The Blessing of Inadequacy

This is my sermon from 8/3, a Communion Sunday. The Scripture is Matthew 14:13-21, the Feeding of the Five Thousand.

The Blessing of Inadequacy
I’m not sure why my mother sent me six Hershey bars in January of my sophomore year of college, but she did. And they sat on my desk for a week or so without being eaten. Then I went upstairs one evening to visit my friend Lisa, the tall, pretty Steelers fan. She had a half a bag of marshmallows left over from some engineering class project. They were going to solve the world’s bridge problems with Twizzlers and marshmallows. She’d already eaten the leftover Twizzlers, but there were all these marshmallows with no purpose.

We wished aloud we had Graham crackers so we could make S’mores. And within 5 minutes, we found someone with a half-eaten box of Graham crackers. Lisa and I spent that night roasting marshmallows on the dorm kitchen stove, with mechanical pencils as our roasting sticks. That night, a few Hershey bars, some leftover marshmallows, and the only Graham crackers in the building fed the entire dorm.

The crowds had gathered around Jesus. They were sitting at home that day, and heard the word that he would be in their area. They ran out their doors without any preparation, because who wastes time preparing when the Son of God is in town? So here’s a crowd of thousands, gathered around Jesus. And Jesus prays and teaches and heals among them, all day. But it’s getting dark, and no one remembered to bring oil lamps, because there was no time to prepare. And no one brought food, because there was no time to prepare. So the people that had gathered around Jesus was about to disperse. And those disciples were going to let it happen. “We’ve done enough to satisfy the crowds,” they’re saying. “We’re not expected to do anything else for them. So we should let them get on their way – close up shop for the night.”

But Jesus isn’t satisfied with the disciples only doing the bare minimum. He’s not ready to stop just because, well, how much can a dozen disciples really do for a crowd of 5,000? Jesus is ready to show love, to show compassion, to turn a little love into a great banquet. But the disciples resisted. “There’s no way we have the resources to love these people any more today. We’re not capable of doing anything on such a grand scale!”

“But we can feed them,” said Jesus. “We can give these hungry people some dinner.”
As it turns out, the disciples had packed some provisions. But not many – the disciples could barely have a meal out of the meager peasant offerings of a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. These crowds were out of luck. Too bad, no room at the inn, no free handouts today. Our funds are dried up, and our resources are depleted, and we can’t be held responsible for the crowds’ poor planning and lack of foresight. After all, we’re only a small group of people – we can only do so much!

Can you blame those disciples? They wanted to help, but they knew that with the little that they had, it wasn’t possible. But Jesus taught them a lesson about true compassion and true ministry. He taught them that “budgetary restraints” is not an excuse to “halt all ministry until further notice.” He taught them that “we’re just a small church, so we can’t do as much as the larger churches” is not a valid complaint. He taught them that “we’re tired and ready for bed” is not an excuse to shut the door on the guests we’ve invited in. He taught them that in giving what we have, ministry can occur on a greater scale than we could ever do on our own. But the gifts and resources must be placed in God’s hands if ministry is to truly occur on God’s scale.

“Bring them here to me.” That’s what Jesus commanded the disciples on that day. “I don’t care that you aren’t adequately prepared; just bring me what you can. Bring me what you have, even if it’s only enough for a few fish sandwiches. Bring me the few congregation members that you have, even if it’s only 5% of your town. Bring me the resources your church does have, and I will bless them and prepare them for abundant ministry.”

Those five loaves and two fish in the hands of the disciples were completely inadequate to meet the present need. But those five loaves and two fish in the hands of Jesus Christ were more than adequate. They were so abundant that there were leftovers.

In this story, we see a collection of meager fishermen giving over one basket of food to Jesus, and when Jesus is done with that one basket, there are twelve baskets of leftovers, and 5,000 people have eaten. 5,000 people have been fed by the act of compassion. 5,000 people were cared for by Jesus and the disciples.

Why do so many disciples of Jesus insist that the storeroom must be full in order to be in ministry? Why must we always be adequately prepared in order to meet needs? Why are we making excuses for not doing the ministry we’re called to do?

