Seventh Sunday after Trinity

Romans 6:19–23

St. Mark 8:1–9

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

They had been with Jesus for three days, listening to Him preach, following Him out into the wilderness, hanging on His every Word, not even realizing that they had nothing left to eat.

Jesus had compassion on them. That means His heart suffers with them and moves Him to do something for them, something only He can do. Jesus wants to feed them. But the disciples are right. Feeding any number of people in this desolate place is difficult. There are no stores, they are far from home. Not to mention there are over 4000 hungry mouths. The math just doesn’t work.

Jesus says He wants to feed them. He doesn’t say with what. He is the Lord who led a lot more than 4000 through deserts before. He could’ve brought a new batch of manna from heaven. He could’ve made the rocks gush forth with milk and honey. It’s the disciples who mention bread: “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” I’m guessing they have bread on their mind because they’re thinking of their own. Jesus asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” I think it’s safe to assume we’re talking about the disciples’ own lunch. Seven loaves and a few small fish—it’s not a feast when you split it 13 ways, for 12 disciples and Jesus—but they’d get by.

Jesus has other plans. For us who know the Lord’s Supper, we immediately notice something special is going to happen as we see Jesus take bread, give thanks, and break it, handing it back over to the disciples for them to distribute. But were the disciples a bit reluctant at first in sharing it? “There goes our food, and for what? Not enough for everyone anyway.” I wonder, when did they begin to realize it wasn’t diminishing? And then, can you imagine their excitement? The more they gave, the more there was to give! Eventually their reluctant giving is changed completely into joyful, generous giving. And on top of all that, they get to gather back up seven full baskets, in exchange for their original seven loaves.

If the disciples had not listened to Jesus, if they had kept their food for themselves, how much would they have had at the end of the day? Only seven loaves and a few small fish, or nothing at all, after eating it. But because they listened to Jesus and trusted Him, they got what they needed and much more besides. What’s given up for the Kingdom of Heaven is never lost, but multiplied. Whatever we must sacrifice for the sake of Jesus and His Word, Jesus has a way of taking it, blessing it, and causing it to overflow back into our lives, here on earth and forever in heaven. When you listen to Jesus and trust Him, and so give up your idols, God has a way of giving them back to you, but sanctified, and better than ever.

You might sacrifice the idols of selfish lust, and God gives back the far greater blessings of marriage. Or sacrifice the small blessings of a “successful” or comfortable life, and in exchange God multiplies His blessings for you in the multiplication of children. Or you might sacrifice a tenth of your income, and hand it over to God’s church, and you will be blessed with a church that much more faithful, that much better able to meet the needs of her members and her community, and able to do it with joy and gladness, without the worries of running a deficit. And for years to come you and your children will have a church where you can receive more and more of God’s blessings.

And if it’s sports or movies or books that sit in power at the center of your life, then recognizing that these things are not so important as your relationship with God or with those around you can be quite freeing. More often than not, God will give these lesser loves back to you in their proper place, so it’s no longer an idol that controls your life and keeps you away from God. Then you can enjoy your favorite sport with your kids, or find a way to use what you love to serve others. Giving things up for the Kingdom never leaves you poorer, but always richer in the blessings that God has in store for you.

St. Paul says the same thing: For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness—you got to do whatever you wanted. But, he asks, what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? Was the sin really worth it? Were you really happier with your loves all out of order? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. Whatever’s given up for the Kingdom is never lost, but multiplied. You don’t just give stuff up, you bear fruit. You grow in holiness, which overflows in life everlasting.

This is what we prayed for in our Collect today: O God, whose never-failing providence orders all things both in heaven and earth, we humbly implore You to put away from us all hurtful things and give to us those things that are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. That’s all God wants from you, what He wants to do for you: take away the things that hurt us, that keep us away from Him, and give to us all the good things overflowing out of His heart for us.

