O God be in my mouth as I speak
for you and fill this place with your great grace that we may leave this place
less of what we use to be and more of what we ought to be, through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen
Taking the five loaves and the
two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave
them to his disciples, and the disciples gave them to them to the crowds. And
all ate and were all filled and they took up what was left over for the broken
pieces, twelve baskets full.
This past week was a noisy
wonderful time at St. Martin’s as we held our annual Vacation Bible School.
This year’s theme was going on
safari, subtitled “Discovering Jesus the King”. The children studied different
animals each day, did various art projects, and from what I would observe along
with our volunteers had lots of fun.
As rector, Vacation Bible School
week at church is always one of my favorite times of year.
I know that some clergy at some
churches take their vacation during this week but I have always loved the
energy and excitement that the children and volunteers bring to the church.
Also as a James Taylor wannabee,
it does, gives me a cheering crowd of five, six and seven year olds who
actually seem to like my guitar playing.
Besides strumming tunes, my
other duty this week was to do the closing Eucharist for the Vacation Church
School. Since by Thursday everyone is beginning to run out of steam, we decided
to do a shorter service.
We started by talking with the
kids about what they had learned, singing familiar songs, thanking the
wonderful volunteers and sharing communion together.
While I was handing out the
bread and wine something funny happened that I did want to share with you this
morning.
As I went down the altar rail,
saying, the body of Christ, the bread of heaven, a small boy looked up at me
and said, “Can I have seconds.”
Can I have seconds?
Of course, my initial response
to the child came from seminary indoctrination. No, I said, you only get one.
Yet there was something about
the request that haunted me for a few hours after the Eucharist was over.
Is it all right to ask God for
seconds? Does God give them to us? Is the God we worship a God of abundance or
a God that never gives us quite enough?
Of course, as I reflected
further I realized that I was wrong about God giving seconds.
Think for a moment about our
gospel lesson this morning in Matthew. With only five loaves and two fish and
his closest friends doubting, Jesus fed 5,000 men plus women and children and
there was still enough to fill twelve baskets after the picnic was over.
Yes, indeed there was enough for
seconds for those that came to that miracle feast.
Of course I know that some
Biblical commentators waste their time worrying about how Jesus did it. Did
everyone in the crowd just share their food?
These mundane concerns entirely
miss the point of what the story is telling us about God.
The message is obvious.
However limited our resources
might appear, it might only be five loaves and two fish, they will always be
enough if the Lord directs our use of those resources.
With God “our seconds”, are
truly unlimited if we are willing to place our trust in the Lord.
It doesn’t matter how many
people are hungry. It doesn’t matter if the disciples don’t really believe. It
doesn’t matter if I don’t really play guitar that well.
The resources, the gifts that
God has blessed us with, will be more than enough for the task that God has
given us to do.
Too many times we live a
diminished life with what a friend of mine called the myth of scarcity.
We are like Pharaoh, stuck with
our hardness of heart, unable to trust God and let the people of Israel go to
experience the richness of God’s love.
We want to hold on to our meager
resources, not believing there is truly enough to accomplish God’s mighty
purpose.
This type of attitude is
completely contrary to what scripture shows us.
From Moses who claimed to be a
lousy public speaker to Gideon who only needed a hundred men to defeat his
enemies to other prophets and leaders of Israel, God is able to work through
people even in their weakness—even in their weakness—to accomplish great things
and to provide the seconds that we all desire and need.
For God and his people our life
as Christians is and should be one of great abundance, there is always enough
fish, enough bread, enough wine, enough grace and love for those that truly
seek it.
True there are times in our
lives when this can trust can be sorely tested.
With a loved one’s death,
difficulties in our jobs, or challenges in our personal relationships, we can
find ourselves wondering where is God’s abundance now, where are the promised
seconds.
Yet I know from my own life in
those times of despair, if we reach out to those around us, if we seek the
support of those in our church community, we will find that God is present in
the lives of those that care for us.
And most importantly of all we
will find that God’s love is abundant and that a loving God will never abandon
us.
Of course, I realize now how wrong I was when the child asked me about receiving seconds. Yes, God’s cup is always full and we should never be ashamed of asking for seconds.
In fact, God is always ready to
take our five loaves and two fish and turn them into something amazing as long
as we have the courage to ask.
Of course this assurance of
God’s presence is what St. Paul is writing about in our epistle lesson.
For I am sure that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth nor anything else in all creation
will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is the kind of abundance
that God desires to give each of us.
Only one question remains, are
you ready to ask God for seconds?