Sunday, July 31, 2011

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

MATTHEW 14:13-23
I READ ABOUT SOME SHIPWRECKED PEOPLE WHO WERE ADRIFT IN THE OCEAN. THEY HAD BEEN WRINGING OUT THE SAIL TO GET A LITTLE WATER TO DRINK. THEY WERE DISCOVERED, NEARLY DEAD OF DEHYDRATION. THEY DIDN'T REALIZE THAT THEY WERE IN AN AREA WHERE THE AMAZON RIVER FLOWS INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN, AND THE RIVER WATER DISPLACES THE SALT WATER OUT TO ABOUT 100 MILES FROM SHORE. THEY COULD HAVE HAD ALL THE FRESH WATER THEY WANTED, JUST BY DROPPING A BUCKET IN THE SEA.
AS YOU KNOW, THERE ARE FOUR GOSPELS. THERE IS ONLY ONE MIRACLE WHICH APPEARS IN ALL FOUR, AND THAT IS THIS STORY OF THE FEEDING OF THE CROWD, OR THE MULTIPLICATION OF THE LOAVES AND FISHES. THE DIFFERENT GOSPEL WRITERS HAVE DIFFERENT NUMBERS OF PEOPLE BEING FED, DIFFERENT TIMES IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST, AND EVEN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS FOR THIS MIRACLE TO TAKE PLACE. IN FACT, IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, THE STORY IS TOLD TWICE; ONCE WITH FIVE LOAVES, AND THE OTHER WITH SEVEN. BUT TO THE EARLY CHURCH THERE MUST HAVE BEEN GREAT SIGNIFICANCE SINCE THE STORY WAS SO TREASURED.
THE GOSPEL WRITERS ARE ALWAYS USING THE EVENTS OF JESUS' LIFE TO ILLUSTRATE THEIR THEOLOGY. THEY PUT DIFFERENT WORDS INTO THE DISCIPLES MOUTHS. JESUS TELLS THEM TO FEED THE CROWD. LISTEN TO HOW THEY REPLY. IN THE OTHER MATTHEW STORY, THEY SAY, “WHERE COULD WE GET ENOUGH BREAD TO FEED THIS CROWD?” IN MARK, THEY SAY, “THAT WOULD TAKE MORE THAN A HALF-YEAR'S WAGES. ARE WE TO GO AND SPEND THAT MUCH ON BREAD AND GIVE IT TO THEM TO EAT?”IN LUKE, “WE HAVE ONLY FIVE LOAVES AND TWO FISH HERE. UNLESS WE GO AND BUY FOOD FOR THIS CROWD (THERE WERE ABOUT 5000 MEN.) AND IN JOHN THEY SAY, “HERE IS A BOY WITH FIVE BARLEY LOAVES AND TWO SMALL FISH, BUT HOW FAR WILL THAT GO AMONG SO MANY? NOTICE THAT IN EACH OF THESE ACCOUNTS, THE APOSTLES ANSWER THE REQUEST OF JESUS BY POINTING OUT HOW ABSURD IT IS. AND THAT IS UNFORTUNATE, BECAUSE WHEN JESUS GOES AHEAD AND WORKS THE MIRACLE, WE ARE IMPRESSED BY THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF IT, AND IT BECOMES JUST ANOTHER MIRACLE SHOWING THAT JESUS WAS GOD. BUT MAYBE TODAY'S GOSPEL CAN GIVE US A DIFFERENT TAKE ON WHAT IS GOING ON. JESUS, AFTER ALL, DIDN'T DO MIRACLES TO SHOW OFF.
IF YOU ARE A PERSON WHO READS THE NEWSPAPER OR WATCHES TELEVISION, YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH CURRENT EVENTS. AND IT'S VERY HARD TO BE FAMILIAR WITH WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE WORLD AND NOT FEEL TOTALLY HELPLESS. HOW'S THE WAR TO END POVERTY GOING? THE PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WHO ARE OFFICIALLY POOR HAS ONLY INCREASED. WHOLE COUNTRIES ARE FILLED WITH DISPLACED PERSONS, LIVING, IF YOU CAN CALL IT THAT, ON CHARITY WITH NO HOPE OF EVER MAKING A LIVING. WHOLE COUNTRIES ARE RULED BY DESPOTS WHO THINK NOTHING OF TURNING THEIR ARMIES ON THEIR OWN PEOPLE, SO POLITICAL FREEDOM IS DECLINING. PEOPLE CAN'T GET THE MEDICAL CARE THEY NEED, EVEN IN THIS THE RICHEST OF COUNTRIES. AND IF YOU HAVE CANCER IN ZIMBABWE, YOU WILL BE LUCKY TO GET MORPHINE TO HELP YOU BEAR YOUR PAIN. AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ON. OUR VALUES ARE COLLAPSING ALL AROUND US. TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE IS THREATENED. PRACTICING CATHOLICS ARE BECOMING FEWER AND OLDER. OUR POLITICAL SYSTEM SEEMS TO BE BROKEN. ALL THIS MAKES YOU WANT TO CRAWL INTO BED AND PULL THE BLANKET OVER YOUR HEAD.
