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Proper 13, Year A
August 4, 2002
Christ Church, Covington
“And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of
the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five
thousand men, besides women and children” (Matt. 14:20-21).
When is a cigar just a cigar? Well, in the great symbolic world of the
Scriptures (like the world of The Interpretation of Dreams) the answer is
that though cigars are not mentioned, fairly common things often do have
deeper meanings. Bread is a great symbol in the world of the Scriptures, a
mighty metaphor for obvious reasons. Bread is one of the building blocks
of human civilization, in its sustaining of life and in its fostering of
community. So it is that in feeding the crowd gathered round him Jesus
does more than simply satisfy their hunger.
Make no mistake: the story is plainly miraculous. It is not a “stone soup”
story in which the disciples and the crowd learn to share food they’d been
hoarding for themselves. Whatever else is meant by it, the story is
intended to convey to us that Jesus Christ is doing something unusual
here; showing his credentials you might say. Yet there is also more
happening, and that something is what we’re about today.
Part of the key to the meaning here is in an earlier episode from the
history of Israel, recounted again in our first reading. This reading
takes the form of a confession of faith, a creed if you will, in which the
People of God remember all that YHWH has done for them and commit
themselves anew to trust in God. This is the God who brought them out of
slavery in Egypt and brought them to the Promised Land. This is the God
who forgave them their sins when they were faithless and who was faithful
to them in spite of them. This is the God who sustained them in the
Wilderness with manna, providing for them food enough.
The bread with which Jesus feeds the crowd is this same bread. Jesus shows
his power to sustain them; he makes those who follow him and trust in him
a People. In feeding the crowd Jesus becomes the living presence of YHWH,
in the midst of the People as shepherd and guide. Bread is much more than
bread here, but a symbol of God’s presence and power.
The feeding of the five thousand in our Gospel reading contains its own
invitation to us. It is an invitation to put our trust in God who is able
to sustain us, even though our resources are small and inadequate. That’s
the point: our resources are never enough, yet God provides what we need.
God is the giver of good gifts which exceed our expectations, as the
disciples’ expectations were exceeded in the feeding of the crowd. “We
have nothing here but five loaves and two fish” (Matt. 14:17), the
disciples tell Jesus. They cannot see their way forward, yet God can lead
them in the right way and supply their need. So, too, can Jesus lead us
and give us what we need.
Our Gospel also invites us to share what we have been given. The gifts of
God are not possessions to be acquired, goods to be stored up. “They need
not go away; you give them something to eat” (Matt. 14:16). Hospitality,
and sharing what has been given by God, is central to this story, and
central to its meaning for us. In the community of God’s People, those who
are called by God will share what God has given with each other. The
community which is being led by God will be led to share what it has with
those who are outside.
Trusting God in his gifts and then sharing his gifts constitute profound
stewardship issues. As individuals and as a parish we need to learn the
lessons the disciples learned as they learned to trust Jesus and share the
gifts they’d been given. We have gifts to share as well; gifts that will
make possible the mission of the Church as we reach out into our
community. God has made us stewards of his gifts, as we learn to trust him
and share those gifts.
Jesus feeds the crowd with the bread that comes from God, showing through
this great symbol that he is able to provide for us in all things.
The Rev’d John Bauerschmidt is Rector of Christ Church, Covington.
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