If we look around the room, we all have about five loaves and two fish to offer, and that’s it. And that’s not enough. It’ll never be enough to meet the needs of this community. It’s just plain inadequate. But in the hands of Christ, it’s more than enough. It’s enough to feed an army.
Admitting that what we have isn’t enough is easy. It’s not hard to make excuses due to inadequacy. We don’t have enough talented players, so how can you expect us to win? You don’t have adequate medical coverage for this procedure, and we don’t give handouts. I’m sorry homeless man, but I only have 6 dollars in my wallet, and if I put than in your cup, how will I eat dinner? I just graduated school, and I’m in debt myself. We’re just a small country church, not like those mega-churches in the city, so we’re just doing the best we can – and it may not be much, but what can you expect from just a few people?

We’re all inadequate in some way. None of us have enough to love 5,000 people at a time, people who are in need because they are lazy or suffering from addiction. But Jesus doesn’t let his disciples off that easy. He doesn’t let us off that easy. “I can’t” is not a valid excuse for a Christian. “I can’t” is not a valid excuse for a Church. “The crowds don’t deserve it and should fend for themselves” is not a valid excuse for the disciples, and it’s not a valid excuse for us. Because when we can’t, or we don’t want to, Jesus can, Jesus wants to, and Jesus will. When all we have is a little bit, God is able to transform that into a blessing for thousands of people.

As you may or may not know, each year all the clergy and an equal number of lay representatives of Western PA gather at Grove City College for Annual Conference. We gather for reunion with old friends and the meeting of new friends. We gather for worship and Bible study and even legislation. We gather to learn about the shared ministry we have and to plan shared ministry for the future. And this year, there was a annual conference children’s choir that they assembled. It was about 8-10 children of people who were at conference that week, and they sang a couple of songs. At the end of their singing, the adults started herding these children off the stage. And they got all of them herded off – except one little girl, maybe 3 years old. She ran the opposite direction, to a microphone close to the floor. And she stood there and sang, in her tiny little voice: “I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together…”

By the end of the song, there were 1500 people singing along with her in utter childlike joy. And that moment felt more blessed by God than any other moment of Annual Conference. A girl with nothing to offer but a tiny voice and a simple Sunday school song ministered to a crowd of thousands. She put her song into the hands of Christ, and all sang and were full of blessing.
In this story, the people are filled with the love of Jesus and his disciples. They are filled by the act of feeding, not just by the amount of food. Jesus guides the disciples into joyful giving out of inadequate resources. The motive of this miracle is what heals people and fills them up. The act done out of compassion and love is the act of ministry, because any act of compassion and love is an act of ministry.

Lisa and I made about a dozen S’mores that winter night from some leftovers, a ratty old stove, and a mechanical pencil. As we did so, we rounded up everyone we could find in the dorm and brought them to the kitchen. And you know what happened? 2, 3, sometimes 4 people shared one S’more, because everyone wanted a fresh S’more on a cold winter night. We invited friends, and they invited friends, and they brought even more people. Some people went back to their room and grabbed more snacks to share with others. For some, their S’more was the first S’more they’d ever had. For others, it took them back to summer nights around a bonfire with friends and family. For still others, it conjured up memories of summer camp or camping trips with the family. But for everyone, that night was a blessing. And for everyone, the S’mores tasted of compassion.

A few people had some leftover food that, by itself, wasn’t much, and even together only created a small snack. But compassion went into giving out the little bit of food that we had, and compassion spread as others agreed to share what little was there. And it was a night filled with love and sharing. It was a night that God had blessed.

As we celebrate the Lord’s Supper this morning, we all come to this table with less than adequate resources. We come with all that we have, but it’s not much. And by laying what little we have at Christ’s table which has been prepared for us, that little bit is blessed by God and returned to us, so that it may become an abundant blessing for others. In this miracle story we see the four actions of the Last Supper. Jesus TAKES the loaves and fishes, BLESSES them, BREAKS them, and GAVE them to the disciples, which they in turn gave to the crowds. The loaves and fishes we bring to the table this morning will be TAKEN by Christ, BLESSED by God, BROKEN and PREPARED by the working of the Holy Spirit, and GIVEN back to us so that we may in turn GIVE to those in need.

“Bring them here to me,” Christ says. Bring what you have to my table. Come and kneel at this altar with what you have, and I will bless all of it. I will bless your gifts and send you forth to bless others abundantly with your less-than-adequate offerings. As we come to the Table this morning, remember Christ’s call – “Bring them here to me.” And we will bring what little we have to the table, and it will be blessed by God through the bread and wine that themselves taste of compassion. And we will be sent forth from the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper with opportunities to share that blessing with others as we reach out in compassion and love. May all these things be so in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.