July 29, 2012: 9th Sunday after Pentecost (Christmas in July)

John 6:1-21

Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Merry Christmas! In case you missed it, we have an unusual theme for this morning’s worship service: This is Christmas in July! Joy to the World, the Lord is come!...Let earth receive her King!

Now the reason for today’s festivities is to lift up the fact that all month long Bethany members have been gathering gifts for local social service agencies. We’re accustomed to Christmas being the “season for giving”, but the truth is that our neighbors struggle for food, toiletries, rent, and other assistance the whole year long, not just at the holidays. In recognition of this need, Bethany’s Social Action ministry team has encouraged us to celebrate "Christmas in July”, bringing offerings that will fill the shelves at P.A.D.S., the Food Pantry, Home of the Sparrow, the Veteran’s Home in Hebron, and the Salvation Army this summer. The fruits of your efforts are seen behind me. Great work, saints! These gifts will make the lives of your neighbors a bit merrier.

It’s also true that when we see these items displayed, we feel good. It certainly feels good to sing Christmas carols, no matter what month it is. And it feels good to give. Seeing these gifts artfully arranged behind us makes it feel we’ve really done something. Maybe, just maybe, the world is a better place because of our small effort. Maybe, just maybe, this Christianity thing can really turn the world around.

But then—we turn on the news. We hear reports of the famine in Illinois and other states, with crops destroyed and a future of increased food prices for us all. The murder rate in Chicago has gone up 39 percent over last year—two 16 year olds were killed Thursday alone. We see grisly images of women and children massacred in Syria. And on Tuesday night this week, we heard the startlingly true stories of six Palestinian teenagers who have grown up under occupation and who face an uncertain future.

In the face of such huge challenges, it’s easy for the glow of Christmas—whether in December or July—to wear off. It can be tempting to see the problems looming before us and respond, just like Phillip, who stood with Jesus, watching the large hungry crowd coming toward them, and said: “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little!” Like Phillip, we might feel like throwing our hands up in the air to say, “What can we possibly do, Jesus? It’s hopeless. Let them figure it out. We have to take care of our own.” 

One way of interpreting this morning’s reading about the loaves and fishes is that this was a stupendous miracle performed by Jesus in order to prove that Philip was right: he can’t fix it, but Jesus can. Jesus Christ, born in a stable, visited by wise men, and followed by fishermen, waved his hands and multiplied bread and fish, thereby fixing the problem and solidifying his status as a superhero.

If we accept this interpretation today, then in the face of the world’s problems, we might just say, “Yep, it looks pretty bad, but no worries: Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes, so we can just go home now and trust that Jesus will perform a miracle to fix this, too.” 

If this interpretation sounds familiar, you’re not alone. I’m certain most of us have heard this version in Sunday school and countless sermons.

But more recently, another interpretation has arisen. In this telling of the story, Jesus didn’t perform a miracle at all. Instead, we hear that the crowd, under peer pressure, finally opened their lunchboxes and backpacks and passed around the food they were hiding from their neighbors. All were satisfied, and there was even food leftover, because people finally decided to share. 

I must admit, I rather like this interpretation, because it makes me feel like I can do something. It definitely inspires Christians to do things like—well, like Christmas in July! This modern interpretation definitely serves as a corrective to the older, passive, “It’s ok, Jesus will take care of it” mindset.

But then, I’m not sure this “miracle-free” interpretation entirely works for me, either.

 Because when I read the story of the feeding of the five thousand, I do see a miracle. After all, 5 loaves plus 2 fish does not equal dinner for 5,000 people, no matter how you figure it!

The question is: Where did the miracle take place?

Were these miraculous loaves, baked with magic yeast by the boy’s mother? 

Did Jesus possess a hocus pocus prayer, capable of multiplying food on the spot?

Did the miracle waft through the crowd, where the people suddenly felt compelled to share? 

Or, perhaps, did the miracle take place in the hearts of the disciples?

Consider that in both stories we heard this morning—Jesus feeding the 5,000 and Jesus walking on the water—the disciples were in seemingly hopeless situations. And in both stories, they greatly underestimated this Jesus. 

They had followed him, they had heard him preach, they had even witnessed other miracles, but in the face of a hungry crowd and a dark and stormy night, the disciples believed that this problem was just too great. This time, there was nothing he could do. This was a hopeless situation.

