Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 5, 2018, "What is the miracle?"

B Proper 13 18 Ord BFC 2018

John 6:24-35

August 5, 2018

            “Ok, let’s go over this again,” Jesus said, sighing.  “Tell me how the whole feeding of the crowd went.” 

          “Well,” Peter said, looking at the other disciples with some uncertainty, “there was this mob of people following us and we wondered where we were going to find enough food to feed all these people.  And you must have been wondering the same thing because you asked Phillip, ‘Where are we going to buy enough food for these people to eat?’  So I can see the look on Phillip’s face.’”

Peter stopped and looked at Jesus for approval.  The rabbi had made it clear they had not gotten the story right several times before.

          “Go on.”  Jesus said, nodding.

          “Ok, we all saw Phillip’s face, right?  He was like, ‘Are you seriously asking me to feed these people with what we have?’  Isn’t that what you were thinking, Phillip?”

          Phillip looked quickly at Jesus.  He didn’t want to get this wrong.  “Umm, no, you know, because I have this idea that Rabbi is going to come through and make it all happen.  I’ve got no doubts that the Rabbi has this covered.  I just knew that we couldn’t do it.”

          “Why couldn’t you do it?” Jesus screamed.

          Phillip pulled back perplexed, almost in tears.  “We didn’t have the money?!  But seriously, I knew you could do it.”

          Jesus continued, “This is not about feeding people one time.  If you don’t get this, you don’t get anything.  God is involved.”

          He looked at them, hoping they could understand.  “Here is another example.  Remember when our people were in the wilderness?”

          They all shook their heads quickly, eager to agree with their teacher.

          “How were they fed?” 

          “Moses!” several of them said, wanting to believe this was one of the certain answers, the givens.

          “No!” Jesus thundered.  “God provided that bread for our people.  That was only temporary though.  The bread spoiled.  They knew the wilderness was temporary.   We are in the wilderness now.  We have to figure out how to eat bread that lasts.  What I am trying to teach you is eternal.  It’s long-lasting.  It doesn’t spoil.  If you believe in what I am doing and what I am teaching you, we can do it again and again.  God endures.  We will endure.”

          He looked at them, so eager to want to get things right, but oblivious to all his teaching.  They had to get it right.  Their survival depended on it.

          Jesus tried again.  “Ok.  Let’s compare the two situations we’ve had over the last few days.  Today, the crowds came and how did it start.  What were the demands?” 

          Mary jumped in.  “They wanted you to feed them.  They were hungry again.  They turned to you and said, ‘Feed us.’”

          “Right!” Jesus said, and all of the disciples breathed a sigh of relief. 

          “So what happened the day before?”  Jesus asked.  “How did it start?”

          Phillip lunged forward with the answer, “You asked me how we are going to feed all these people.”

          “After that,” Jesus said.

          “I asked about how we were going to purchase food for all these people,” Phillip responded.

          “After that,” Jesus said, “that still doesn’t feed anybody.”

          They grew quiet.

          Andrew whispered.  “The boy.”

          “What?”  Jesus pointed at him.

          Andrew cleared his throat.  “There was a boy.”

          “Right!  Go on!”

          Andrew continued.  “This small boy had five loaves and two fish, and he offered to share.”

          “What was the boy’s name?  Did anybody find that out?”  Jesus asked.  Sheepishly, the disciples all threw up their hands.  They didn’t know.  “It might be good to find that out next time.  The boy should be remembered.  Anyway, was that me that started the whole thing?”  Jesus asked, hoping that was plain as day.

          A smattering of no’s and yeses came from the disciples, still not sure of the answer he wanted. 

          “No!” Jesus said.  “That was not me.”

          The disciples looked at each other to see if anyone else was picking up on this line of reasoning.

          “So what happened next?”

          Peter chimed in.  “You had us tell the crowd to sit down.  When we did that, we could see the crowd was even larger than we had thought before.”  They all shook their heads.  “Then, you gave thanks to God for the barley loaves and fish and had us distribute them.”

          “What do you think I was trying to do there?  What was I trying to say to the crowds, to all of us, even to me?”

          He knew the question was much more open-ended, but he hoped someone would come through.

          Levi, the former tax collector, spoke, “You were trying to say that we should always pray before we eat.”

          “But why do we pray?”  Jesus quickly asked.

          “We pray to say that God is involved.”  Mary said.

“Exactly!” Jesus said.  Another collective sigh of relief from the disciples.  “So reviewing, how did this begin?”  He pointed at Andrew. 

          “With a small boy.”  Andrew stated.

          “Yes, and tell me what the boy did.”  He pointed at Andrew.

          “He shared his loaves and fish.”

          “Yes!  And is God involved with this young boy?”

          Again, Peter spoke, “Well, after YOU said the prayer.”

