Image from https://devotionsbylv.blogspot.com/2016/11/john-61-21.html

We have been making our way through the Gospel of John where, among other things,

          Jesus is doing signs–mysterious, miraculous signs, that raise a lot of questions

In today’s passage we have the recounting of two such signs:

          The feeding of the 5000 (one of the few events recounted in all 4 gospels)     

          And Jesus walking on water (also familiar from other gospels)

Like John’s telling of the story a few weeks ago

          of Jesus overturning the money changers’ tables at the temple,

          where that event begins, rather than ends, John’s Gospel,

John tells these stories in his own way to illuminate his understanding of Jesus

          Accentuating the contrast between darkness (Nic coming at night)

                                                                       & light (the Samaritan woman at the well at midday)

          Addressing what it means to meet Jesus

                                                                        be with, and remain with, Jesus

                                                                        & for Jesus to be with, remain with, us

          And to help us to understand who Jesus is   

                                                                who is this true light that enlightens everyone?

Later in John 6, Jesus is the bread of life

          But not yet; not in the first half the chapter that we have today

Instead, we have almost another “prologue”—               

          an intro/prelude/lead-in/foregrounding of what will follow

          to Jesus as the bread-of-life

                    which we will address next Communion Sunday

                                                           for the 1st Sunday of Lent

Did you catch the communion-type words in this passage?

          “Jesus took the loaves,

          and when he had given thanks,

          he distributed them to those who were seated.”

Although the stories of the feeding of the multitudes are named in Presbyterian theology

          as significant for understanding the Lord’s Supper

And although I included them in my dissertation on the Lord’s Supper

          I don’t think I have ever preached on them at communion

And this reality goes to the fact that most of us were raised

          with a cross-oriented understanding of communion

          with a focus on the Supper as happening “on the night when Jesus was betrayed”

          with an emphasis on the Last Supper more than on the Wedding Banquet

          with an air of penitence rather than of celebration and thanksgiving

          centering more on crucifixion than on resurrection (or the incarnation)

But one of the gifts of ritual, of communion, of the gift of bread and cup is that it is “multi-valent”

          That is, ritual means more than any one thing

           It even means more than can be expressed in words

          (Or maybe we would just leave it in words and not do anything)

And this morning we take up the superabundance side of this ritual

          The more-than-enough

                  overflowing

                  abundanza aspect of it

And, frankly, this is not often where we live

          We are well-schooled in scarcity and frugalness

          In not giving too much

                 or asking too much

                 or taking too much

What would it mean to take seriously this story of more-than-enough

          Of 5 loaves and 2 fish(es) feed 5000 with 12 basketsful of leftover after everyone’s full

          Of the One whose very presence; whose very essence banishes fear

          “I AM—do not be afraid.”

The word for “left,” for “leftovers” in vv 12 & 13 doesn’t mean things just accidentally left over

          Instead it means more than enough to begin with

          It means so much to begin with that even after 5000 people have eaten their fill

                    There’s more

It means to superabound in quantity and quality

                     go/be above and beyond

                     go beyond the expected measure/fixed number/measure

                     to be/have extra; to have more than enough; to have enough and to spare

                     to exceed, excel, redound

As in Debra Latture’s Lavish Buffet at Christmastime

As in Ephesians 3, where God gives more than all we can ask or imagine

As in Babette’s Feast, where a refugee French chef spends her unexpected windfall to feed the town that has received her

What do you think of when you think of the word “Prodigal”?

Usually used to name describe the son who recklessly spends his early-received fortune

          the story actually holds up the Prodigal Father

The Father who celebrates the return of the lost

                              goes way beyond just receiving his son back as a servant

                                        receiving him as a son, an honored one, a celebrated guest

                              gives without counting the cost/asking in return

What if we meet the cries to protect our own interests, our own resources, our own ways

          by giving generously?

          by participating joyfully?

          by sharing lavishly?

Not because we are martyrs or saviors of the world

                       or because we believe we are the only ones who can help

But because we believe in a Prodigal Father begetting a Prodigal Son

A Son who gives himself to and for us

A Son who give himself to and for the world

A Son who gives so lavishly

                                    profusely

                                    generously

                                    and abundantly

So much so that it can be critiqued as too extra; as giving

           too wastefully

           too recklessly

           too extravagantly

So that what we have

              what we share

              who we are is blessed and broken and distributed

                       that all may eat their fill

                       with more than enough. Amen.

Let us pray….