JOHN 6:1-15
DO YOU REMEMBER LAST
WEEK'S GOSPEL, WHEN JESUS SAW THE CROWD AND THOUGHT OF THEM AS SHEEP
WITHOUT A SHEPHERD? THAT WAS FROM MARK. TODAY'S GOSPEL SWITCHES
OVER TO JOHN. HAD WE READ ON IN MARK, WE WOULD HAVE HEARD HIS STORY
OF THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND ON THE SHORES OF THE SEA OF
GALILEE. MARK'S STORY IS STRAIGHTFORWARD; WHEN THE APOSTLES WORRY
ABOUT THE CROWD BEING HUNGRY, JESUS TELLS THEM, “YOU FEED THEM.”
AND THEY PROTEST THAT IT WOULD TAKE 200 DAYS WAGES JUST TO GIVE
EVERYONE A LITTLE BIT. AND HE ASKS THEM WHAT THEY HAVE, AND THEY
TELL HIM FIVE LOAVES AND TWO FISH. AND THE REST, WELL, YOU KNOW.
NOW JOHN TAKES THE SAME EVENT, WHICH YOU HEARD DESCRIBED IN TODAY'S
GOSPEL. HE ADDS SOME THINGS WHICH HE MUST THINK ARE IMPORTANT.
PHILIP QUESTIONS JESUS, “WHERE CAN WE BUY ENOUGH FOOD FOR THEM TO
EAT?” AND ANDREW FINDS A YOUNG BOY WHO HAS FIVE LOAVES AND TWO
FISH, PRESENTS HIM TO JESUS, AND REMARKS, “BUT WHAT GOOD ARE THESE
FOR SO MANY? AND YOU KNOW THE REST. NOW MARK LEAVES IT AT THAT.
BUT JOHN GOES ON TO DESCRIBE THE REACTION OF THE CROWD, WHO SAY,
“THIS IS TRULY THE PROPHET!” AND TELLS US THAT THEY WANTED TO
MAKE HIM KING, SO HE WITHDREW.
I THINK OLD JOHN THE
GOSPEL WRITER OFTEN DESCRIBES THE ATTITUDES OF PEOPLE AROUND JESUS SO
THAT WE CAN ASK, IS THAT ME?
JESUS WANTS TO FEED THE
CROWD. OBVIOUSLY HE COULD HAVE JUST HAD MANNA COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN,
OR WAVE HIS HANDS AND HAVE EVERYONE SUDDENLY FIND A BIG MAC IN THEIR
HANDS. HE WAS, AFTER ALL, GOD. BUT THAT HASN'T QUITE SUNK IN WITH
PHILIP, THE ONE WHO LATER SAYS TO JESUS, “SHOW US THE FATHER AND
THAT WILL BE ENOUGH FOR US.” PHILIP IS WELL AWARE OF SHORTAGE, OF
NEED. THIS SEEMS TO BE THE FIRST REACTION WE HAVE WHEN WE FACE A
TASK, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT HAS TO DO WITH A RELIGIOUS PROJECT. THERE
ARE A LOT OF GOOD IDEAS THAT NEVER GET IMPLEMENTED BECAUSE AFTER THE
IDEA IS DESCRIBED, THE NEXT QUESTION IS, WHERE ARE WE GOING TO GET
THE MONEY? AND OF COURSE THE OTHER QUESTION, “WHO IS GOING TO DO
IT?” AND THEN WE DECIDE MAYBE WE WILL PUT THIS ON THE BACK BURNER
UNTIL ANOTHER TIME. PHILIP SEES A GREAT IDEA – FEEDING THE FIVE
THOUSAND – AND ASKS, WHERE'S THE MONEY? WHICH IS ANOTHER WAY OF
SAYING, “WE CAN'T DO IT.”
ANDREW IS SKEPTICAL. HE
KNOWS THAT JESUS CAN WORK WONDERS, BUT SURELY THERE MUST BE A LIMIT
TO WHAT EVEN HE CAN ACCOMPLISH. ANDREW HAS WITNESSED THE MIRACULOUS
CATCH OF FISH; HE'S SEEN INNUMERABLE HEALINGS AND DRIVING OUT DEMONS;
HE WAS THERE WHEN THE WATER WAS CHANGED INTO WINE AT CANA. BUT THAT
WAS THEN, AND THIS IS NOW. WE CATHOLICS HAVE A LOT TO BE PROUD OF.
WITHIN THE LIFETIMES OF SOME OF US, THERE WERE THRIVING ORDERS OF
SISTERS TEACHING IN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS. BECAUSE TEACHING FOR THEM WAS
MINISTRY, AND BECAUSE THEY CHOSE TO LIVE A LIFE OF POVERTY, IT WAS
POSSIBLE FOR NEARLY EVERY CATHOLIC KID TO GET A CATHOLIC EDUCATION.
