Pentecost 12 year A Sermon
Matthew 14:13-21 Jesus’ way is different
Title slide
Ok here’s a test... what’s was happening just before our gospel story today begins....
Who can tell me before anyone else can? Tha's right John the Baptist is beheaded.
Absolute power has been wielded...
Just because it can be.
A man’s head... is delivered on a plate...
to a pouting teenager... like a birthday present.
A life is taken without mercy… for no other reason...
than the king wishes it... to be so…
Absolute power. Unrestrained power…power exercised without accountability… the power of tyrants and bullies…the power to take human life...the power to use human bodies as playthings... or objects or tools....
or units of production…
Power maintained by fear... and by force.
Yes...Jesus cousin... is brutally beheaded by King Herod on a whim. And Matthew’s Gospel tells us…
Slide words reveal sentences separately
‘… when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there...
in a boat... to a deserted place by himself.
But when the crowds heard it, they followed Jesus on foot…and he had compassion for them and healed their sick.’
The contrast is sharp and startling…
and I’m sure our story teller... hopes we’ll notice…
There’s Herod... exercising the power to take life…
and Jesus... exercising the power to heal. [pause]
At the very time... when Jesus’ grief and anger…
at the death of his cousin... would be the most intense…
Jesus… does not run toward Herod’s palace... demanding revenge …
Nor… does he run away... from the fearful crowds...
who seek the comfort of his presence. [peace]
Instead…Jesus shows compassion for the people...
and busies himself with healing. Instead of calling for rebellion... Jesus asks the people to sit down where they are… Instead of commanding the people to serve him…
Jesus instructs his disciples… to serve the people…
The contrast between Jesus way and Herod’s way couldn’t be greater. Even as he grieves…
Jesus model…embodies…incarnates…
a different way… in fundamental contrast…
to the powers and principalities of force and fear and exclusion…
and Jesus clearly expects his disciples… to do the same. [pause]
But it seems they don’t understand Jesus’ way just yet...
they aren’t used to it... and they grizzle.
As it grows late... the disciples nag Jesus...
to send the hungry people away... to buy food in the village.
But Jesus' response is blunt and to the point:
"They don’t need to go away.
You give them something to eat."
Now instead of gladly sharing what they have…
Jesus disciples… are annoyed at having to dig into their own meager resources ...to feed the hungry crowds…Hey!
‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish!’
But while the disciples are busy…
complaining there won’t be enough to go round …Jesus… is busy...taking action. Jesus checks to see what food is actually available, organizes the crowd, blesses the food, and supervises the distribution…
And our storyteller…Matthew… is careful to report…not that something "supernatural" occurs,
But that "they all ate and were satisfied".
Of course we can’t miss the allusion...
to God feeding the Israelites in the wilderness
But when Matthew...shows Jesus feeding the multitudes right after Herod’s atrocity... what strikes me most ...
is the incredibly sharp contrast Matthew paints... between the powers and principalities of death...
and the life giving way...the life sustaining way... revealed by Jesus... [pause]
Matthew’s is keen to show us just how different...
Jesus way is...to the two dominant powers in 1st century Galilee...two powers…the Pharisees and the Herodians.
Now, while the Pharisees kept their distance…
Jesus made friends… with the unclean the sinner and the gentile foreigners.
While the other power… the Herodians… promoted cultural assimilation and collaboration with the Rome and its values. Jesus cousin John the Baptist…
had tangled with the Herodians and lost.
But Jesus shows us that in the kingdom of God…
there will be cooperation to with neither of these ways.
But Jesus disciples don’t understand.
Throughout the gospels...each time a story’s told…
of Jesus feeding people in the wilderness...
his disciples first reaction is despair…
nothing can be done… to solve this problem...
we don’t have enough... send them away…
But Jesus insists the problem can’t simply be
"sent away". And what’s more…Jesus is adamant...
the problem… belongs to his disciples.
They are to share their resources... with the people…
they are to serve the crowd… and they’re to trust Jesus’ judgment...that in the end… they will have enough. [pause]
Jesus shows his disciples... there are possibilities...
they’d never dreamed of. Jesus says, ‘no we wont send them away…we’ll all eat together…
we’ll share what we have with them. [pause]
The power of tyrants and bullies...can only be maintained... by force and by fear. The gulf between the haves and have nots... can only be maintained...
by a refusal to share resources.
Jesus understood both. And in refusing to be co-opted by either one... Jesus demonstrates a kind of power that can’t be overcome by death or terror, apartheid or prejudice, selfishness or greed.
Jesus demonstrates another kind of power...the power of love…of compassion mercy and forgiveness. The power of hope… of the coming of God’s kingdom on earth... when everyone will be filled…and resources will be shared with justice and equality. The power of Shalom. [pause]
The world still has its bullies and its tyrants who wield unrestrained political and economic power…I’m sure you can name a those in the news today…
And we live on another lakeshore...where people are still hungry... not for food… but for kindness and compassion... hungry for hope in a confusing and chaotic world... hungry for spiritual bread and meat...
longing for healing in their relationships...
My friends…do we have eyes… to see Jesus’ vision of the kingdom... If we are Jesus disciples do we get it…do we understand? Have we assessed the resources…we have to share? What are the possibilities Jesus is trying to show us…as a church...here at the ends of the earth?
Can we trust there will be enough? Can we serve as Jesus demanded? Can we be the very Body of Christ for our community? What would it look like if we were?
Could the crowd look at us… and know that Christ has truly risen? My prayer is that they will.
I am indebted to an article by Ched Myers. Sojourners Magazine, May 1987 entitled The Miracle of One Loaf for the reference to the dominant powers in Galilean society.
