More than Enough

This sermon was preached at Glenwood and Canoe Ridge Lutheran  Churches, Decorah, Iowa on July 29, 2018. It’s based on 2 Kings 4:42-44; Ephesians 3:14-21; and John 6:1-21. If you’d prefer to listen to it, find it at https://soundcloud.com/stacey-nalean-carlson.

2 Kings 4:42-44

⁴²A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the first fruits to Elisha, the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.” ⁴³But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” So he repeated, “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’ ” ⁴⁴He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.

Ephesians 3:14-21

¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. ¹⁶I 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, ¹⁷and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. ¹⁸I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
²⁰Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

John 6:1-21

¹Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. ²A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. ³Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. ⁴Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. ⁵When 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?” ⁶He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. ⁷Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” ⁸One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ⁹“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” ¹⁰Jesus 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. ¹¹Then 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. ¹²When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” ¹³So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. ¹⁴When 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.”
¹⁵When 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.
¹⁶When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. ²⁰But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” ²¹Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

This gospel reading raises all sorts of questions for me.

Jesus sees the crowd approaching and initiates the conversation about how to feed them, apparently to test Philip. If Jesus hadn’t asked the question, would the disciples have considered feeding the crowd a necessity? Or would they have been content to eat their meal without any concern for the hungry crowd around them?

Philip seemingly fails the test, focused not on what he already knows of Jesus, but on economic realities. Six months’ wages, even if they had that money, wouldn’t be enough for each one in that crowd to get even a little bread.

It’s unclear, next, whether Andrew responds to Philip or to Jesus, when he says, There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. Andrew notices what is present and available at the scene. This seems at least closer to passing Jesus’ test. But Andrew, too, fails. He fails to recognize that Jesus is also present and available at the scene.

What are five loaves and two fish among so many people, is perhaps a legitimate question under normal circumstances. But not here. Not now. Jesus is present. God is present.

Even if the disciples hadn’t already witnessed the power of Jesus at work, they should have at least remembered their history. They should have remembered the story of Elisha and his servant in our first reading for today. How can I set this before a hundred people, Elisha’s servant asks when commanded to give twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain to the people. He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.

Don’t the disciples remember? Twenty loaves and a few ears of grain aren’t sufficient for so many people. But twenty loaves and a few ears of grain and the Word of the Lord are more than sufficient.

Five barley loaves and two fish aren’t sufficient for so many people. But five barley loaves and two fish and Jesus (God’s Word made flesh) are more than sufficient. The crowd ate all that they wanted, all were satisfied, and there were even leftovers. This is the reality of life in the kingdom of God. Do we remember?

I don’t. I’m as forgetful as Andrew and Philip. I know how God has acted in the past, but somehow I don’t expect that God will act now. There isn’t enough money. There isn’t enough time. There aren’t enough volunteers.

And if Jesus weren’t asking the question, would we even recognize the need? Would we see the crowd approaching and feel compelled to act? Or would we be content to sit in our sanctuaries and feast on the food we know is enough for us?

The crowd out there is beyond our grasp. So many hungry. So many without a place to call home. So many in need of healing. So many seeking refuge and asylum. So many separated from their children. So many struggling in today’s economy. So many convinced, with good reason, that there isn’t enough. That they aren’t enough. So many anxious. So many afraid.

Last fall, at a time when I felt helpless in the face of a friend’s suffering, I wrote: I know love ought to be enough. What more is there, really? But in the face of the struggle, love seems insufficient, not enough to bring, but far too much to carry. How can it feel so small and so weighty all at once?

What are a few prayers and some hymns among so many people?

What are a few faithful worshipers? What are two small congregations?

What are a few dollars put in the offering plate? What are a couple minutes spent listening to your neighbor?

Not nearly enough, without Jesus. But with him, more than enough.

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. Jesus knows what he’s going to do.

He knows he’s going to feed the hungry. He knows he’s going to eat with sinners. He knows he’s going to cross every boundary for the sake of demonstrating God’s love for everyone and everything.

He knows he’s going to defend the most vulnerable. He knows he’s going to welcome the little children. He knows he’s going to love his enemies, all the way to the cross.

Jesus knows what he’s going to do…for you. He’s going to welcome you to his table. He’s going to give you the gift of forgiveness and peace and unconditional love. He’s going to strengthen you, through his very self, and then send you into the world to be his hands and feet, his heart, his hope.

Jesus knew what he was going to do, because he comprehended the breadth, and length, and height and depth of God’s love. He took hold of God’s love—he made it his own—when he emerged from the waters of his baptism and heard God name him beloved.

And rooted and grounded in that love—that chain-breaking love, that fear-scattering love, that perfect love of God—Jesus lived his life as a witness to life in the kingdom of God. He lived his life—he even died his death—confident, that with God there is always more than enough.

With God, our prayers and our hymns change the world bit by bit.

With God, our worship imagines life as it could be, and inspires us to remain committed to peace and justice and a world where all are fed.

With God, our offerings of time and money are multiplied, making a difference in ways we can’t begin to imagine.

Let us pray.

Gracious God, in the waters of baptism you name us as your beloved. Help us to so take hold of your love for us that we might never forget that with you, there is always more than enough. With you, we are enough. With you, we are rooted and grounded not in fear or helplessness, but in love. Perfect love. A love dependent not on us, but on you. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.