August 5, 2020
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Sunday, August 2, 2020
Bring what you have. August 2, 2020 The Rev. Kathleen M. Sturges
Mathew 14:13-21
We’ve been hearing a lot of parables lately. The
Kingdom of Heaven is like a sower or a mustard seed or a hidden treasure. And
with those parables comes the good news of God’s abundant energy of love that
turns out to be everywhere. But today we turn from parable to miracle with
Matthew’s version of the feeding of the 5,000 which, for many of us moderns, is
harder to grasp. Because, come on, the suggestion that bread and fish
miraculously multiply over and over again seems more like a children’s fantasy
or some kind of wish fulfillment. Certainly not something that is grounded in
reality.
Or is it? Because unlike parables that are really
stand-alone vignettes, miracle stories and, in particular, this miracle story
doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It takes place in the midst of real life. Our
reading begins, “When Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a
deserted place by himself.” What did Jesus hear, you might wonder? Well, what
he had just heard was devastating news. His cousin, John the Baptist, had been
murdered. Beheaded by King Herod. No wonder Jesus wanted to be alone. But that
was not to be. Because when Jesus comes ashore to what he thought was a
deserted place he sees that the crowd had beaten him there.
Yet instead of feeling resentment towards the masses,
Jesus is filled with compassion - an abundance of compassion that never grows
weary. So he gets to work. Healing the sick, making people whole until evening
comes and the disciples interrupt with a growing concern. “It’s getting late,”
they point out to Jesus, “and here we are out in the middle of nowhere. People
need to eat. Why don’t you send them away so they can fend for themselves?” And
to my mind, this is Jesus’ out. He could justifiably send them all away and
finally have some time to himself. But instead he wants the people to stay and
invites the disciples to address the need. But their resources are woefully
inadequate - five loaves of bread and two fish for thousands of people is
basically nothing at all. Yet Jesus takes what they have, blesses it, and, lo
and behold, it turns out to be not just enough, but more than enough with
leftovers to boot.
How did it happen? By supernatural intervention? Or,
perhaps, something more along the lines of people being inspired to share? We
don’t know. But what we do know is that as all those people ate and had their
fill the abundant energy of God’s love was at work. A parable brought to life -
the Kingdom of Heaven coming near. Now did that mean that everyone’s life was
fixed once and for all? No. John the Baptist was still dead. Jesus and others
would still grieve. Stomachs were full for the night, but they would be hungry
again. The oppression of Rome still weighed heavy on everyone's life. Even when
the Kingdom of Heaven came near, life was far from perfect. Yet in that
particular place, on that particular evening the blessing of God’s abundant
love was more than enough.
And that’s the way it happens. In the midst of our
particular lives, with all of its unique messes, struggles, and problems,
that’s where the Kingdom of Heaven happens. So what is it right now that you
need? Where in your life does it seem that you don’t have the resources?
Perhaps you may feel that you don’t have enough energy or patience or hope in
these times? Or maybe your need is pretty concrete, like not having enough
income or child care or physical strength and vitality? Whatever your need,
Jesus does not weary of it. He is filled with deep compassion. And he invites
you to bring it all to him - your need to him and whatever resources you have,
even if it is only a paltry five loaves and two fish in the face of thousands.
Because here’s how you can experience the Kingdom of
God happening in your life: Bring what you have. Offer it to God. Let God in
Christ take it. Bless it. And in return give back to you the abundant energy of
God’s love - a love which can take a variety of forms, from a specific answer
to prayer, to a sense of peace in the midst of uncertainty, to bread in the
face of hunger.
But whatever form it takes that energy of love, that
flow of blessing, is not just for you or for me alone. Just as the disciples
passed out what had been given to them we are to share what is given to us. For
the most miraculous thing about the Kingdom of Heaven is that the best way to
experience it - the abundance, the blessing, the love - is to share it. It is
in the sharing that it is multiplied. And as we let that energy of God’s love
fill us and flow through us we will find that, lo and behold, what we have
turns out to be not just enough, but more than enough with leftovers to boot.