Matthew 14:13-21 Jesus’ way is different
Title slide
Ok here’s a test... what’s was happening just before our gospel story today begins....
Who can tell me before anyone else can? Tha's right John the Baptist is beheaded.
Absolute power has been wielded...
Just because it can be.
A man’s head... is delivered on a plate...
to a pouting teenager... like a birthday present.
A life is taken without mercy… for no other reason...
than the king wishes it... to be so…
Absolute power. Unrestrained power…power exercised without accountability… the power of tyrants and bullies…the power to take human life...the power to use human bodies as playthings... or objects or tools....
or units of production…
Power maintained by fear... and by force.
Yes...Jesus cousin... is brutally beheaded by King Herod on a whim. And Matthew’s Gospel tells us…
Slide words reveal sentences separately
‘… when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there...
in a boat... to a deserted place by himself.
But when the crowds heard it, they followed Jesus on foot…and he had compassion for them and healed their sick.’
The contrast is sharp and startling…
and I’m sure our story teller... hopes we’ll notice…
There’s Herod... exercising the power to take life…
and Jesus... exercising the power to heal. [pause]
At the very time... when Jesus’ grief and anger…
at the death of his cousin... would be the most intense…
Jesus… does not run toward Herod’s palace... demanding revenge …
Nor… does he run away... from the fearful crowds...
who seek the comfort of his presence. [peace]
Instead…Jesus shows compassion for the people...
and busies himself with healing. Instead of calling for rebellion... Jesus asks the people to sit down where they are… Instead of commanding the people to serve him…
Jesus instructs his disciples… to serve the people…
The contrast between Jesus way and Herod’s way couldn’t be greater. Even as he grieves…
Jesus model…embodies…incarnates…
a different way… in fundamental contrast…
to the powers and principalities of force and fear and exclusion…
and Jesus clearly expects his disciples… to do the same. [pause]
But it seems they don’t understand Jesus’ way just yet...
they aren’t used to it... and they grizzle.
As it grows late... the disciples nag Jesus...
to send the hungry people away... to buy food in the village.
But Jesus' response is blunt and to the point:
"They don’t need to go away.
You give them something to eat."
Now instead of gladly sharing what they have…
Jesus disciples… are annoyed at having to dig into their own meager resources ...to feed the hungry crowds…Hey!
‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish!’
But while the disciples are busy…
complaining there won’t be enough to go round …Jesus… is busy...taking action. Jesus checks to see what food is actually available, organizes the crowd, blesses the food, and supervises the distribution…
And our storyteller…Matthew… is careful to report…not that something "supernatural" occurs,
But that "they all ate and were satisfied".
Of course we can’t miss the allusion...
to God feeding the Israelites in the wilderness
But when Matthew...shows Jesus feeding the multitudes right after Herod’s atrocity... what strikes me most ...
is the incredibly sharp contrast Matthew paints... between the powers and principalities of death...
and the life giving way...the life sustaining way... revealed by Jesus... [pause]
Matthew’s is keen to show us just how different...
Jesus way is...to the two dominant powers in 1st century Galilee...two powers…the Pharisees and the Herodians.
Now, while the Pharisees kept their distance…
Jesus made friends… with the unclean the sinner and the gentile foreigners.
While the other power… the Herodians… promoted cultural assimilation and collaboration with the Rome and its values. Jesus cousin John the Baptist…
had tangled with the Herodians and lost.
But Jesus shows us that in the kingdom of God…
there will be cooperation to with neither of these ways.
But Jesus disciples don’t understand.
Throughout the gospels...each time a story’s told…
of Jesus feeding people in the wilderness...
his disciples first reaction is despair…
nothing can be done… to solve this problem...
we don’t have enough... send them away…
But Jesus insists the problem can’t simply be
"sent away". And what’s more…Jesus is adamant...
the problem… belongs to his disciples.
They are to share their resources... with the people…
they are to serve the crowd… and they’re to trust Jesus’ judgment...that in the end… they will have enough. [pause]
Jesus shows his disciples... there are possibilities...
they’d never dreamed of. Jesus says, ‘no we wont send them away…we’ll all eat together…
we’ll share what we have with them. [pause]
The power of tyrants and bullies...can only be maintained... by force and by fear. The gulf between the haves and have nots... can only be maintained...
by a refusal to share resources.
Jesus understood both. And in refusing to be co-opted by either one... Jesus demonstrates a kind of power that can’t be overcome by death or terror, apartheid or prejudice, selfishness or greed.
Jesus demonstrates another kind of power...the power of love…of compassion mercy and forgiveness. The power of hope… of the coming of God’s kingdom on earth... when everyone will be filled…and resources will be shared with justice and equality. The power of Shalom. [pause]
The world still has its bullies and its tyrants who wield unrestrained political and economic power…I’m sure you can name a those in the news today…
And we live on another lakeshore...where people are still hungry... not for food… but for kindness and compassion... hungry for hope in a confusing and chaotic world... hungry for spiritual bread and meat...
longing for healing in their relationships...
My friends…do we have eyes… to see Jesus’ vision of the kingdom... If we are Jesus disciples do we get it…do we understand? Have we assessed the resources…we have to share? What are the possibilities Jesus is trying to show us…as a church...here at the ends of the earth?
Can we trust there will be enough? Can we serve as Jesus demanded? Can we be the very Body of Christ for our community? What would it look like if we were?
Could the crowd look at us… and know that Christ has truly risen? My prayer is that they will.
I am indebted to an article by Ched Myers. Sojourners Magazine, May 1987 entitled The Miracle of One Loaf for the reference to the dominant powers in Galilean society.
