Pentecost 7

Pentecost 7 (Matthew 14:13-21) “They need not go away, you give them something to eat.”

Matter and energy can neither be created or destroyed but only changed in form.

This is one of the fundamental laws of science that I learned as a child. It is also a basic biblical principle. The Bible is clear that when God works within the created universe he works within the laws that he embedded into the universe. He does this because the laws that govern the universe reflect the pattern of the co-eternal Son of the Father.

When the Biblical writers describe miracles they speak of the sun behaving in an unusual way- but it is still the sun. They speak of the waters of the Red Sea parting- but it is still the sea. When Jesus performs his miracles he normally uses the ordinary things of this world. He infuses these things with grace. He releases their potential according to the more fundamental spiritual laws of abundance, compassion and unconditional love.

There is a significant difference between miracle and magic. Miracle works within the framework of God’s creation according to spiritual law. In the miraculous feeding of the five thousand men along with thousands of women and children, Jesus initiates the miracle by looking up to heaven. He acknowledges the reality of God within the context of prayer. The prayer Jesus prayed most often is “Heavenly Father, not my will but your will be done.”

In this miracle, Jesus demonstrates the attitude, action and pattern for miracles. That pattern is revealed to us in the model prayer Jesus gave us. The Lord’s prayer sets the forth the pattern, plan and purpose of God as God invites us to experience him.

If you are looking for a Bible study, either individually or as a group, I invite you to list the phrases in the Lord’s Prayer and then ponder their meaning. Question the invitation to grace that each phrase offers. Record your impressions. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand what Jesus is teaching us about God, ourselves and the world around us.

Miracle is not magic. Magic is rooted in the false belief that by will and knowledge we can impose our desire on the world around us. Magic is routed in the assertion: my will be done. Miracle is rooted in the aspiration: Heavenly Father, Thy will be done.

Jesus observed the problem. Too many people. Too little time. Too few resources. Jesus responded with compassion. The disciples saw only the outward and visible form of the problem. They wanted Jesus to send the people home.

Jesus told his disciples that the crowd didn’t need to leave. They wanted to be there. They wanted to be with Jesus. This is exactly why Jesus came to earth. This is exactly why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to give birth to the one holy catholic and apostolic church.

Our heavenly Father want us to want to be with Jesus.

The Father never forces us to be with the Son, either in the here and now or in the hereafter. The reality of the relationship God offers is unconditional love. It is the reality God wishes to produce in each of us.

The people wanted to be with Jesus. Despite the growing darkness, lack of food and lack of shelter, they wanted to be with Jesus. And, Jesus wanted to be with them. They met him where he was and he welcomed them where they were.

The miracle emerges in the divine presence. It is the real presence of the infinite and eternal God in Jesus Christ that facilitates the miracle.

Jesus lifts up his gaze to heaven to demonstrate to people he is surrendering his will to the Divine will. He wants to be sure people understand he is not about to perform magic. He sets the context for the miracle in an attitude of prayer. The context is surrender to the divine will.

From the attitude proceeds the action. Jesus blesses the loaves and the fish. He just doesn’t give thanks over the food. He blesses, hallows and sanctifies the food. He sets it apart and places it into the very center of Divine Love and Compassion.
The attitude produces the action and leads to a result. The five loaves and three fish feed thousands. When the meal is over there is actually more food left over than what was present at the start.

Jesus used no special words that can produce an identical result. There was no thunder or lightning, no hosts of angels brining in baskets of food. The rocks did not turn into bread or the insects into fish.

The miracle was real and it proceeds from the real presence of God.
There was not enough food that night for everyone to eat. And so, Jesus prayed, blessed and gave. He gave unconditionally. He gave with abundance.
The abundance was already there as it is already in our world and in our lives. Jesus released the abundance through a miracle of love and compassion that drew from his own infinite and eternal substance.

There is amazing abundance in God’s creation yet a billion of people are starving. There is amazing abundance in God’s creation yet a billion of people lack the basic necessities of life. The problem is not a lack of resources. The solution is not in a political ideology or economic theory.

Jesus shows us the solution in this miracle. The solution is for each of us to place ourselves in the real presence of the living Lord. The solution emerges as we cultivate the desire to be with Jesus.

Jesus once said: if you have two coats and you know of someone who has no coat- that is your invitation from God to be the solution to that person’s problem. This is not how the world works right now. That is not what our culture teaches. It makes no sense in the context of any economic theory or political system. It only makes sense in the context of our personal relationship with the infinite abundance of God present to us in Jesus Christ.

Magic is the attempt to assert power to impose our will on other people and the world. Magic acknowledges no rational argument, accepts no compromise and blames other people for the world’s problems.

Science simply describes what is. Scientism draws the conclusion that the only reality is matter, energy, time and space.

Miracle proceeds from faith. It is the faith that comes to Jesus and desires to be with Jesus. It is a new life and a new way of living in the real presence of the divine that changes our attitude, produces an action and yields a result.
Jesus invited his students, his disciples, into an experience of faith. They were skeptical. They were trapped in scarcity. They were enslaved by fear. “We have nothing here,” they said. “Nothing, except these five loaves and three fish. Nothing.”

They missed their moment. They missed the obvious. They missed the basic math. 5 +3 does not = 0. They were not ready for the advanced math. 5+3 plus Jesus= infinite abundance. When you add Jesus to the equation, any equation, you add in a term that is both infinite and eternal.

This miracle is sometimes called the multiplication of the loaves and the fish. The multiplier is Jesus himself. Jesus is the real presence of the Divine who makes the miracle possible.

It isn’t magic. You can’t just ask for something and then add the phrase: in Jesus’ Name” and expect it will instantly appear. It isn’t subject to the laws of ordinary cause and effect, of basic math. You can’t reproduce the same conditions surrounding a miracle and produce the same result.

Miracles emerge in the particular and unique context of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ.

Matter and energy can neither be created or destroyed but only changed in form. Jesus did not create bread out of nothing. He did not even change rocks into bread. He released the abundance of the Creation through the five loaves and three fish his disciple had.

You who have come here today need not go away empty handed. Our heavenly Father has set this time and this place as the appointed moment for an ongoing miracle. It is here on the seventh day. It is here at the altar of sacrifice. It is now at this hour that Our Heavenly Father sends the Holy Spirit to touch ordinary bread and wine and transform them into the abundance of eternal life.

How much would you pay for an extra decade of life? What would you sacrifice for an extra year of life? God offers us the gift of eternal life here and now on the seventh day at the altar of sacrifice.

The bread is the abundance of infinite love. The wine is the extravagance of eternal life. The miracle is here. As it was then so it is now. The miracle is now. The miracle is the real presence of Jesus Christ in the bread and wine that will transform our every thought, emotion and choice. It is as we are transformed in this miracle that Jesus asks each of us to be a miracle for someone else.

We cannot be this miracle from a place of scarcity. We cannot be this miracle if we are enslaved by magical thinking or political ideology.

It is as we experience a change in attitude through this miracle of Real Presence that Jesus invites us to take action and produce a result. As we ponder the scandal of a billion human beings starving to death in a world rich with abundance Jesus tells us today as he told his disciples so long ago: “They need not go away, you give them something to eat.”