Loving God, you are the source of life and salvation, and yet we continue to pursue those things that will never satisfy us. Lead us into contentment in your presence, and work both within us and through us by the power of your Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Last week as I was driving across Saskatchewan, I picked up a radio program on which the topic of discussion was happiness. One of the things that was mentioned were some of the myths that people live by. One of the most predominant myths, especially in North America, tells us that the more we have, the happier we’ll be. We pursue more money, more “security,” more things, all under the illusion that more will make us happier. One of the comments made on the radio program was that if this were actually true, then there would be a lot of really happy people in Hollywood. Of course, this isn’t the case. Truthfully, outer things will never make us happy, for happiness is an inside job.

Interestingly enough, Isaiah was addressing more or less the same thing hundreds of years before Jesus’ time. He writes as if God is speaking:

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live (Isa. 55:2-3).

God is giving the invitation for people to come to him and live. The invitation is there for those who are thirsty to come and drink, and for all who are hungry to come to the feast where your ticket is already paid for, and all that is good comes from God’s hand. All we have to do is to know our need, and to come.

I don’t know about you, but for me the connections to the Lord’s Supper are obvious. In fact, having spent some time reading what Martin Luther had to say on the subject, knowing our need plays a huge part in coming to the Lord’s Table. In Luther’s day, some people were using their newfound evangelical freedom as an excuse to stay away from the Lord’s Supper. In other words, it was no longer a law that you had to go all the time, and so some people were not receiving the sacrament at all.

However, Luther’s response went something like this: “What do you mean, you don’t need it? What makes you such a good Christian that you do not need grace or life or Christ? The sacrament is freely offered and freely given, but do not therefore neglect it! Every day I need the refreshment, the strength and the forgiveness that come to me in the Lord’s Supper, and that’s why we celebrate it every Sunday in our churches! You would have no need for the Lord’s Supper only if you were pure and upright, in which case Christ would have no need of you. However, in this life all of us are sinners, and we have need of God’s redeeming grace. And so we follow the command of Christ: “Do this in remembrance of me.”

In Luther’s estimation, those who come to the Lord’s Table both need and receive forgiveness and life and salvation and healing and comfort and grace and – even more importantly – Christ himself. Luther believed that those who had truly heard God’s Word and had been moved by the Holy Spirit would know their need and would come to the Lord’s Supper in order to receive life from God’s hand.

In the same way, those who knew their need came to Jesus in today’s gospel. They came, it seems, primarily because they were in need of healing, and Jesus “had compassion for them and cured their sick” (Mt. 14:14). However, as the day went on and the hour grew later, hunger also became a pressing need, which is no small thing when you’ve got over 5000 people gathered together in the wilderness. And so Jesus simply gives them something to eat.

It is a meal that greatly resembles the Lord’s Supper, using the same four actions. Jesus takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it and then gives it to the disciples. In this case they have fish instead of wine, but the resemblance is unmistakable. However, instead of a small piece of bread and a sip of wine, all eat and are satisfied – well over 5000 of them – and there are even twelve basketfuls of bread left over. The people who came to Jesus knew their need, and Jesus satisfied them.

However, there is an aspect of today’s gospel that goes beyond knowing our own need for Jesus. We could summarize it something like this: There are times when we are in need, and there are times when we need to give. We see this in Jesus, and we see it in the disciples.

First of all, Jesus: As today’s gospel begins, Jesus needs some time alone to pray. He has just heard about the death of John the Baptist, and needs some time and space to deal with this news. However, this crowd of people shows up, greatly in need of healing. When Jesus sees them, he is filled with compassion for them and he heals all who are sick. He then feeds them with the loaves and the fish. In the verses just following the gospel for today, Jesus sends the disciples off in the boat and sends the crowds home and then goes up the mountain by himself to pray. Jesus knows his need - in this case for some time alone to pray - and he also needs to give - when he has compassion on the crowd of people.

The disciples also need to give. In reality, Jesus could have come up with many different solutions to the hunger of the crowd. He could have turned a few stones into bread. If he was going to perform a miracle anyway, he could have just waved his hands and said some magic words and had food appear where the people could just grab what they needed and eat. However, the solution which Jesus chooses involves a lot of hard work by the disciples. Can you imagine twelve people serving food to over 5000 and then gathering up all of the leftovers? Jesus fills the need of the people, but the disciples are required to do a lot of work in order to make it happen. Are you starting to see why Jesus might do this?

God does not operate by magic. Instead, God quite often uses human agents in order to care for the needs of others. To be a disciple or a believer in Jesus means being ready to give. To be a disciple or a believer in Jesus also means being ready to receive all that is graciously offered to us from God’s hand.

The disciples in today’s gospel worked hard and ended up doing far more than they wanted to when they suggested sending the crowd away to the nearest villages. Yet, the disciples also received from Jesus, for they, too, were fed, and then Jesus sends them off in the boat so that they, too, can rest and get away from the crowd.

There are times when we come and we are in need. In fact, we are always in need of renewed strength and forgiveness from God’s hand. Yet, at the same time, those who have received need to give. God has made us members of the body of Christ – the Church. As such, we are empowered to be the hands and feet of Christ in our world. May it be so by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lectionary 18(A)      Matthew 14:13-21
August 3, 2008       Isaiah 55:1-5
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison Moore
© 2008 Lynne Hutchison Moore All Rights Reserved