Sermon, Sept. 25, 2022

 Sermon       September 25,2022  Rev. Peter Hofstra

       Disciples sent out two by two to do the work of Jesus. Well, to multiply the work of Jesus. That was the heart of our gospel reading last week. Jesus preceded that work with a demonstration of what failure felt like, when he took them back to his home town. That was a town full of people who recognized what Jesus was doing, speaking with great wisdom, doing deeds of power, but they were not buying in, not with their hearts at any rate.

       Take nothing extra Jesus said, stay where you are welcome, and shake the dust off your sandals where you are not welcome. Our passage today has them gathering back together with Jesus. And it seems to be a gathering in triumph. As it says, the apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught.

       So a couple of things to note before we go forward. The first is how the 12 are being referred to. They are not the disciples in this passage, but they are recognized as apostles. In the biblical story, in the gospel story, in the story of the development of the early church, this switch happens. The disciples, the followers of Jesus, become the apostles, those who serve Jesus. It is the way of things, perhaps even for ourselves. We begin as those who follow Jesus, graduating, if you will, to those who will serve Jesus.

       But there is something else of note here. It is the passage that we have passed over between the disciples being sent out and their return. That passage is something about sidebar. It begins with an acknowledgement by herod that the work of Jesus is coming to his attention. But then it takes a turn. Herod believes this is John the Baptist reincarnated. Or resurrected. This in turn leads to mark telling us the story of how John the Baptist was finally executed by herod. That's not where we are looking today.

       Rather, these disciples who have been dreaming of what they could do in Jesus, because I can imagine them chomping at the bit before Jesus sent them out two by two, they have gathered in triumph. And then Jesus continues to share his wisdom, on what someone should do once they have engaged in a season or a time of extended and intense ministry. His call is for them to retreat, there word deserted place, to rest for awhile. It is certainly what the Bible records that he does on a regular basis, retreating, oftentimes to spend prayer time with his father.

       Thus, considering that they had fishermen in their midst as disciples, they withdrew to a deserted place. Interestingly enough, mark introduces this time of rest by saying many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. It seems that the ministry conducted by the apostles was ongoing, perhaps they were coming and being sent out again by Jesus. But this particular observation that they had no leisure to eat, it foreshadows what comes next.

       Because they were seen.

       Such seems to be the fate of being famous. There are any number of celebrities who find it very difficult to be out in the public eye because they are known. Some of them are less than gracious, seeking privacy, which I can understand. Others, like Tom Hanks, is unfailingly gracious to his fans because it is by their support that he is famous.

       So what seems to be and opportunity for some rest and recreation is spoiled by the poparazzi. They were seen getting on the boat, and mark records that word spread quickly, that they hurried together from all the local towns, walking, maybe running along the seashore to arrive at the place where Jesus and his disciples landed even before their arrival.

       And Jesus had compassion on them, this great crowd, who were like sheep without a shepherd. Seems like a natural role for our Lord Jesus. But then comes the practicality of the moment. They have chosen deliberately to go out to a remote location, all of these people have followed them, there is no infrastructure to support this kind of a crowd here at this time of day. It's getting late say the disciples, because they're now referred to as disciples once again, they tell Jesus to send the people out to the local communities so they can get themselves something to eat.

       And Jesus response is you give them something to eat. They do a quick assessment, realizing that 200 denarii, the wages for 200 days of work, will not be enough to feed all these people. So when Jesus sends them out to inventory what they do have, it is familiar to us, I hope. They have 5 loaves and two fish. So, the people sit down in groups of 50s and of hundreds in the grassy area, the inventory is that there are 5000 men, not counting women and children. Then Jesus takes the loaves and the fish looks up to heaven blesses them breaks the loaves and gives it to the disciples to set before the people and he does the same with the fish, all to be set before the people. Once everyone is full, there's a dozen baskets of leftovers.

       Then, come verse 45, Jesus sends his disciples on ahead. Perhaps now he is going to allow them to get their quiet time, sending them forward to bethsaida as he dismisses the crowd. But no matter what his intention was for his disciples, he takes advantage of what the original plan was. They are in this place of remoteness, Jesus went up on the mountain after saying farewell and dismissing the crowds, to pray.