This is all Jesus’ plan. He gave up His very own life. He gave everything away. He was a grain of wheat, dead and buried in the ground, but after three days, bore much fruit, not only for Himself, but salvation and life for us all. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You came here today with next to nothing. It’s the same every Sunday. The week of sin and earthly life has taken its toll, exacted its wages. And you don’t have a crumb of righteousness to your name.  But you leave this place with a multiplication of blessings. Not just bread or fish. Not even milk, honey, or manna. You get here the most miraculous food of all: the choicest bread and richest wine of heaven, the true body and blood of your Lord.

And so you don’t get just enough forgiveness to cover each sin. The Lord doesn’t set a limit on His forgiveness, life, and salvation so you have to scrape by. You have Jesus living in you. You leave here today with what you need and with a whole basketful of blessings besides. Doing it Jesus’ way, putting what we have in His hands and leaving the multiplication up to Him, even when it doesn’t make sense to our math, our way of thinking, that is always the path to blessing on top of blessing. Our God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Seventh Sunday after Trinity

St. Mark 8:1–9

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

They have been with Jesus now three days and have nothing to eat. If they had brought any food with them into the wilderness, it’s long gone.They’re so hungry that if they try to go back to their homes now they will faint on the way. 

Do we have any concept of what that kind of hunger is like? Do you remember when you had to fast for a medical procedure, even something as simple as having blood drawn?And how many times did you think about food? And that was probably only going for 12 hours without food, maybe 24 at the most. Otherwise, for most of us, and for the vast majority of Americans, if we get a little twinge of hunger, we can just walk a few feet to the fridge. We drive a few miles to fast food or a grocery store. We can even eat out multiple times a week.

On the whole, we are wealthier than any other people in the history of the world. We think of “famine” as a Bible word, something that doesn’t happen anymore. Even when certain food prices rise and we start to grumble, the possibility of actual starvation never enters our minds. And yes, there are truly poor people in our country that really do suffer from lack of food (I don’t mean to minimize their hardship). But even for many of them, food is usually just a hand-out away. Because the majority of Americans are so wealthy, even our true poor can assume that there will always be something available for them, and many people learn to have a sense of entitlement about these things.

Obviously, I’m not saying that the wealth that our society and economy have created is necessarily a bad thing. It’s wonderful that so many people enjoy such high standards of living. But what is bad, is that we all take this for granted. We don’t merely survive on the most basic, boring food stuffs because we have to eat something. We have the option of eating the food we want to, the food we enjoy. And it’s very easy for us to think nothing of that.

What I’m trying to impress upon you is the desperate situation that crowd was in, and those people were in for most of their lives. It’s something we can’t really identify with. But coming to grips with this should help us to realize the incredible impact Jesus had on these people when He fed them so miraculously. Only by recognizing the deep and desperate need, can we also recognize the deep and amazing compassion that Jesus demonstrated in this miracle.

Sure, we realize that multiplying seven loaves of bread and a few fish to feed over 4,000 people is an amazing deed. But when going to the store, or the specialty bakery, is almost as easy as what Jesus did, the miracle seems a little less impressive. But these people were living day by day, just getting by, and the threat of famine or starvation or disease was always looming over them. No wonder then that the crowds flocked to Jesus. No wonder that for centuries the vast majority of Christians, struggling to put food in their children’s bellies, have loved to hear about Jesus as the One who gives food, the One who is the Bread of Life. As we try to put ourselves in their shoes, let’s notice that they really recognized something true about Jesus. They came to know that He is the Source, the Giver of everything we have in this life.

By this miracle, Jesus proved He is God. Only the Creator could have such control over His creation. Only the Intelligent One who designed the grain that grows and the fish that swim, and designed them to be capable of supplying nutrients and energy for the human body—only this Divine Person could supply bread and fish in such a way and to nourish thousands. The man called Jesus, who broke these loaves and distributed these fish, He is undoubtedly God.

But this supposes something even more basic: if Jesus is God, then that also means God is real. I bet many of you think that’s obvious. But many people don’t believe God is real. And many other people, even many of you, who assume it’s obvious that God is real, don’t really act like it. Even those of us who confess it with our lips, live as if God does not exist. We easily go through our days without giving Him a second thought. We work and save, pay bills and make plans, have good fun, spend time with friends and family, while not reflecting at all on God and His hand in our lives. Not to mention that we do things we shouldn’t do, without even pausing to think what God has to say about it. The way we think about the world and the way we act in it, makes it look as though when we say God is real, and Jesus is God, we’re really just pretending.