How could 5 loaves and 2 fish possibly feed this crowd?

How could Jesus possibly get to us, when we’re so far from the shore?

How could our cans of cat food, rolls of toilet paper and packs of mac and cheese possibly help poverty in our community?

How can swatting down paper mosquitos possibly end deaths from malaria?

How could there ever be a church that would welcome me?

How could God possibly forgive me, after what I’ve done?

How could a crucified man walk out of a tomb and appear to his friends, alive and well?

The disciples despaired because they didn’t understand who this Jesus was.

And then, in the face of seemingly hopeless circumstances, a miracle occurs when the hearts of disciples are transformed from hopelessness and apathy to trust and action. Instead of sitting on their hands, they sat the crowds down on the grass, as Jesus instructed. They passed around the 5 loaves and the 2 fish. And when all were satisfied, they gathered up the fragments. Dinner, itself, was no doubt miraculous for the hungry crowd. But the heart of this story is when both the crowd and the disciples recognize Jesus for who he is: the son of God, the prophet the world’s been waiting for, our Savior, the light of the world.

“It is I,” says Jesus. “Do not be afraid.” 

Now, one could criticize a pastor for quoting the same saint too often. But then, perhaps you will forgive me this time, in light of the fact that my beloved Dorothy Day’s autobiography is entitled “Loaves and Fishes”! 

And indeed, Dorothy’s words strike a chord with the Gospel reading for today. The famous co-founder of the Catholic Worker writes: 

"The sense of futility is one of the greatest evils of the day...People say, "What can one person do? What is the sense of our small effort?" They cannot see that we can only lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time; we can be responsible only for the one action of the present moment. But we can beg for an increase of love in our hearts that will vitalize and transform all our individual actions, and know that God will take them and multiply them, as Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes." 

When we give in to hopelessness or retreat into apathy in the face of our own problems or the world’s sorrows, then we, too, underestimate Jesus. We, like Phillip and Andrew, might be missing who this Jesus is, and what he can do: in the world, in our community, in our lives, and especially in our hearts.

In the face of systemic poverty in our community, we might say “what is the sense of our small effort? What good can our little Christmas in July do?” And it’s true: these food offerings have not yet multiplied. I haven’t, as yet, seen an avalanche of pasta flowing from behind the altar.

And yet…what miracles are happening in this place today? Who has been reminded of a time when he, himself, was hungry? Whose heart is being opened to consider giving to others? Who might receive these gifts of food this week and know that all hope is not lost? Might the story of Christmas in July—and the miracle of the loaves and fish—forever become a part of the baptism stories of Alexis and Joseph, told and retold? And if so, what miracles could occur in their lives? 

And so we offer up our loaves and fish—not because it’s enough to solve the world’s problems (because it’s not.)

We offer up our loaves and fish—not because it will earn us salvation (because it can’t).

We offer up our meager loaves and fish—all that we have—because we know this Jesus is truly the son of God, and we trust the love of Christ to transform and multiply our gifts for the sake of the world. 

In the face of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict threatening the Land of Jesus’ birth, this week three Bethany families hosted Lutheran Palestinian teenagers in their homes. More than 70 people, representing 5 churches, heard the stories the teens shared in Luther Hall. We can’t solve this conflict ourselves, but by hearing these stories and sharing them with others, we hope to someday, somehow, truly be able to sing:

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!

In response to the problems of AIDs, malaria, and deep poverty in Africa, the Northern Illinois Synod sent a delegation this week to Tanzania to accompany Lutheran churches there in their work, and to learn what they have to teach us about being a follower of Jesus. Together, as sisters and brothers in Christ, we join our efforts as well as our voices to sing: 

O come let us adore him, O come let us adore him, O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!

While on vacation in Panama one year, the Burseth family came face to face with the reality of children suffering from the lack of dental care. The Burseths didn’t throw up their hands in despair at a problem so great, but instead offered to God what they had: their passion, their skills, and their vacation time, and started a dental mission among the indigenous people there. Now, because of Mission Save a Smile, there are children who are free of tooth pain, with bright smiles, who can more joyfully sing:

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her king!

Sisters and brothers, today we celebrate the way Jesus is born again in our hearts, transforming our meager offerings into miracles for others. Thanks be to God. And Merry Christmas!