Month: August 2023

Resist!

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Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Resist!” Exodus 1:8-2:10

The world needs advocates, people who will dare to resist the powers and work for change.

In 1978, Lois Gibbs was a Niagara Falls housewife. She had two young children with unusual health problems. As Lois talked to neighbors, she learned that many of them were similarly plagued with chronic health issues, including reproductive problems, birth defects, chromosome abnormalities, and leukemia. The land on which their community had been built was the site of an old canal, Love Canal, which the Hooker Chemical Company had used as a dumping ground for chemicals. After the site was filled in, Hooker Chemical gave it to the growing city of Niagara Falls, which allowed housing to be built there. When state officials detected the leakage of toxic underground chemicals into the basements of local homes, Lois Gibbs wondered, Could the illness plaguing her daughters be linked to the leaking chemicals? In need of answers, Lois soon found that no one wanted to admit the truth and there were no watchdog agencies or consumer resources that she could turn to for help.

On May 3, 1980, 13-year-old Cari Lightner was walking to church along a quiet road. She was meeting friends for a carnival but never made it. A car swerved out of control and struck and killed the girl. Police later arrested Clarence Busch in connection with the death. Busch had a long record of arrests for intoxication. In fact, he had been arrested on another hit-and-run drunk-driving charge less than a week earlier. Cari’s grieving mother, Candy Lightner, learned from police that drunk driving was rarely prosecuted harshly, and that the man who killed her daughter was unlikely to spend significant time behind bars. The infuriated Mom decided to take action against what she later called “the only socially accepted form of homicide.”

In 2008, when Malala Yousufzai was eleven years old, the Taliban took control of her town in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. The Islamic extremists banned many things: television, music, and education for girls. Malala kept a diary which recorded the events and spoke out against the terrorist regime. When her diary was published by the BBC, the Taliban soon responded with death threats. In 2009, a Taliban gunman boarded the bus that Malala was riding and shot her in the head. She survived and was evacuated to Birmingham England for months of surgeries and rehabilitation. Malala and her family had a new home and a new life in the UK with unlimited educational opportunity. But Malala kept thinking about those other girls, her friends back in the Swat Valley—and in countless places around the world—where education for girls and women was outlawed.

The world needs advocates who will resist the powers and work for change.

Our reading from Exodus grants us a glimpse of two humble women who would outsmart their king and head off genocide. They faced a formidable opponent: Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the Ancient Near East. He ruled over a Mediterranean empire that stretched from Libya to Sudan to Syria at a time when Egypt was at the pinnacle of its economic, military, and cultural power. Pharoah made laws, waged wars, collected taxes, oversaw the land, and dispensed justice. As the Empire’s religious leader, Pharaoh was the divine intermediary between the pantheon of Egyptian gods and the people, a living god on earth who, upon his death, would become fully divine.

When Shiphrah and Puah were summoned to an audience with Pharoah, they knelt before a man who never heard “no.” Even though their calling as midwives made them guardians of life, Pharaoh demanded that they become agents of death. When attending the birth of Hebrew women, the midwives were ordered to murder every boy baby.

Can we imagine the fear, powerlessness, and terror that the midwives must have felt? They had no Midwives’ Union, no ACLU, no powerful political allies who could help them speak back to power. If change was going to happen, they would have to do it themselves.

Shiphrah and Puah were afraid of Pharaoh, but they feared God. Their reverence and devotion to Yahweh gave them the courage to resist.  The two midwives engaged in what Dennis Olson of Princeton Seminary has called “the Bible’s first act of civil disobedience and non-violent resistance.” They went about their work. They coached those laboring mothers through painful contractions, tiresome transitions, and big pushes. They caught those newborn infants, cleared their airways, wiped them clean, and pressed them into their mother’s arms. They welcomed life. And when Pharaoh called them out on the ongoing baby boom among the Hebrew slaves, Shiphrah and Puah covered their tracks by appealing to Pharaoh’s prejudice. “Those Hebrew women aren’t like you refined Egyptians. They’re like animals. They push out their babies long before we arrive to do your bidding.” Those midwives resisted, creating the space for Moses to be born, Moses, who would one day oppose Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt to freedom.

The world needs advocates who will dare to resist the powers and work for change.