God is real and He is the Giver of all that we have. We owe Him our very life, and we know He wants what is good for us because we know He has compassion on us. “I have compassion on the crowd,” says Jesus. He is the real God in our flesh. He is the God who created grain and fish and the human digestive system. And there He is with His own human digestive system, also eating bread and fish like us. He is God with us—He knows us and our needs better than we do. Let me say that again: God knows you and your needs better than you do.

“I have compassion on the crowd,” says Jesus. He is the real God on the cross. Not only is He with us, but He puts Himself on the line for us. He suffered, bled, and died so that we would not. He was forsaken and damned for all our sin so that we can be forgiven. He rose as a Man, with living flesh and blood, so that we can also rise and live with Him.

“I have compassion on the crowd,” says Jesus. He is the real God who gives His real body and blood to us. He feeds us with Himself so that we share His own life. He gives us food for eternity. So, of course, He also gives us bread and fish, food for right now. Notice, what Jesus did when He fed the crowd: He took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, He broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before the people… And having blessed the fish, He said that these also should be set before the people. He took, gave thanks and blessed, broke and distributed. I don’t think it’s a mere coincidence that in the same way Jesus takes, gives thanks and blesses, breaks and distributes the bread and wine that is His body and blood. God’s gifts of earthly food and spiritual food are not disconnected. They both come from God’s compassion for us who desperately need His gifts.

But just as we take earthly food for granted, so also we take spiritual food for granted. When it comes to God’s grace, love, forgiveness, and compassion, this world is a wilderness—you can’t find these gifts from God just anywhere in nature. These gifts are only given in God’s Word, in the proclamation of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus the Savior. That means you can only hear about the Gospel through other people.

But unfortunately, you still can’t find the gifts of God’s grace with just any people. This society that we now live in is a wasteland. While you once may have heard or seen God’s Word in every church, every home, every school and city hall (and even then, maybe not the pure Word of God), you definitely don’t see or hear that now. Our society, that was once built upon the Christian religion, is now a crumbling ruin. And only the non-Christians (or some who call themselves Christians but don’t care at all about God’s Word), only these people can go on pretending that we are still living in a great palace. If we can’t come to grips with the reality that there is a real famine of the Word, then we will never know where to go in order to be fed with true food.

We have to recognize what the Christians in the Bible and the early Church recognized: the Church of Jesus is the only place where we can find our Bread of Life. In the empty shell of our culture, hidden in the ruins, there are still Christians gathering together, preaching and hearing God’s Word, and serving those in need. 

But we can’t just waltz through life, thinking that we can get our spiritual bread just anywhere, that our government, our schools, just any church, or just any organization of do-gooders, can be a substitute for true religion, as if any of these places can really supply the spiritual bread that is the most necessary thing for real life.

It’s desperately important that we realize we must get fed and forgiven and blessed only in Christ’s Church. The Church is that crowd out in the wilderness of this world, but with Jesus and being fed by Him. So, we need to learn to order our lives with Him at the center. We need to learn how to gather in this community that He has called us into, gathering with our fellow baptized forgiven sinners to receive our God’s compassion and to give Him thanks, to hear and learn His Word together, to eat and drink His feast together. Only this way can we train our eyes to see His hand at work, giving us good things and supporting us in the midst of bad things. In this way we can purposefully hold onto Him and come to Him first, so that everything else finds its place after Him.

Let us praise our God’s great compassion. He gives food to those who love Him and to those who take it for granted, to those who know that everything good comes from Him and to those who think they are self-made men. He is generous, even to selfish unbelievers who are never truly satisfied with what He gives.

But God does not give His spiritual food to those who do not believe in Him. Only faith in Jesus can receive the everlasting food of His Word and His Supper. And those who do trust in this real God, they are fed with this heavenly food, and they are able to find real joy and true satisfaction in God’s earthly gifts as well. By faith in Jesus they do not take His gifts for granted, but instead they realize just how compassionate their God really is.

In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.