Sunday, July 26, 2020
Thursday, July 23, 2020
Keep calm and carry on. July 19, 2020 The Rev. David M. Stoddart
Genesis 28:10-19a; Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
I am drinking my caffeinated coffee this
morning with a mug that reads, “Keep Calm and Carry On.” That phrase has become
a cultural meme, with many variations like “Keep Calm and Eat Chocolate,” “Keep
Calm and Call Dad,” and even “Keep Calm and Play Rugby.” But originally it was
a poster printed in the United Kingdom in 1939 to encourage the British people
at the outset of World War II. It’s tone is very English, of course, but we are
Anglicans after all, and it has been on my mind a lot as I have sat with these
readings today, all of which are marvelous.
And let me begin with Romans. The Apostle
Paul’s life is filled with hardship and suffering. And he looks around him and
sees a tumultuous world and a small church struggling to survive. But he does
not conclude that everything is going to hell in a handbasket. Rather he sees
it all as part of the process of giving birth to new life: We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until
now. That’s a striking image: labor pains are intense (or so I’ve been
told) and the process of giving birth is arduous and painful. As Paul sees it,
God is slowly giving birth to a new world, a world that hasn’t been fully
realized yet but will be. And how are people to live in such a time? Well, he
writes, For in hope we were saved. Now
hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope
for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Yes, the world is in
tumult, but God is working God’s purposes out. Goodness and love will prevail.
So keep calm and carry on.
There’s a similar feel in the parable
Jesus tells today. Some enemy has sown bad seed among the wheat. The workers
are upset: they want to go dig out all the weeds and fix everything right away.
But the owner says no, that will damage the wheat as well. Everything will be
sorted out at harvest time. There is no reason to panic and overreact. Keep
calm and carry on.
Now obviously our own world is also
tumultuous, with challenges hitting us at every level. So the message of calm
perseverance is as timely and relevant as ever. I don’t need to list all the
problems we face, nor do I need to elaborate on the divisions and strife among
people as we struggle with them. The Bible doesn’t tell us to do nothing in
such a time: certainly Jesus and Paul worked hard, and there is much for the
church to do when the world is in such distress. But the Bible does say not to
panic and not to fear. Whatever we do, we do not need to act in desperation or
despair. There is a reason why we can stay hopeful and not panic; there’s a
reason why we can keep calm and carry on. And I think that reason is simply and
beautifully illustrated in our first reading from Genesis.
Jacob is also in tumult. After cheating
his brother Esau out of his rightful blessing, he is fleeing for his life. And
it’s at this critical moment when he is alone and afraid that God appears to
him in a dream. And Jacob has this remarkable epiphany: Surely the LORD is in this place — and I did not know it. Jacob’s
world has been turned upside down, but he is able to carry on because he comes
to see, in a profound way, that God really is with him and that God will be
faithful and will fulfill the promises God has made.
We want to resist the temptation of being
faithful believers on Sunday morning and then functional atheists the rest of
the week, people who act as if God is nowhere to be found. One of the reasons
we gather on Sunday mornings is to remind ourselves of the truth, which is that
even now God is working her purposes out. We are living through a difficult and
challenging time, no question, but we have not been forsaken and God has not
been defeated. So I ask you: how might this coming week be different if we look
around us and see not just uncertainty and confusion but the birth pains of new
life, a life of deeper caring and greater justice? How might our days be better
if we take Jacob’s epiphany to heart: Surely the Lord is in this place — even
when we fail to see it?
This is not a call to passivity: we need
to act. We need to love and support each other as a church. We need to work for
greater justice in our society. We need to be signs of hope to a hurting world.
But if that world looks at us, who claim to have faith, and sees people acting
out of fear or denial, as if God had somehow disappeared from the scene, then
we really have nothing to offer. Far better to follow Jesus and act with hope
and quiet confidence, as he calls us to do. So in the Spirit of Christ, and
remembering the example of Jacob and Paul, I encourage you to keep calm and
carry on. God is with us.
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Sunday, July 19, 2020
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