Internship Sermon 07/30/06

Not really happy with this one... i think it lacks focus and direction...I don't know what it is that sent it off the good sermon path...but anyways..here it is for your perusal...comments are welcome...good, bad and ugly

Chrisy


^NRS John 6:1 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.
² A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.
³ Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples.
⁴ Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near.

⁵ When 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?"
⁶ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.
⁷ Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little."
⁸ One 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?"
¹⁰ Jesus 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.
¹¹ Then 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.
¹² When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost."
¹³ So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.
¹⁴ When 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."
¹⁵ When 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.
¹⁶ When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,
¹⁷ got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
¹⁸ The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.
¹⁹ When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified.
²⁰ But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."
²¹ Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

Grace and Peace to you from the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

If someone were to put a trumpet in my hands, I could play it…. I know where to put my hands and what to do with my mouth and I would huff and puff and get some noise out of it…but put that trumpet in the hands of Wynton Marsalles or the Stoneback Sisters who are down at Augustana and its beautiful music for hours. Give me a bunch of cattle and a barn and I’ll get them there eventually, but a couple of people on horses with a dog will likely get them there a lot faster… Pastor Halaas and I went to Hansel’s open house yesterday…and there was a lot of wonderful food to eat there and we had a great time but if 5000 people came to Boyd and Terri’s door, my guess is there would have been issues.

We hear very familiar words today in our Gospel text and this is the only miracle of Jesus that can be found in all four gospels. …Jesus feeding 5000 people, and that’s not counting the women and children with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. We’re not talking 5 loaves of Subways 5 foot long sub bread and 2 giant 100 lb fish but 5 little loaves of bread likely no bigger than a fist and fish about the size of sardines…

This text began much in the same place we were last week…Jesus with the disciples, and the crowds near the sea. It does not say what time of day it was but my guess is it was near mealtime given Jesus asking Phillip where they were going to get bread to give to the crowd. Phillip had no idea where they were going to get bread and he knew none of them had the money to buy it. Andrew suggested a young boy’s meager meal of 5 barley loaves and 2 fish but wondered aloud what are they among so many people? In fact who were the disciples among so many people and who was Jesus among so many in a crowd.

Jesus was indeed someone for all of these people had heard stories of his healing the sick. They, the crowds, were probably thinking hmm, I wonder who this Jesus fellow is and if he can really do what my neighbor heard about. Others likely had heard the teaching of Jesus and wanted to hear more. Some probably thought he was some kind of magician or wizard and my guess there were more then a few who thought this Jesus guy was a total crock and just wanted to get a glimpse of Jesus not doing anything all the special and be able to report back to their neighbor that Jesus was nothing more than an average guy with a lot of people following him around.

Even the disciples didn’t know Jesus completely. They knew he was their teacher and a man who did marvelous things. They had seen many things that Jesus had done but even they weren’t quite sure how Jesus was going to pull off feeding 5000 people. But he did just that.

There are many theories as to how this actually happened…one was that once people saw that Jesus was handing out food, they too got out the food they had and shared it with those around them. It is highly unlikely that all of these people would have left their homes and followed Jesus across the country side without bringing some food with them. The other is that some how some way, Jesus with the power of God somehow made 5 loaves and 2 fish feed 5000 people. I certainly don’t know how Jesus accomplished what he did but either way it was pretty awesome. Everyone ate their fill and there were 12 baskets of leftovers!!! What an awesome power of God that Jesus was showing the people this day. Jesus through God has given these 5000 people what they need and given them so much that they have leftovers. We could learn a lot from this.

Often we find ourselves in a situation where all we can see is the situation in front of us. We are confronted with homelessness, hunger, drug and alcohol issues. We find ourselves spending beyond our means, spending too much time at work away from our families and wondering how we are going to buy new shoes for our kids. We find ourselves in Phillips role looking at our situation and not seeing any way out and not being able to look at the situation any differently than our viewpoint. We see a need and know our solution to that need but don’t stop to consider that there might be other ideas or solutions. Someone has handed me a trumpet and all I can do is huff and puff rather than consider that I might and should try a different instrument.

We need to have faith that Jesus can take the little we have and multiply into something much more. Jesus can take my one or two dollars and add it to yours and yours until there are dollars from 40000 youth that adds to more the 1 million dollars raised for various ministries throughout the world. Jesus shares bread and plants gifts in people so that those same People become foster parents from children needing homes. People come together to share ideas and thoughts about what to do with their communities drug and alcohol problem because they know they can not handle nor change the situation by themselves. People will have ideas to help families with children in a pediatric Emergency situations and a benefit like a shooting stars program will be held, now in its third year

The disciples, especially Phillip didn’t have any clue how Jesus would handle feeding this mass of people. Andrew saw something in that little boy and Jesus took what little the boy had and turned it into much more for a whole lot of people. We are given each and every day so much from God. It is now our turn to give our fives loaves and two fish back and watch what Jesus does with them. We may never see something as awesome as 5000 people being fed, but Jesus is and will continue to use whatever we give in whatever way he can. Amen.

intership Sermon 07/23/06

^{Mark 6: 30-34; 53-56. Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Year B.}

³⁰ The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught.

³¹ He said to them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.

³² And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.

³³ Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.

³⁴ As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

Feeding of the 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish. Jesus walking on water

⁵³ When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat.

⁵⁴ When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him,

⁵⁵ and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.

⁵⁶ And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and his son, Jesus Christ our Lord!

