Feedin 5000

Feeding 5000

Our gospel readings in the next 4 weeks are from St. John chapter 6. They tell of the feeding of the 5000 and the meaning of that miracle. The feeding is reported in all 4 gospels. All say the day was ending, all have 5 loaves and two fish, all have the people sit down on the grass to be fed, all were satisfied, and 12 baskets of broken pieces were collected.  St. John adds that it was near the Passover, but the grass indicates it was spring time. I’ve been in that area in the summer, and things are dry and brown.

St. Mark 8 and St. Matthew 12 also tell of another later feeding of 4000 with 7 loaves. Jesus’ feeding large crowds with limited resources was an important part of the church’s memory of Jesus’ ministry. That memory, and Jesus’ explicit command to feed the hungry and heal the sick has inspired many soup kitchens and hospitals, including our own weekly food collection for hungry people of Avery County.

Martin Luther’s sermon on this text includes a medieval allegory. The grass is the Jewish people, from Isaiah 40, “all flesh is grass.” From the Jewish people the Word of God came forth, for salvation is of the Jews. The five loaves signify the Word of God as we receive it by the five senses. The loaves are in the basket as the word of God is contained in the Holy scriptures. That as Jesus took them in his hands to bless and increase them signifies that by Christ’s word and deeds, not by our own deeds or reason, are the Scriptures explained, rightly understood and preached. The two fish are the example and witness of the patriarchs and prophets shared with the people of God. The 12 baskets of fragments are the writings of the 12 apostles, the fulfilment of the writings of the Old Testament.

Allegorical interpretation has fallen out of favor. We prefer a more naturalistic interpretation. A popular comment on the feeding is that when Jesus called the people to sit down in groups he formed immediate communities in which those who had come prepared with some food shared with those who had not. So Jesus teaches us to share, to help people in need. That is true, and we see examples of it frequently. I remember the pictures of the Houston flood and people being rescued by volunteers in fishing boats. We contribute to needs, and as I do so I hope others will be there for me in my time of need.

But there is more to the story of the feeding than simply human sharing. Another account of feeding many with limited resources is in today’s reading from the Elisha miracle stories in 2Kings. Baal-shalishah means Lord of the three, and is identified as an Arab village in the West Bank where three dry valleys come together. On the surrounding hills are new Jewish settlements. God continues to provide – in this case five-fold – 20 loaves for 100 people. 

St. John’s report of the feeding of the 5000 makes the connection to Passover. Passover was God’s powerful action to set the people free from slavery in Egypt,  followed by God’s continuing to feed the liberated people of Israel with manna in the desert.

 God fed the people physically with manna and God continues to feed us spiritually in Holy Communion. “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast.”

At the Last Supper the disciples surely remembered the miraculous feeding. We’re not told what words Jesus used to ask God’s blessing on the 5 loaves, but at the Last Supper we are told that he said, “This is my body which is broken for you,” and “This is my blood of the new covenant.” Jesus added, “Do this in remembrance of me.” And we have been doing this – taking bread and wine, asking God’s blessing on them, breaking the bread and sharing the cup – ever since.

The 5000 sat down on the grass.  We come together in churches. They were mentally and spiritually fed by Jesus’ words and physically and spiritually fed by the bread he had blessed. We are mentally and spiritually fed by Jesus’s words, and we are physically and spiritually fed by the bread on which we ask his blessing.  

Martin Luther ended his sermon on the feeding of the 5000 with words that continue to be as true today as they were 500 years ago. “We feed on Christ, for “he alone makes satisfaction, delivers from sin and death, gives peace and fullness of joy, and does it all of his own free will, that we may know that the Gospel is devised and bestowed, not through our own merit, but out of pure grace.”  Amen.

Evil spirits

Pentecost 7 Proper 9 Evil spirits

          .Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. That authority over unclean spirits Jesus gave to the 12 continues today in the church and in all Christian people today.  By his death and resurrection Jesus finally defeated the power of evil and at Pentecost he gave the church the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth and power. We receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in baptism, that gift of the Holy Spirit offers us both knowledge of God’s truth to be able to discern the unclean spirits, and also God’s gift of spiritual power to defeat them.

We rejoice that by his death and resurrection Jesus has won the final victory. In the last day when he comes to judge Jesus’ victory will be evident to all creation. Until that day we have the victory, and we have opportunity to witness to Christ’s victory in our lives and in our relationships.

The evil spirits continue to tempt us.  We frequently hear stories of people being led astray. Some of the evil spirits are the spirits of rage and racism. The Washington Post recently reported about two 15 year old boys invited to swim at a neighborhood pool in Dorchester County, South Carolina. As they approached the pool a woman jumped out of the water, shoved one of the boys in the chest and yelled at him, “Get out! Get out! Get out! Now!” and threatened to call 911. The paper says one of the boys managed to record the woman and the encounter. He showed his parents the video and they called the sheriff’s office. The police report calls “it an “unprovoked assault” and says that the woman  “is clearly the aggressor in the assault even going as far as to continue to assault the victim as he was walking away from her.”  When officers showed up at her home, she attacked them and bit one’s arm, breaking the skin. She was arrested and released on $65,000 bail. The woman was white; the boys were not.

We all remember segregation and times before cell phone videos, times when parents would not have called, and the sheriff would not have responded and certainly would not have made an arrest. As a society we’ve made progress, but we still have a ways to go. Unclean spirits of rage and racism continue with us. But Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.  In our baptisms we receive from Jesus the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth and power. The Holy Spirit gives us knowledge of God’s truth to be able to discern the unclean spirits, and the spiritual power to defeat them. We rejoice that Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection have won the final victory.

A few years after the Council of Nicea (325 AD) an Egyptian hermit (Evagrius Ponticus) organized an understanding of 7 general categories of evil spirits. We can remember them by a mnemonic device – WASPLEG. WASPLEG. Wrath, Avarice, Sloth, Pride, Lust, Envy, Gluttony. He also organized 7 alternative Christian virtues, gifts of the Holy Spirit as spiritual antidotes to the temptations of these evil spirits.

The virtue that turns away Wrath is Patience. Avarice Charity. Sloth Dilligence, Pride Humility, Lust Chastity, Envy Gratitude, Gluttony Temperance.  CDHCGT not as easy to remember.

Different spirits tempt different people at different times in our lives. Lust bothered me more as an adolescent than it has since I married. Age and gratitude have tempered envy. Pride continues to tempt. It takes a real act of faith to live out the truth that the God who made me loves me. He wants what is best for me. So I do much better when I seek to know and do his will for me.

So remember we have the victory over the evil spirits who tempt us. We have the tools of spiritual victory. So let us use them.

When we are tempted to irrational anger, to Wrath, let us seek to exercise patience. The woman in the South Carolina pool did not have to come out of the water and yell at the boy. She certainly did not have to bite the police officer. She could have avoided arrest, bail, and publicity by exercising patience.

When tempted to Greed, let us remember our corresponding need to give to those in need. When tempted to let someone else do what needs to be done so we can complain let us pray for the gift of truth to see what we can and should do.  All of us are continually tempted by the evil spirit of pride. We can pray for a right understanding of ourselves as God’s loved children, guided to seek to know and do only his will.  When tempted by lust, let us remember God’s love poured out on us and share his love in right relationships. When tempted by envy, let us give God thanks for his many blessings in our lives. And when tempted by gluttony, push back, seek temperance.  

.Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. That authority is ours. Praise God for Christ’s victory