THE APOSTLES MAY HAVE FELT LIKE THAT, A LITTLE. JESUS, THEY SAY, IT'S GETTING LATE. SEND THESE PEOPLE HOME. THE APOSTLES KNEW THE CROWD WAS GETTING HUNGRY. IN THOSE DAYS, PEOPLE USUALLY ATE ONE MEAL A DAY, AND THE TIME FOR THAT MEAL HAD LONG PASSED. AND JESUS SAYS, “YOU GUYS – YOU GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT.” AND MAYBE THERE WAS A SMILE ON HIS FACE AND A TWINKLE IN HIS EYE AS HE SAID THOSE WORDS. WAS HE TEASING THEM? MAYBE THE APOSTLES HEARD IT AS A JOKE. BUT THEN, SOMEONE REMEMBERED JESUS SAYING “WHATEVER YOU ASK THE FATHER IN MY NAME, IT SHALL BE GIVEN TO YOU.” AND “DON'T WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW. LOOK HOW THE BIRDS IN THE AIR AND THE LILIES OF THE FIELD ARE TAKEN CARE OF.” JESUS WAS ALWAYS TELLING THE APOSTLES THAT IF YOU LET GOD TAKE CARE OF THINGS, HE WOULD.
SO, IN MATTHEW'S STORY, WE DON'T HEAR THEM EXCLAIMING HOW IMPOSSIBLE IT IS TO FEED THIS CROWD. INSTEAD, THEY HAND OVER FIVE LOAVES AND TWO FISH. AND JESUS, IN AN ACTION THAT ANTICIPATES THE EUCHARISTIC BANQUET AT THE LAST SUPPER, BLESSED THE FOOD AND BROKE THE BREAD AND GAVE IT BACK TO HIS DISCIPLES, WHO BEGAN TO HAND IT OUT TO THE CROWD. AND AFTER FEEDING THIS CROWD, FAR LARGER THAN 5000 INDIVIDUALS, THERE WERE BASKETS OF FOOD LEFT OVER.
THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO IN THE WORLD. IT IS OUR TASK AS CHRISTIANS TO BUILD UP THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. BUT EVERYWHERE WE TURN, IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE. SO OUR TEMPTATION IS TO SAY, “THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN WILL COME ALONG AT THE END OF TIME” OR, “GOD WILL MAKE EVERYTHING RIGHT SOMEDAY, THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT NOW.” AND WE GO ON, CONVINCED THAT WHATEVER WE DO, IT WON'T BE ENOUGH.
BUT THE MIRACLE OF THE LOAVES AND THE FISHES REMINDS US THAT WE CAN SQUEEZE OUT A FEW DROPS OF WATER FROM THE SAIL OF OUR BOAT, NEVER ADEQUATE, NEVER ENOUGH; OR WE CAN DIP IN TO THE ABUNDANT FRESH WATER SURROUNDING US ON ALL SIDES – GOD, WHO MULTIPLIES WHATEVER WE DO IN HIS NAME.
THE MIRACLE OF THE LOAVES AND THE FISHES IS PRETTY SPECTACULAR, AND IF YOU BELIEVE THE MIRACLE HAPPENED, YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD, AS HE SAID HE WAS. BUT THE IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THIS MIRACLE IS THAT IF YOU DARE TO TAKE GOD UP ON HIS PROMISES, YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED. IF YOU SET OUT TO WORK FOR A BETTER WORLD – A MORE JUST WORLD, A BETTER EDUCATED WORLD, A CLEANER WORLD – IF YOU PUT SOME OF YOUR ENERGY AND RESOURCES INTO PREACHING THE GOSPEL, CARRYING OUT THE BEATITUDES – IN SHORT, IF YOU BEGIN TO DO THE WORK CHRIST DID, YOU WILL SEE RESULTS FAR BEYOND WHAT YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD ACCOMPLISH. BECAUSE GOD MADE PROMISES TO YOU AND I, PROMISES TO MULTIPLY AND PERFECT OUR EFFORTS, AND HE DARES YOU TO TAKE HIM UP ON THEM, JUST LIKE JESUS DARED HIS APOSTLES THERE IN THAT DESERTED PLACE.