Have you ever just wanted to get away and find a moment of peace and quiet? Perhaps you had been hosting your grandchildren all week…lets say ages 3-12…all 5 wonderful grandkids…and you love them and want to spend time with them but you are practically on a dead run from the moment you rise to the moment you literally fall back asleep in bed…and you would love just a moments peace…other than in the bathroom, which doesn’t stay peaceful for long. Or perhaps your house is the gathering space for the entire family….your parents, your siblings, your kids, your in-laws….you get home from work and everyone is there just hanging out… and don’t get me wrong you love your family but you don’t need to see them ALL the time. Or you live or work on a farm…you would think that on a farm there would be moments of peace and quiet…but as soon as the sun is up, you get up, and you need to feed the animals and if they don’t get their food when they want it, they will let you know; the longer they wait, the louder they become…. And then hay needs to be baled, or the corn needs water, and the wagon needs to be welded and all the sudden the pto shaft snaps in two…your busy day just became crazy and you will be lucky if you have a moment to eat before the sun goes down, not to mention your constant worry as you watch your crops shrivel up before your eyes with not a rain cloud in site

I can imagine the apostles must have felt overwhelmed, tired and probably hungry. They had been out teaching and preaching and doing what Jesus told them and wanted them to do. It says in our gospel text that so many people were coming and going that they didn’t have time to eat. Jesus saw their exhaustion and felt compassion for the apostles and wanted to take them away for just a short while, so they would have a bit of time to relax and recharge so they could then continue to care for all of the people. I know if I had been one of those apostles I would be looking forward to this short period of quiet time…. I would have gotten in the boat with my colleagues and imagined the peace and quiet for a while. And when the boat got to the other side, what there to meet us? Peace and quiet? Hardly… for all of the people had seen us get in the boat and had hurried on foot to where the boat was going.

And as much as the apostles secretly hoped Jesus would send all these people away so they would get peace and quiet, they knew Jesus would not send them away for Jesus had compassion for the crowds, just like he had compassion for the apostles. Jesus went into the crowds and taught them many things. Jesus compared the crowds to lost sheep and he became their shepherd.

Now, as many of you know I grew up on a farm. We had a total of five sheep over the years…Fergie, Andrew, Rambo, Lambchop and PG. I don’t know if our sheep ever felt shepardless but they sure liked to get out of their pen and follow us around. Lambchop would constantly be found with her head inside the dog food bag munching away and PG would always come up to you and try to head butt your hip to let you know he wanted to play.

However since I grew up on a dairy farm, I have a lot more experience with cattle than sheep. And cattle much like sheep need a shepherd or herdsperson to help them along the way…perhaps to walk them into a new pasture field and show the cattle that the electric fence that had been there a day before wasn’t anymore…or to make sure the water tank had enough water in it or to herd them all into the barn if a storm was coming. The center of the cattle’s world is that herdsperson; just as the center of the crowd’s world was Jesus.

In the past two weeks; I had a chance to feel like one of those cattle being herded by people with more wisdom and knowledge then I. I, also like one of those cattle sometimes just blindly followed along the person right ahead of me. At the same time I was reminded how much Jesus is at the center of my life and the lives of all of those people around me. Jesus was and is calling me to be a sheep, his sheep, but he is also calling me and all of us at the gathering, not to mention here in Wisconsin and throughout the world to be one of his shepherds and to show compassion to those around me.

We arrived in San Antonio Tuesday afternoon and after checking into the hotel, went out to dinner. The herds around us weren’t that big then but those of us who hadn’t been in San Antonio before followed our shepherds who got direction and had maps. The collective herd we were apart of grew and grew until there were 24000 of us waiting outside the Alamo dome in 100 heat. The doors opened and like cattle in a stockyard we went pouring through the doors to the blessed coolness and the unknown that lay in front of us. We were greeted with music and song… a conga line that never quit fabulous speakers, great Bible studies and many many stories of people as sheep and shepherds. We heard stories of people from Mexico, Guatemala, the Sudan and many more…powerful stories of escape from violence and oppression, and people who had had the strength and courage to walk across their county with just one leg. People who like those crowds 2000 years ago knew Jesus was their shepherd and followed him. We were taught to pray (Orando) to God in our hurt and pain (tus penas y dolor) or when we just wanted to talk to God. (hablar con dios) by an old Mexican women who sang this song every morning when she woke up. We listened to Tony Campolo who is the founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education, St. Davids, Pa., and author of 28 books tell us that we are the new generation to rise up with hope, vision and dreams and make a difference. We heard Jim Wallis editor of Sojourners magazine tell us that “Your job is to clear up the confusion about faith," Faith is the substance of what we're waiting for," he said, adding that "you are the ones we've been waiting for. A church is waiting for you. The nation, the world is waiting for you. Your generation has come," and "we have a lot invested in you." And after I got to be a very proud chaperone watching our Barronett and Augustana youth open worship as part of a marvelous procession as dove fliers and bouquet wavers, we all heard presiding bishop Mark Hanson remind us of God’s entrance into our lives when we were born and when we baptized….when our foreheads were marked with the cross of Christ and sealed with the holy spirit forever….and in that we were reminded that while we are sheep, God’s sheep, that we need to be shepherds at the same time that we need to let people know the love of God that has been shared with us through Jesus…through his death on the cross and through the meal we will share in just a short while. And that we as shepherds should proclaim this gospel of love, serve our neighbor, seek justice and to be Christ for and to others…. And in our moments of need of peace, of rest, of solace, we will find it in Jesus and the light of God that we see in each other. We will find it like the crowds at Gennesaret and where ever we meet Jesus… at a national youth gathering… in the eyes of our grandchildren… in the laughter of our family right after the work and in the grease and dirt as we fix machines or walk in a field of God’s creation. Amen