited potential of what I can do, and what you can do when you are doing it in my name!


III. Let me fast forward to the here and now. First, please indulge me while I ponder out loud about why the lesson of abundance is one that I’m still learning at this stage of my life. I learned the lesson of scarcity very young. My parents and grandparents had been adversely affected by the depression and lived with many images of scarcity. They worried about not having enough, even though they always did. I was taught to live expecting trouble and to intermix fear with prudence. Prudence is clearly a virtue, but as the wisest have taught us, even virtues in excess can undermine our relationship with Christ.


And for a moment, let’s consider the dynamics of fear and a lifeview of scarcity. A scarcity-based world view inevitably pulls us in the direction of seeing limitations and deficits rather than possibilities and gifts. A deficit model therefore naturally can cause us to hold back and limit our risk-taking rather than follow the teachings of Christ. Christ taught and lived his life with an expectation of abundance. Again and again, Jesus tells us “ “ask whatever you need and it shall be given to you.”


Here at Ascension there are endless examples of God’s abundance at work. Today, on Peanut Butter Sunday, we are focusing upon one of God’s great gifts to thousands of hungry people in this city, which is also one of God’s great gifts to this parish. For those of you visiting this Sunday, as the bulletin explains, each year we take up a special offering to help the Fish Program bring peanut butter and other food to the hungry. Many of you know the story of Fish. Those who come for food are fed without being questioned about their “worthiness for help.” No one spends energy filling out long Department of Agriculture forms and more hours compiling statistics to submit to a government agency. Fish is a story of constant, amazing miracles – food that has come out of nowhere, funds for new food pantries that have come time after time as miracles out of left field. And the gift to us? We are blessed by being able to witness, participate, and be spiritually moved and instructed by what we see. We are privileged, and I mean truly privileged, to see God at work in FISH and other ministries that take place here at Ascension.


IV. Conclusion. God is at work through us and in us. Here’s what I hope is your take-away from this sermon. When God is at work in us, we become a new people. It is impossible to remain untouched. We become more generous, we think in terms of what might happen, rather than what hasn’t happened, and we involve ourselves as action agents in miracles. I have recently read a book by Tom Gunnels titled Keep Your Lights On. His wife Frankie graciously gave me a copy. Tom was a pillar of this church. I regret that he left us before I came to Ascension. In the Foreward to his book (p. 13), Tom wrote that early in his life he observed three things that those who were successful had in common: “1) they focus on what they are doing; 2) they keep encouraging themselves; and 3) they maintain their enthusiasm.” To quote Tom, “I made a conscious decision to emulate those attitudes and began a quest that has led me to this book.”


I would like to lift up Tom’s voice this morning, the voice of one of our own. In whatever God calls us to do, let’s stay focused, encouraged, and enthused about our spiritual mission. This is critical to fully comprehend and accept the gifts that God is giving us and plans to give us in the future. Today we have both an opportunity and a gift. The opportunity is to generously support FISH; the gift is that we are able to come to this communion rail and give Christ our fears and our reservations -- whatever holds us back from fully living out our joyful abundant lives in the Kingdom of God. When your birthday comes and someone asks you, “What have you learned in this past year?” I hope you can answer enthusiastically, “God is good, I am blessed, and new miracles continue to happen in my life.” Amen.

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