10th Sunday after Pentecost
2 Kings 4:42-44
Psalm 145:10-18
Ephesians 3:14-21
John 6:1-21
Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
grace and peace to you
from the one who roots and grounds us in love. Amen
There is a pattern that runs through our gospel for today,
the pattern, rhythm, the pulse I feel in our gospel
is the pattern, rhythm, pulse of gathering and scattering,
the times of drawing together
followed by times of sending out,
which when we think about it
is the mechanism of the heartbeat or breath,
the heart gathers in blood then pumps in out to the rest of the body,
the lungs gather in fresh air and expel used air,
a gathering and scattering, in, out.
The pattern, rhythm, pulse of life.
Breathe in
breathe out Jesus goes to the other side of the Sea of Galilee
(this after a time of healing and defending his actions
- scatter,
breathe in
The crowds follow Jesus who sits down with his disciples
- gather,
breathe out
With the disciples he discusses how they are going to minister to the crowd,
mainly feed them
- scatter-
breathe in
Andrew brings the boy’s lunch to Jesus’ attention
- gather,
breathe out
Jesus blesses and distributes the food
- scatter,
breathe in
Jesus tells the disciples to gather up the fragments of the feast
so that nothing may be lost,
gather,
breathe out
The crowd sees the twelve baskets full of leftovers
and move to make Jesus their king,
Jesus withdraws to the mountain by himself
- scatter,
breathe in
The disciples,
separate from Jesus
get into their boat and start rowing across the sea,
Jesus walks across stormy waters to get to them
- gather,
Breathe out
Breathe in,
breathe out,
Gather,
Scatter
This is the rhythmic pattern of life,
and yet when we as humans encounter this pattern of gather and scatter
in other areas of our life
we struggle with it,
especially the scatter portion
We like things to be whole,
to be gathered together,
to be stable,
and it disturbs us
when on the exhale of something,
things scatter,
(the change of new gathering can also disturb us,
but it’s usually the scatter that throws us off)
families gather in and form- we like that,
families scatter out- as kids grow or people age and move from this life to the next.
It happens with our communities
we see the pattern of gathering and scattering
in the history of the people of Israel,
we have experienced within our own congregation
times of gathering and times of scattering,
this Sunday is a gathering time
as I return from maternity leave
- a time of gathering and scattering of its own-
perhaps that’s why this pattern stood out to me-
and even as part of us knows
that this pattern is natural, necessary even,
we are afraid of the loss the comes with scattering,
even as it makes room for new life.
Jesus, faced with a large hungry crowd,
gathers in a little bit of food,
five loaves and two fish,
it is not enough,
and yet he blesses the little bit that is gathered
and distributes it to the crowd
(in this case they are okay with the scattering gesture)
and blessed and scattered by Jesus
there is more than enough for everyone there,
they eat until they are satisfied
and there are leftovers,
and Jesus tells the disciples
“Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.”
Jesus is attentive to even the scattered fragments.
Jesus gathers up the little bits
so that nothing may be lost,
and this is good news to us
because while we prize gathering and wholeness,
while society prizes people and things that have it all together,
we know deep within ourselves
that we are fragmented
and we are afraid that on the next rush of wind
we will be scattered about
and people will see how just fragmented we are
or we will lose a part of ourselves that is important.
Jesus says “gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.”
And all those fragments come together and fill twelve baskets full.
On the one hand this shows what a great sign Jesus has done,
five loaves and two fish to a satisfied crowd,
with leftovers,
on the other hand
it shows that Jesus values the fragments,
that they are worthy of being gathered in.
That’s what Jesus has done with his disciples,
fragments of the people of Israel,
fragments of the region of Galilee
brought together and made into something greater than themselves,
which Jesus will then scatter,
send out to share the good news,
to gather in more fragments to add to the whole.
Breathe in
Breathe out
Gather
Scatter
Gather again
This is the pulse, the rhythm of life,
We usually only notice our heartbeat and breath
if we intentionally pay attention to them
or if they become out of sync,
and it can be a scary thing
when our heart is not beating the way it is supposed to,
or we can’t seem to catch our breath
no matter how badly we want to,
in those times we often need help,
help from someone outside us,
whether it is a medical professional
or a friend who helps us calm down and breathe,
in those times we need to be connected to someone beyond ourselves.
This is what Jesus does for the frightened disciples out on the rough seas,
this is what Jesus does for us,
as Paul prays for the Ephesians in our second reading:
“I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.”
We are rooted and grounded in the love of Christ,
whether we are breathing in or breathing out
we are within the love of Christ,
whether we are gathering or scattering,
fragmenting or coming together,
whether we feel alone or connected
we are rooted in the love of Christ,
Christ who has a use for all the fragments,
who gathers them up so that none may be lost.
And when we feel lost or disconnected,
Jesus has given us reminders,
reminders as real as a satisfying lunch of bread and fish,
water,
drink it, bathe in it, dip a finger tip- remember your baptism,
God has claimed you
and nothing can change that.
Bread and wine,
real bread, real wine
that we chew and sip and swallow,
that leaves an after taste on our tongues,
real Jesus who broke himself, for you, for us,
for the fragments of the world
to draw all to himself,
who says come taste and see that the Lord is good
and be rooted and grounded in the love of Christ. Amen
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