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….
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