Back in 1978, Lois Gibbs organized her neighbors to form the Love Canal Homeowners Association. She led her community in a lengthy battle against the local, state, and federal governments. After years of struggle, more than 800 families were eventually evacuated, and cleanup of Love Canal began. Her efforts led to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s “Superfund,” used to locate and clean up toxic sites throughout the US. In response to her success at Love Canal, Gibbs received over 3,000 letters from Americans everywhere, requesting information on how they could solve toxic waste problems in their area. Lois founded the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, a grassroots environmental crisis center that has trained thousands of community groups around the nation to protect neighborhoods from exposure to hazardous wastes. Lois Gibbs was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1990 which honors grassroots environmental heroes who take significant action for our planet. 45 years after Love Canal, Lois is still resisting.

Candy Lightner, the bereaved mother of that 13-year-old child killed by a drunk driver, stood up to the injustice of a world that turned a blind eye to drunk driving. She founded MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving. She began lobbying California’s governor, Jerry Brown, to set up a state investigative task force. In 1981, California passed a law imposing minimum fines of $375 for drunk drivers and mandatory imprisonment of up to four years for repeat offenders. President Ronald Reagan later asked Candy to serve on the National Commission on Drunk Driving. In July 1984, she stood next to Reagan as he signed a law reducing federal highway grants to any state that failed to raise its drinking age to 21. By the following year, all 50 states had tightened their drunk-driving laws. By 2000, the 20th anniversary of MADD’s founding, alcohol-related fatalities had dropped nationally by some 40 percent, and states with the toughest drunk-driving laws were beginning to treat alcohol-related fatalities as murder.

On Malala Yousufzai’s 16th birthday in 2013, she spoke in support of education for girls at the United Nations. Later that year, she published her first book, an autobiography entitled I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. In 2014, through her non-profit Malala Fund, she began traveling the world and advocating for girls in Jordan, Syria, Kenya, Nigeria and beyond. At age 17, she became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. In her acceptance speech, Malala said, “This award is not just for me. It is for those forgotten children who want education. It is for those frightened children who want peace. It is for those voiceless children who want change.” Time Magazine has named her one of the 100 most influential voices in the world. She remains a staunch advocate for the power of education and for girls to become agents of change in their communities.

The world needs advocates who will resist the powers, get into good trouble, and work for change, holy change, change that will nudge this hurting world a little closer to God’s Kingdom. Could it be you?

Resources:

Kimberly D. Russaw. “Commentary on Exodus 1:8-2:10” in Preaching This Week, August 27, 2023. Accessed online at workingpreacher.org.

Karla Suomala. “Commentary on Exodus 1:8-2:10” in Preaching This Week, August 27, 2017. Accessed online at workingpreacher.org.

Dennis Olson. “Commentary on Exodus 1:8-2:10” in Preaching This Week, August 24, 2008. Accessed online at workingpreacher.org.

Christopher Eames. “Who Was the Pharaoh of the Exodus?” in Let the Stones Speak, March-April 2023. Accessed online at https://armstronginstitute.org/882-who-was-the-pharaoh-of-the-exodus

History editors. “MADD founder’s daughter killed by drunk driver,” in History, April 30, 2021. Accessed online at https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/madd-founders-daughter-killed-by-drunk-driver

The Goldman Environmental Prize. “Lois Gibbs, 1990.” Accessed online at  https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/lois-gibbs/#recipient-bio

–. Malala Yousafzai – Biographical. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Sat. 26 Aug 2023. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2014/yousafzai/biographical/&gt;

Exodus 1:8-2:10

8Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. 12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 13The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, 14and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.

15The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16“When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.” 17But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. 18So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?” 19The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. 21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.”

2Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. 2The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. 3When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. 4His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

5The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. 6When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him, “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. 7Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

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Battered by the Waves

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Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Battered by the Waves” Matthew 14:22-33

Researchers from the American Enterprise Institute, the University of Chicago, and the Pew Research Center have been studying the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on churches. They have found that Americans are now going to church less. 20% of church folks say they are now less likely to show up on Sunday mornings. Indeed, in most congregations, those who are “infrequent attenders,” only coming to church a few times each year, are the largest membership group.  Those numbers are highest for mainline Protestant churches, where 51% of members are what we affectionately call C & E (Christmas and Easter) people. Americans who are least likely to attend church are young adults under thirty. 72% of them say that they have not attended church, either online or in-person, since the onset of the pandemic.

The overall decline in attendance comes at a time when many congregations were already struggling. According to a study by Faith Communities Today, even before the pandemic, the median congregation size in the United States had dropped from 137 people in 2000 to 65 people in 2020. That study also found that Americans who attend worship services are more likely to attend large congregations, leaving smaller local churches in difficult straits. Even churches that remained vital through that twenty-year pre-pandemic decline are now reporting that COVID brought a big drop in volunteerism that has yet to rebound. 40% of church attendees volunteered before the pandemic. Nowadays, those who share their time and talents have fallen to a meager 15%.