THANK GOD I AM NOT A KID TODAY. MY PARENTS WOULD HAVE NEVER SENT ME
TO CATHOLIC SCHOOL, NOT WITH THE TUITION AS HIGH AS IT IS. AND SAY
WHAT YOU WILL, BUT LEARNING MY RELIGION ALONG WITH SCIENCE AND MATH
AND HISTORY WAS A WONDERFUL THING; FROM MY EARLIEST DAYS, I SAW
RELIGION AS WORTH LEARNING, NOT SOMETHING THAT HAD TO BE ENDURED
UNTIL I MADE MY CONFIRMATION. AND EDUCATION WAS JUST ONE OF THE
THINGS CATHOLICS DID WELL; THERE WERE HOSPITALS, ORPHANAGES, HOMES
FOR UNWED MOTHERS, COLLEGES, SPECIAL MINISTRIES TO NATIVE AMERICANS
AND AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH, AND OF COURSE, MISSIONARIES FROM
OUR CHURCH WERE BUSY BRINGING CHRIST TO THE WORLD, ALONG WITH HELPING
PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD ACHIEVE A BETTER LIFE. CATHOLIC
MISSIONARIES WERE ALWAYS AWARE THAT BEFORE YOU CAN WIN A SOUL, YOU
HAVE TO FEED A BODY.
WE CATHOLICS HAVE A LOT
TO BE PROUD OF; BUT TODAY? WE ARE LIKE ANDREW, SKEPTICAL THAT WE CAN
MAKE A DIFFERENCE; WE FORGET THAT WE HAVE THE SAME STARTING POINT AS
THOSE CATHOLICS OF OLD, WHO BUILT CATHEDRALS WITH PENNIES.
AND THEN THERE IS THE
BOY. IT IS IMPLIED IN THE STORY THAT HE WAS THE ONE WHO WAS WILLING
TO GIVE HIS LOAVES AND FISH TO JESUS TO HELP FEED THE CROWD. HE
DIDN'T SAY, “THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE” NOR DID HE SAY, “THIS IS TOO
MUCH EVEN FOR YOU, LORD.” AND JESUS WORKS AN INCREDIBLE, AWESOME
MIRACLE, THAT MAKES THE PEOPLE REMEMBER ELISHA THE PROPHET, AND MOVE
THEM TO WANT HIM TO RULE OVER THEM.
BUT THERE IS ONE MORE
THING. THERE WERE TWELVE BASKETS OF FRAGMENTS LEFT OVER. TWELVE
BASKETS.
WHAT STARTED OUT AS
SCARCITY ENDS UP WITH SUPERABUNDANCE. OLD JOHN, THE GOSPEL WRITER,
HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE JESUS WALKED THE EARTH AND OVER THE SIXTY YEARS
OR SO SINCE THEN, HE HAS WITNESSED THE IMPOSSIBLE HAPPEN. A FEW JEWS
IN JERUSALEM WHO BECAME FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST WENT OUT INTO THE WORLD,
AND NOW THERE WERE CHRISTIANS IN PRACTICALLY EVERY SIGNIFICANT TOWN
IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE; AS WELL AS UP AND DOWN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA,
AND EGYPT, AND PERSIA, AND INDIA. WE OFTEN THINK OF SAINT PAUL AS A
GREAT MISSIONARY, AND HE WAS; BUT THERE MUST HAVE BEEN MANY, MANY
MORE LIKE HIM WHO DID NOT WRITE LETTERS THAT WERE SAVED FOR
POSTERITY, TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS GROWTH. VARIOUS HISTORIANS HAVE
ESTIMATED HOW MANY CHRISTIANS WERE AROUND IN 100 AD. THE ESTIMATES
RANGE FROM 25,000 TO 800,000. BUT BY 300 AD, THE FIGURE IS MUCH
BETTER KNOWN; ABOUT ONE IN FIFTEEN PERSONS WHO LIVED IN THE ROMAN
EMPIRE ALONE WERE CHRISTIAN, ABOUT FOUR MILLION SOULS. WHEN JOHN
WROTE HIS GOSPEL, THOUGH, THE GROWTH OF THE CHURCH WAS ONE THING, BUT
TO GROW IN SPITE OF CONSTANT PERSECUTION AND EVEN WHEN THERE WERE
PERIODIC ATTEMPTS TO WIPE OUT THE CHURCH BY EXECUTING ITS MEMBERS –
THAT WAS THE REAL MIRACLE.
SO WHAT IS JOHN TELLING
US? THAT WHEN SOMETHING IMPOSSIBLE NEEDS TO BE DONE, WE CAN BE LIKE
PHILIP, AND SIMPLY SAY WE DON'T HAVE WHAT WE NEED, SO LET'S NOT
BOTHER; OR WE CAN BE LIKE ANDREW, AND UNDERTAKE THE TASK AT HAND WITH
HALF A HEART AND PESSIMISM, BECAUSE THINGS AREN'T LIKE THEY WERE IN
THE GOOD OLD DAYS; OR WE CAN BE LIKE THE LITTLE BOY, WHO GIVES ALL
THAT HE HAS TO JESUS, AND TRUSTS THAT JESUS WILL SEE THE WORK THROUGH
IN HIS OWN GOOD TIME. AND PERHAPS ONLY A LITTLE CHILD CAN DO THIS,
ONLY A LITTLE CHILD CAN STILL HAVE FAITH THAT GOD CAN DO THE
IMPOSSIBLE.
AND JESUS TOLD US THAT WE
HAD TO BECOME LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN. SO TODAY, WE NEED TO ASK
OURSELVES WHETHER WE HAVE THE FAITH OF A LITTLE CHILD, SO THAT WE
CAN PUT ALL WE HAVE IN JESUS' HANDS AND LET HIM WORK A MIRACLE FOR
US.