       I like how they were apostles going out to do the work of Jesus, and disciples once again when they needed Jesus to do the work they could not. So what exactly is Jesus doing when he challenges them to feed this crowd that has come along? I mean they've just been doing ministry, two by two, going out to the towns, preaching and healing and casting out demons. These are the needs of power of Jesus. But now things stall. There are any number of Jesus is deeds of power which are recorded as being carried out by the apostles. Here it speaks of healing and the casting out of demons, in the book of acts cripples are healed. There are even moments when the apostles would raise people from the dead. But here is a miracle that is not ever recorded as being reproduced.

          Between the feeding of the 5000, and the feeling of the 4000 which is also recorded in the gospels, there is no Apostolic parallel. At least not directly. Because in the book of acts, it does record that the early church made provision for the widows and orphans. And the daily distribution became such a ministry, that they set aside the first deacons to carry out that ministry. These godly men, because they still did not recognize the whole population of capable people that could have been doing this work, we're set aside to this ministry. I wonder if the apostles remembered what Jesus had done here when they began that work, recognizing the safety net they were creating to help people who did not have enough to eat.

       For the last few weeks, we have been considering what it means for us to dream into Christ to dream with God as to what can be accomplished in our Lord in our lives and in our ministry as a church. In this last sermon, we follow the disciples as they went out to actively pursue the ministry of Jesus, as their dreams of what it means to be a follower of Christ were carried out. And how does Jesus follow that up? They've been doing tremendous ministry, and Jesus takes it to the next level. Jesus acknowledged that they were out there during the ministry that Jesus was doing, but at this moment, it is like he points at them and says that's not enough, there is so much more yet to be done.

       And the disciples were found wanting. When Jesus asked them to feed those who are gathered, they put together a practical plan for how to accomplish it, realizing they did not have the funding. That sounds like so many ministries today,, so many positive endeavors today but things that we want to do we simply cannot afford.

       At least not yet. By the time that the deacons are ordained, there is a church large enough to support the daily needs of an underserved population.

       I will suggest to you that in the moment of the feeding of the 5000, the vision has shifted. In the ministry that has just been undertaken the disciples are dreaming of what they can do as apostles in the name of Jesus Christ. In this moment Jesus is dreaming of what these apostles are going to be able to do in his name. And that may be the most important part.

       God has a dream for us. God has a dream for our community. God has a dream for the dozen of us who come together to worship in person as well As for the numbers who worship with us through our online presence.

       For me, the biggest thing that stands in the way of dreaming in Christ, much less fulfilling those dreams in Christ, comes from every other voice that presumes to tell us what are faith should be, watch our faith should do, how are faith should be expressed in the lives of others. It's a powerful thing to be in the United states, nation that was deliberately set up to have no church in charge. Because when we compare ourselves to the nations of Europe, for example, that have their state churches. Countries where one particular church is in charge, or is the dominant Church of that nation, we see that our country which did not establish a church as the state church as far more Christian participation.

       And yet there is a cost.

       We live in a day and age where it feels like the work of Christ is so often hijacked as a political enterprise. Somehow being a republican or being a Democrat means that our faith dictates certain choices that we make, dictates certain party lines that we vote, dictates certain issues that we place above all, and, perhaps most disturbing to me, that the brand of God is stamped onto these bundles of political issues, these political beliefs, so that when someone dares to disagree, that we relegate them to hell.

       I would suggest to you, in the language of Ecclesiastes 3, Where it says that for everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven. Where there is a time to be born and a time to die, and I invite you to find that passage and read the rest of it, I would suggest to you in the language of Ecclesiastes three that there's time to be an American and there is time to be a Christian. There is a time to dream about our nation, and there is a time to dream about our faith.

       The dreams that Christ has for us, if we read his gospel as we have been, they're about feeding the hungry. They are about healing the sick. They are about bringing the good news of love and salvation to the hopeless. The dreams that Jesus has for us come through our love of our neighbor. May we, through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ in which our dream of eternal life is accomplished by the mercy and forgiveness of our Lord, may we dream boldly as a community of faith. Amen.