Author, speaker, and America’s most trusted commentator on religion and contemporary spirituality, Diana Butler Bass believes that the decline in church attendance and service is part of a larger societal shift. Bass says that even before the pandemic, Americans were experiencing a loneliness crisis, with fewer spending time with friends or participating in social, civic, or religious activities. Whether prompted by the rise of social media, or our mile-a-minute culture, or the polarization of American society along lines of politics, race, and economics, many have lost the habits and skills of being social, like making friends and creating community.

That may sound like a perfect opportunity for churches, but Bass reports that, “Churches haven’t really figured that out.” We think and say we are friendly, but we aren’t really. We don’t see the cultivation of friendships and congregational fellowship as vital to our spiritual life and an essential part of our calling as followers of Jesus, who called his disciples his friends.  That must be why when we observe a “Bring a Friend to Church Sunday,” no one does.

One thing is clear. Churches are feeling battered by the waves of this post-pandemic world. Some congregations are bailing like crazy and hunkering down against the strong winds of change. Even so, it feels like disaster looms on the horizon. It’s just a matter of time before the boat is swamped and the waters roll in.

Our gospel lesson reminds us that the disciples knew how it felt to battle the elements in a small boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus fed the 5,000 and then sent his disciples on ahead of him, across the water, while he went up the mountain to pray. As the disciples headed out to sea, their smooth sailing gave way to troubled waters.  Adverse winds blew in and whipped the waves high. Soon the disciples, even the seasoned mariners, were struggling to keep afloat. The last time they were in this predicament, Jesus was on board to still the storm. But now, Jesus was far behind on the shore and the disciples faced the storm alone. 

They must have been near exhaustion in the early morning hours when they noticed a hazy shape on the horizon, emerging from the weather and dark.  Matthew says that the disciples were terrified by the specter. The Greek word here – etaraxthaesan – means to experience very great mental distress and physical anguish: hearts thumping, guts churning, minds racing, a full-blown panic.  Not one of the frightened crew thought beyond disaster to possibility. Not one reassured his companions that this could be Jesus and not a ghost.

The trouble with all those scary numbers and polls is that they can leave us as frightened and overwhelmed as the disciples were. We forget the skills we have, skills that have kept the church afloat for two millennia, through disaster, hardship, plague, Inquisition, Reformation, and persecution. We lose our ability to think creatively, so we cling fiercely to what feels familiar and comfortable. We don’t take risks and try new things like sending home-made cookies and garden-grown flowers out to a lonely world that hungers for connection and love. All our attention ends up focused on the storm instead of on the one who walked upon the water. We see only the problem and not the possibility.

I like to imagine that when Jesus came down the mountain after his time of prayer, he stood on the lakeshore. He felt the wind tugging at his robe. He saw the water whipped into whitecaps. On the horizon, many stadia away, he saw the little boat, and he knew that his friends were in trouble. So, Jesus did the impossible. He tapped into that holy and almighty power that formed a world out of watery chaos and he stepped out upon the water. He made a bee-line for his struggling friends. Within hailing distance of the boat, Jesus shouted words of encouragement, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

It is I, ego eimi, is better translated as “I am.”  Jesus stood in the midst of the wind and the waves and invoked the great and ancient name that God used when speaking to Moses from the burning bush: I AM.  “Take heart!” Jesus told his panicky friends, “The great I AM is here, now.”

I suspect that, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid,” is precisely the message that the post-pandemic church most needs to hear. Those surveys and statistics about declining numbers and fewer volunteers are a lot like rising winds. Those findings about growing isolation and alienation in our post-modern society can feel like stormy weather. It’s hard not to feel daunted by what worries and scares us. But obsessing about the numbers or despairing over changing social realities is a little like the anxious disciples despairing in the boat.

It’s a little like Peter, fearing the wind instead of taking the holy hand held out to him.  I like to point out that when Jesus called to Peter, “Come,” the Lord didn’t still the storm. He didn’t rebuke the wind or quiet the water. Instead, Peter had to step out into the chaos. The waves churned beneath his feet. The wind swept his hair in front of his eyes. He felt the watery spray against his cheek. Even so, Peter did just fine as long as he kept his eyes on the prize. So can we.  Jesus is with us amid the post-pandemic chaos. The Lord is here to encourage and comfort us amid nationwide declining attendance and dwindling volunteerism. Jesus can speak peace to our trembling hearts and stretch out a strong hand to save when we are in over our heads and feeling overwhelmed.

