All that bread

Perhaps the confusion comes when we think that the miraculous feeding of 5000 is just about the bread - literally.  5 loaves and 2 fish become enough to feed 5000 until everyone is full - satiated - and there are 12 baskets leftover.  Got to admit, that's a lot of bread.

But since we are reading about this miracle in the gospel of John, the 12 baskets are far from the end of this story.  As one commentator put it, Jesus fed 5000 and then spent 4 weeks explaining what he just did.  That alone tells you that for the writer of John, bread is more than bread.

But we've all known that, right?  Although it might be miraculous for 5 loaves and 2 fish to effectively feed 5000; and if, in fact, it was a feeding for those peoplen with no implications for now, then it is similar to the George Washington cherry tree incident.  Clever, but not really meaningful.  I am no scholar of John, but you can trust me that everything in John is meaningful, and it is all meant to point us to who Jesus is, not just today, but for all eternity.

It starts in the very beginning.....as the gospel begins with "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God."  No simple annunciation or birth story for this writer.  The writer takes us back to the very beginning, echoing the opening words of the book of Genesis when the Divine Creator begins to move over the chaos.    Somehow this story of Jesus is another beginning, but in perfect harmony with the first beginning.  Somehow this Jesus is more than a prophet, here today and gone tomorrow.... 

 ....and, somehow, bread is more than bread.  In fact, the bread is Jesus' body:  broken and given to all who gather to nourish them into a new kind of life.  Although, this is not a metaphor, Jesus' really does offer his own body for the sake of the world.  Metaphor.  Not a metaphor.  That's John.

Notice - this is not just life like what we currently know but without the stuff we don't like.  It is a new kind of life - a life that is so full it is eternal (in contrast to some of our lives that are so full of struggle and pain that they only seem eternal). 

But this is just week one.  This week we are reminded that people are hungry in every sense of this word, and the work of Jesus and Jesus' followers is to feed them.  Literally.  That is the first step to our call as servants.

But wait, there is more to come.

The hard work of compassion

"As Jesus went ashore he saw a great crowd and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd" Mark 6.34


No matter where Jesus went, there they were.  People flocked to him, pressing upon him and trying to get just a touch, just a word, maybe a crust of bread, maybe a miracle.  It was enough to wear a person out.

Yet, Jesus saw the great crowd and had compassion for them, and in spite of his hunger and fatigue, he began to teach, to touch, to heal.  You can picture Jesus walking among the demanding crowds, like a shepherd walking in the midst of his milling flock of sheep: the sheep crying out in their confusion turning this way and that, packed together for a sense of security.  There is Jesus in the midst of them, within an arm's reach, working the crowd for the sake of the Divine Creator.

Compassion requires up close and personal commitment.  The word itself means 'to suffer with' and 'suffering with' cannot be done from afar.  Compassion doesn't ignore or circumvent or even turn a blind eye to the suffering before them.  Compassion walks into the crowd, staying within arms' length, hearing and smelling the needs of others.

God's great act of compassion was to be present among us in Jesus.  Thus is the power of the incarnation = God taking on human flesh.  In Jesus, God walked among us, within arms' reach, up close and personal.  This was no virtual reality; Jesus was no hologram.  As we suffered so suffered Jesus; as we die, so Jesus died.  Compassion - to suffer with another.

Mark records no special miracle performed that day, but of course, having the Savior of the Cosmos within arms' length comes amazingly close.

Water into Wine..........

It's one of those expressions that American English speakers use (don't know about the British).....turning water into wine.  It's a wild example of an outrageous impossibility or a miraculous occurrence.  I've often wondered how many folk know its origin.....right there in the gospel of John, and a wedding at Cana.

It's the wedding story to top all others.  No wine in sight, a fact which will cause some serious embarrassment for the hosts.  12 jars ready for the purification rights.  A command from Jesus, 'Fill them with water.  Now draw out some and give it to the steward' (master of ceremonies). What do you know?  It has turned into wine.  Not any old wine, but a fine pinot noir from a good year.  In other words, a very fine wine indeed.

Since the writer of John uses this miracle to start off Jesus' public ministry it clearly has an important role in John's telling of the story, but I want to know what role this water into wine story has in your faith story, in your ministry, in your spiritual growth and in your faith life.

None of us are out there trying to turn water into wine, right?  ....except perhaps those who work daily with addicts, walking with them, confronting them, comforting them and occasionally seeing their transformation into recovery.

Or perhaps those devoted caregivers - often spouses and children - who repeat the same information again and again to their beloved ones who can no longer hold onto any memories.  "No Mom, I am Carol. Your daughter."  If you look closely you will see how the frustrating repetition of the mundane is now the fine wine of deep and abiding love.

Or the teacher searching for something (anything) which will open the pathways for the young minds in front of him....or the father who has no idea how to parent but takes his son fishing and his daughter to dance class and tucks each into bed at night with a prayer....or the clerk at the DMV (they always get a bad rap) who sorts out your confusion and puts you on the right path....or the medical technician who makes small talk while you nervously undergo yet again another test that has you frightened to your toes.

Or a thousand other possible examples of those who have been baptized into Jesus Christ stepping out into this world with mercy and grace and forgiveness and compassion and invitation and, in so doing, they turn the mundane that threatens to drown us into the wine of fellowship and belonging and being treated with dignity....and love.

What if Jesus was simply giving us a short lesson in faith walking?  It isn't about pulling some parlor trick or even accomplishing a true blue miracle.  What if this story is about a guy who shows up at a wedding with his mother, who steps into this' behind the scenes' dilemma and transforms that which would embarrass into that which brings enjoyment and sustains the fellowship?  What if we are supposed to do something similar?  Just step in and do what we can to ease the way.