          “Not after I said the prayer.  The prayer was confirming what we should already know.  Which is what?”  He pointed at Mary.

          “That God is involved.”

          “How else was God involved?  What did I have you do after I said the prayer?”

          “We distributed the loaves and the fish to the people.”  Andrew said.

          “Right!  So we have identified two times when God was involved.  What were those two times?”

          Andrew, on a roll, spoke more confidently, “When the boy offered his bread and fish, and when we distributed the bread and fish to the crowd.”

          “Good,” Jesus said.  Andrew smiled and looked around at the other disciples thinking himself to be the good pupil.  They did not return his smile.

          “So,” the Rabbi continued, “what did I do in that process?”

          “YOU said the prayer!”  Peter smiled, believing he had the next right answer.

          “Yes, yes, I said the prayer.  Did I do anything else?  Did I offer any bread or fish?  Did I distribute any bread or fish?  Did I collect any bread or fish?”

          Phillip spoke, trying to defend Jesus, “No, Rabbi, you weren’t involved in any of those things.  But I know we all would agree that you already do so much.”

          Jesus rolled his eyes.  “Ok, going back, what did you observe as you distributed the bread and fish out into the crowd.”

          “Do you mean, were people surprised or grateful?”  Mary asked.

          John, who had been hanging at the back of the group, stepped forward a little.  “Yeah, what I observed?  It was strange, you know?  Because once we started distributing the bread and the fish, other people opened up their purses and sacks, and clothing, would break off some food for themselves and their families, and then break off some to put in the baskets we were carrying.  Did anybody else see that?”

          Three or four of the disciples nodded.  They had seen that.

          “I saw that too, John.”  Jesus responded.  “Do you think God was involved in that?”

          “Sure.  I guess.  Why wouldn’t God be involved in that?  Is that what your prayer was trying to do?”

          “Not really, John.  My prayer was about what this boy was doing.  And what you did in knowing that you were going to distribute the bread.  I wanted to say that God was involved.  And thank God for having always worked in this way.  I also wanted you to remember that this is how God has always been involved.  That some people in the crowd followed that lead, that is the Bread of Life.   That endures.  If we could teach people that God is in this whole process, we would endure in this wilderness as God endures.  Moses taught people the way that God provides for them in the wilderness.  But it was God who provided.  Not Moses.  We are all afraid.  We are not sure where our next barley loaf or piece of fish might come from.  But if we do what we did yesterday, as a people, God will help us endure.”

          Phillip spoke up.  “Yes, but Rabbi, we believe you are greater than Moses.”

          “Shut up, Phillip.” Jesus snapped.

          Red-faced and with tears streaming down his face, Phillip took a step back.

          “So what happened after we collected up all the baskets and found them filled.  How did that happen?”

          “I assume the baskets were filled because people also shared what they had.” John said, shrugging his shoulders.

          “Right!”  Jesus said.  “Was that a miracle?”

          The disciples were not sure.  For many of them, this is not what they thought of as a conventional miracle.  They all knew the crowds had seen this differently, and so had the disciples before Jesus challenged them.

          “The boy offered, we distributed, and the crowd shared.  With all the fear and anxiety that exists in our time, this is the Bread of Life.  Is that a miracle?”

          Phillip thought he had the answer but did not dare respond.

          “Rome showers bread at many of its circuses to suggest that Caesar and Jupiter are gods.  They are the ones who provide for you.  That is their process.  From on high, they seek to devour you.”

Jesus looked for understanding in their eyes but did not see it.  “Who truly provides for you?  What is the process of the one who provides for you?  Does this provider care for humankind in a different way?”

He could tell they didn’t understand.  He shook his head and said, “Think on these things.  They are important.  Remember:  a boy who offered, you who distributed, a crowd that shared, and you who collected.  I was not involved.  I just said this whole process, that’s the way God is involved.  That’s all I did.  And your baskets were full in the end.  How did the miracle happen?”

“The crowd came again today, full of hunger, looking for me to feed them.  Why didn’t I feed them?  Was the miracle in me or in them?”

“Regardless, Rabbi, you lead the way and are the light to the path.” Mary said, trying to understand.

“That may be true, Mary, but what happened when we collected the baskets and the crowds could see they were full?  What was the crowd ready to do?”

“We heard cries about you being the prophet and the Anointed One.  They were ready to crown you as king.”  Mary said.

The disciples nodded.  They had heard the same. 

“But you left!” cried Phillip, “Why did you leave?”

“But Phillip,” Jesus said, exasperated, “what did I do?”

“YOU said the prayer,” Peter repeated.

“I said the prayer.”  Jesus looked at all of them, all of them waiting for him to tell them the right answer.  He shook his head.  “Let’s get some sleep.  It’s been a long two days.”  Amen.