The Power of a Picnic
A Sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
July 28, 2024
The Rev. Robin Teasley
Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”
When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going. John 6:1-21
You could call the hillside picnic in today’s Gospel a party giver’s nightmare. What began as a fairly private gathering for Jesus and his disciples turns into quite the get-together. About 5,000 people show up and it’s dinnertime. No one has RSVP’d and the disciples are starting to worry. The potential for chaos is great. How will they feed all these people?
Relying solely on their own intellect, experiences, and opinions, the disciples can think in only one way, with a mindset of scarcity. Andrew eventually finds a boy who has a small lunch of five loaves of barley bread and two fish. The boy is generous with what he has, yet Andrew is still skeptical. Then Jesus takes the loaves and fish, gives thanks, and distributes the food to the crowd, and despite the doubt among the disciples, everyone is fed, and there are 12 baskets of leftovers. It turns out that they do have enough, indeed more than enough, to do the work set before them. To use a line from today’s Ephesians passage, “God’s power, working within them, was able to accomplish abundantly far more than they could ask or imagine.”
How often do we think we don’t have enough in our lives? Perhaps we don’t think we have enough time or money, enough love or forgiveness, enough peace or justice, enough education or experience. How often do we discount what we do have, because maybe that is easier than responding to God’s call to discipleship? What would happen if we simply offered what we have to Jesus and let him work through us, just as we are, to do the reconciling work of bringing forth love, peace, and justice in the world?
Today’s gospel is not only about physical hunger being relieved for a large crowd of people; it’s also a sign that Jesus is the source of eternal and spiritual food, the source of life and power. No matter how we try to explain the miracle of what happened that day, the bottom line is that there was enough, more than enough. Why is that always so hard for us to believe?
Even the disciples didn’t believe Jesus was able to feed all those people. In fact, when Jesus asked them, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” the disciples could not even hear the question because they were already anxious and fearful. They had already made a lot of assumptions. Just like Eeyore, the doubtful donkey who is friends with Winnie the Pooh, the disciples were saying, “It’ll never work.” Jesus asked a “where” question, but Philip heard a “how much” question. Jesus already knew how he was going to feed the crowd. Philip’s answer makes it clear that he doesn’t think it’s possible!
Where do we find ourselves in this story? Perhaps we are in the crowd, following Jesus because we too have seen the signs and we are hungry. Each of us can list things that we need in our lives: money to pay the bills, reconciliation with a family member or friend, healing from disease, addiction, or anxiety, a place of acceptance.
Maybe we find ourselves as one of the disciples in this story, we are doing our best to follow Jesus, yet we are not fully able to trust that there is enough, that we are enough. Like the first disciples, we sometimes have a mindset of scarcity, not quite able to believe that God has already given us all that we need. Our inability to believe we have enough brings us to another interesting part of today’s text.
It is an unfortunate human characteristic that when we are in need, when we are afraid, we will fall into a behavior of self-preservation, thinking that it’s all up to us. Then we begin to look for ways to control the situation, to gain power over the circumstances that appear to threaten us. We can see this in the scriptures today in King David's behavior. We see it as the crowd wants to take Jesus by force and make him king, their king, someone with power to continue giving them what they want.
We see it as the disciples, on the boat in the strong wind and rough sea, see Jesus walking on the water and want to take him into the boat, because if he is in the boat with them, they believe they are guaranteed safety.
We see this all too human behavior around us today. People seeking power, not for good but for self-gain; seeking power over others, for control of others, for a guarantee that they will be the ones making the rules and the decisions. When this is going on around us we may be fearful, and our hope may falter. This is where Jesus has something to teach us, to show us, to give us.
Jesus looked out and saw the sea of faces, all hungry for something, and then he fed them. When they were satisfied, he said to his disciples, “gather up the fragments left over so that nothing may be lost,” because Jesus knows that sometimes the very best things come from what appear to be the fragments, the small lunches, the meager offerings. Jesus met them where they were, searching and hungry, and he fed them. As followers we are called to these same acts of discipleship.
What are we hungry for in our lives? Are we letting fear and scarcity thinking have power over our hope, are we allowing it to take control of our actions in negative ways, transforming us into the very thing we fear, people wielding power that harms rather than heals?
What we do with the power God has given us as disciples, must rest on the foundation of what Jesus teaches us, shows us, and gives us.
“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (1)
(1)Ephesians 3:20-21
Title Image: Jesus Multiplies the Loaves and Fishes, Jesus Mafa
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