Would you be able to see the miracle in that?  Would recognize God at work through you?  Would you be willing to name that moment (if only to yourself) as the kingdom of God breaking into our world?

I would.

A little clarity here, please

On this, April 1st, AKA April's Fool Day, we take a moment to appreciate the gospel of John because John is the master of double meaning and mis-direction.  He takes a blind man, gives him sight, and plunges the unbelieving crowd into darkness.  With John, something like 'sight' or 'sees' never has only one meaning.

The man was blind from birth.  Out of the blue, he is given the gift of sight (although truthfully it must have been an enormous adjustment for him, very unsettling).  It takes him a couple of tellings of the story to figure out that this was such a miraculous occurrence that he had to have been touched by God's servant.  We watch as he progresses from calling Jesus 'a man' to 'a prophet' to 'a man from God' to 'Lord'.  His sight came immediately but his 'sight' developed over the course of the story.

Of course the dis-believing onlookers took the journey the other direction.  At the beginning they could read the eye chart at the DMV without any trouble, but any suggestion that a miracle had occurred; any suggestion that God could be at work on the Sabbath with this man and counter to all their expectations was rejected and mocked.  In the end, Jesus points out just how blind they are because they cannot see the miracle right in front of their face.  They cannot see who Jesus is.  Their blindness causes them to be separated from God; lost.

The Pharisees don't believe any of it.  They even mock Jesus when he claims they are blind.  Isn't that the way with us?  We think we are knowledgeable, faithful, pious but in truth we can't see the hand in front of our face nor the darkness which covers our vision.  I wonder if, any time we find ourselves saying, 'Oh no, God couldn't be acting like that' we shouldn't take a moment and consider this story.  We might just be missing the miracle of God at work.

It wasn't just the anonymous man who was blind from birth.  We are all born blind - and it is only Jesus who can take a little mud and create a whole new life for us.

Let's talk about sin........

First it was Nicodemus.  We watch as he slips through the night to ask Jesus a few questions.  He walks away not at all sure what the answers were. Born again?

Then we met the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well at high noon.  She needs water, Jesus starts making outrageous claims about the quality of his water and in the end she leaves with Good News for the entire community. Living water?

This week we meet the man born blind.  That's the only name we have for him: the man who was blind from birth.  He is simply sitting around, begging (that was his full time job) when Jesus approaches him.  It's hard to tell if the disciples see this man as a 'learning opportunity' or if they are trying to show off their smarts by asking Jesus who sinned, the man or his parents. Because you see, someone had to have sinned.  Otherwise, the man wouldn't have been born blind.

We don't get three steps into this encounter between Jesus and the blind man before everyone wants to talk about sin.  Ever notice how much fun it is to talk about sin?  Especially when we are talking about the sin of someone else?  I have often thought that we so urgently want to point the finger at the other - the sinner - so no one will look our direction and shine too bright a light on our failures and hurtfulness.

Many commentaries on the Bible will tell you that it was a common understanding that misfortune including disease and disability were a sign that God was not happy with you.  Your sin caused your illness or handicap.  They are right, it was common.  It is still common today.

A baby is born with physical challenges and we default to 'what did the mother do?'  (or 'not do' which is an equal possibility).  A friend is diagnosed with lung cancer and everyone feels obligated to point out that he was a smoker.  A neighbor joins the ranks of the long term unemployed and we are prone to comment that she should have been out there upgrading her skills if she wanted another job.

We have a tendency to blame the patient for the illness......and I believe that this is not mean spirited at its core but rather a sort of 'knocking on wood' for us.  If we can figure out what they did wrong, we will do it right and be spared!  At the same time, if we are leading fairly pulled together lives at the moment, we can give ourselves a ribbon for doing it right.

And we all know that is a bunch of hooey!  Matthew reports Jesus teaching "...for God makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous."  5.45

So while the disciples are trying to figure out who sinned, and the Pharisees are trying to figure out exactly what law Jesus broke, and the man born blind tells his story again and again......Jesus is only interested in sight and belief.  Do you see?  Do you believe?  Everything else in the story is just commentary.

By what power or by what name?

Or as my mother would have said it, "By whose authority?"

I like the reply attributed to Peter, "Rulers of the people and elders, if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed...."

Notice how quickly the 'authorities' jumped over the wondrous healing of this man, a crippled beggar who can now walk (see 3.1-10).  Little time is given to thinking through this miraculous occurrence.  Little time is given in prayer to listen for God's guidance in view of this miraculous healing.  Instead, Peter is taken prisoner so he can account for his actions!  You would have thought he was a thief, a murderer, even a blasphemer.  But not a healer, or why would the authorities be so hostile?

No, they jumped right to an examination of credentials.....and the tone is clearly hostile.  Peter acknowledges that when he poses his question.

Now this is NOT the primary reason this text has been chosen for Sunday, April 29th.  The text has been chosen because of Peter's subsequent testimony to the power of the risen Jesus Christ.  Peter never points to himself, but points to Jesus and through Jesus to God, the source of all healing.  We too are called to this kind of witnessing.  But that is for another day.

Today I want us to pause and think about the last time we leapt over the miraculous and amazing in order to pick apart the details.  It is so easy to do since the miraculous upsets the world as we know it; it upsets the given order which includes my place in the order.  It frightens me because it may leave me in a *lower *worse *unstable *unknown position compared to where I am now.  So I ask, "Who are you?' and "Where does your power and authority come from?" and "Why should I listen to you?" 

And we do all of this without first listening for God, wondering with God what the message here could be and what new pathway God might be opening for us, our neighbor, the world. 

As limited as we are in the task of witnessing, we are even more limited in the work of listening.  Perhaps if we listened more, we would find witnessing a greater source of joy, and easier as well.