If you are a church wonk like me, then you know that the central portion of the sanctuary, where you are seated in the pews, is called the church’s nave. That name is from the Latin word navis, which means ship. In the early days of Christianity, the most commonly used symbol for the church was the ship. In fact, in a number of languages, including Danish, Swedish, Dutch, and Spanish, the same word is used for a ship and the church nave—skib, skepp, schip, nave. If we were to worship in a Nordic or Baltic church this morning, we would even see a model ship hanging in the nave, a nod to that ancient symbol for the church.

If you take a look at the vaulted, wooden ceiling of this church, you’ll notice that it looks a lot like a boat. And if you consider the stained-glass windows, you’ll see that on one side of our nave someone had the forethought to give us an anchor, representing faith to steady us in rising seas.  And at the other end of the nave, they gave us a cross, the symbol of Christ our Lord, to guide us when the waves rise and the way seems dark. Here we are, all together in our little boat.

If we listen closely this morning, we might hear it above the winds that blow. Beyond the surveys and statistics, Jesus calls, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Look out to the horizon, beyond the problems. Look out to where the Lord waits. Look out for the possibilities are endless.  Amen.

Resources

Nicholas Schaser. “Commentary on Matthew 14:23-33” in Preaching This Week, August 13, 2023. Accessed online at workingpreacher.org.

Carla Works. “Commentary on Matthew 14:23-33” in Preaching This Week, August 10, 2014. Accessed online at workingpreacher.org.

Mar G.V. Hoffman. “Commentary on Matthew 14:23-33” in Preaching This Week, August 7, 2011. Accessed online at workingpreacher.org.

Bob Smietana. “Church attendance declines as pandemic enters year three” in The Christian Century, Jan.  9, 2023. Accessed online at https://www.christiancentury.org/article/news/church-attendance-declines-pandemic-enters-year-three.

Justin Nortey and Michael Rotolo. “How the Pandemic Has Affected Attendance at U.S. Religious Services” a Report of the Pew Research Center, March 28, 2023. Accessed online at https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2023/03/28/how-the-pandemic-has-affected-attendance-at-u-s-religious-services/

Adelle M. Banks. “New study examines how COVID has changed churches” in The Christian Century, Dec. 15, 2021. Accessed online at https://www.christiancentury.org/article/news/new-study-examines-how-covid-has-changed-churches

Matthew 14:22-33

22Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 25And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. 26But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” 28Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

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Come to the Table

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Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Come to the Table” Matthew 14:13-21

On July seventeenth, Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Deal, which safeguarded Ukraine’s export of wheat, corn, barley, and sunflower oil. The Russians have launched a series of subsequent attacks on grain supplies in key Ukrainian cities, like the July 21st bombing in Odessa that destroyed 60,000 tons of grain, enough to feed 270,000 people for a year. Ukrainian farmers grow 10% of the world’s wheat exports, 15% of the corn, 13% of the barley, and more than 50% of the world’s sunflower oil.  57% of those exports go to developing countries in Africa and Asia. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that Russia is doing something unconscionable: weaponizing food. Beyond the violence and politics, concern looms of a global food crisis spurred by the cut in exports and the consequent surge in grain prices.

Hunger is on the rise around the world after a decade of decline. There are 783 million hungry people in our world.  Between 2019 and 2022, the number of undernourished people grew by 150 million. 14 million children suffer from severe acute malnutrition. They experience stunted growth, cognitive impairment, and a host of other hunger-related crises. The hungriest place on the planet today is Afghanistan, where 90% of the people live in poverty and six million are starving.

Hunger is on the rise in our country. With the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, food supports like free school lunches for children and increased SNAP benefits for families have ended. Add to those diminished benefits the rapid inflation of food prices and the result is more hungry neighbors. The most recent Household Pulse Survey by the Census Department found that in June 26.5 million Americans were living in food-insecure households. That means that meals were skipped or skimpy because the cupboard was bare. That poll reflects a 12% increase from a year ago. Nationwide, use of food pantries is up 22%. If you talk to any of our Food Pantry volunteers, they’ll tell you that the number of local households needing emergency help is also on the rise.

Our reading from Matthew’s gospel is all about feeding hungry people. Jesus had retreated to a wilderness place to mourn the death of his cousin John the Baptist, but the crowds followed him. Moved with compassion by their need for his help, Jesus jettisoned his plans for quiet prayer time and spent the day healing his neighbors. As the day drew to a close, the disciples saw a looming crisis: hungry people. With only enough resources to barely feed themselves, the disciples resolved to send the crowd away. Let them go to the neighboring towns, they implored Jesus, so that they can find food.

With two millennia of insight, it’s tempting for us to roll our eyes at those disciples, who never seem to truly understand what Jesus is trying to teach them. But the hunger of our local and global neighbors can feel as daunting for us as that hungry crowd was for Jesus’ friends. We read the headlines about Ukrainian grain stores bombed into oblivion and we feel shocked and powerless. We hear those statistics about growing world hunger and starving Afghanis, and we feel overwhelmed. We read about inflation and rising food prices and we say, “Tell me about it. Have you seen what has happened to our household budget?” World hunger is demoralizing. Our resources are too meager. Our vision is too limited. Wouldn’t it be easier to send everyone away? Or wouldn’t it be great if someone else stepped up to deal with this mess?

Jesus reminded his friends that the buck stopped there when it came to hungry people. After all, God was passionate about feeding the hungry. God had rained bread from heaven, brought forth water from the rock, and sent quails into the camp to sustain the hungry Israelites in the wilderness. Later, through the Prophet Ezekiel, God had condemned as bad shepherds the selfish leaders who live in abundance but failed to nurture and nourish their human flocks. According to God through the words of the Prophet Isaiah (58:7), sharing our bread with the hungry is an act of worship, a sign of our devotion to the Almighty. In feeding the hungry, those who dare to keep the faith are pursuing the passion of God, even as they anticipate the coming of God’s Kingdom.  “You feed them,” Jesus told his friends.

This church has long understood that to be a child of God and a follower of Jesus summons us to engage the hunger of our world head-on. When we bring monthly food contributions to the pack basket at the side entrance or share our spare change in the 2-cents-a-meal offering, we are pursuing God’s passion. When we grow healthy vegetables and beautiful flowers in the church garden and when we lace up our sneakers to walk and raise funds in the CROP Walk, we are engaging in acts of worship that are pleasing to God. When we open our church doors to provide a home for the Saranac Lake Interfaith Food Pantry, we are honoring Jesus’ command. We are living into those words that Jesus spoke to fearful and overwhelmed disciples in the wilderness, “You feed them.”

The disciples didn’t have enough. Five paltry barley loaves. Two small dried fish. It was a meager meal for one humble family at best.  It was against their better judgment—and in spite of their growling bellies—to place that inadequate fare in the hands of Jesus. I suspect that it took a leap of faith. It demanded the acknowledgment that although they couldn’t see the vision or imagine a changed future, Jesus could—and they could trust in that. Filled with questions and worry, they gave what they had to Jesus. Lo and behold! As the bread was blessed and broken and shared, the unimaginable happened. Truly and impossibly, everyone ate. There was more than enough.

I don’t have a solution for the broken Black Sea Grain Deal. I can’t end the war and drought in Ethiopia that have unleashed the specter of famine. I can’t oust the Taliban and reverse the economic catastrophe that is Afghanistan. But I trust that when we place our limited resources in the hands of Jesus, something improbable and life-changing happens. All our little bits make a big difference when they are blessed and shared in pursuit of God’s passion. The hungry are fed. There can be more than enough.

This morning, we share a simple meal together. We feast at the Lord’s Table. Bread will be broken. The cup will be blessed. This communion remembers the Lord who fed hungry people with a miracle of multiplied loaves and fish. This communion remembers the Lord who did not count the cost in giving of himself for the salvation of God’s people. This communion also looks ahead to that bountiful feast in the Kingdom of God, when all will be fed and satisfied. This communion is a call to action, here and now, so that the hungry and hungry of heart may be fed.

“You feed them,” the Lord instructs disciples who feel short on both resources and inspiration. May we have the courage to place ourselves in Jesus’ hands and go forth to be bread for this hungry world.

Resources

Jennifer Kaalund. “Commentary on Matthew 14:13-21” in Preaching This Week, Aug. 6, 2017. Accessed online at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-18/commentary-on-matthew-1413-21-6

Warren Carter. “Commentary on Matthew 14:13-21” in Preaching This Week, Aug. 6, 2017. Accessed online at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-18/commentary-on-matthew-1413-21-6

Jennifer Hansler. “Concerns Mount Over Potential for Food Crisis Amid Russian Moves to Cripple Ukrainian Grain Exports” in CNN Politics, July 27, 2023. Accessed online at www.cnn.com.

Leah Douglas. “US Hunger Rates Rise as Pandemic Aid Ends, Data Shows” in Reuters US News, June 28, 2023. Accessed online at ww.reuters.com/world/us.

World hunger facts are from Action Against Hunger. Accessed online, July 28, 2023 at actionagainsthunger.org.

Matthew 14:13-21

13Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

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