Pentecost 9

Pentecost 9 (John 6:1-21) “Where are we to buy bread for the people to eat?”

Wisdom begins with a question.

Almost any question will do. Honest questions are best. Holy Mother Mary asked an honest question of the archangel Gabriel when she said: how can this be?

Dishonest questions can work. The religious and political leaders of Jesus day frequently asked these kinds of questions. We call them today: “gothca!’ questions. These questions aren’t designed to seek knowledge, let alone understanding or wisdom. They proceed from pride. Jesus was superb in the way he used these prideful dishonest “gtocha!” questions to help people see beyond their rigid inflexible ideologies.

Jesus sometimes used leading questions. A leading question is an invitation to enter into a process. It is a process of discovery that leads to knowledge, understanding, wisdom. It is a process that takes place in the context of a personal relationship.
Jesus is the universal savior of humanity. His questions facilitate our heavenly Father’s Plan of salvation. This is no mere academic exercise. It is a dialog within the context of a personal relationship- a friendship. In that dialog God the Holy Spirit manifests the wisdom that leads to salvation.

The physical context for this question about food is a mountain. Jesus had gone outside the city and into the wilderness. There were no villages or farms. There were no inns or trading posts. The mountain was isolated. It was a great place for a mass meeting. It was an impossible place to spend any time. It lacked the basic necessities of life: food, water, shelter.

The religious context for the question about food is the Passover. On the Passover, the people remembered the great and terrifying events of the Exodus: the angel of Death, the meal eaten in haste, the hurried departure from the cities and abundance of Egypt into the stark desolation of the desert.

The Passover tells the story of God’s deliverance, of God’s salvation.

The spiritual context for the question about food is desperation. The people who followed Jesus into the wilderness were lost in desperation. Their need for healing at every level was profound and unmet. They lived in a society where the wealthy feasted and everyone else hoped for a few crumbs that fell from their table.

The people were lost in separation from God, other people and their true identity. They lived with fear, anxiety, anger and at times hate. What attracted them to Jesus was not just that he could heal. It was not just that his success rate was 100%. It was that Jesus healed everyone who came to him. And, he healed for free.

As a healer Jesus was unique in every imaginable way.

The people flocked to him. He healed them.

In this passage we see how the people acted impulsively by following Jesus into the wilderness. They did not think about the consequences of their actions. They reacted from a place of profound need and desperation. After all, no one else was willing to help them.

Jesus saw the problem and responded with compassion. He also used the moment to teach his disciples. He asked a very logical and practical question: Where are we to buy bread for the people to eat?”

Philip addressed the financial part of the question. We can’t afford to buy bread. We lack the money.

Andrew addressed the supply side of the question. He found a boy who had the presence of mind to bring a lunch of five barley loves and two fish. It was the lunch of the working poor. It reflected scarcity and seemed an object lesson to Andrew about the lack of resources available to them.

Lack of money. Lack of resources. A hungry, lost and anxious crowd. A desperate situation. Into that place of scarcity Jesus brought Divine abundance.

In an understated manner filled with humility and love, Jesus very gently took the boy’s lunch, offered it to His Heavenly Father, gave thanks to the Father for the abundance of creation and with those five barley loaves and two fish fed five thousand people. At the end of the meal there was more left over than at the start.
The scarcity in the world is not in resources. Our Heavenly Father created a world of abundance. The scarcity in the world is love. As the co-eternal Beloved of the Eternal Father Jesus restores love to a species that has abandoned love and distorted love.

Jesus clearly performed a miracle that day. Everyone recognized the reality of the miracle. They attributed the miracle to power. They insisted Jesus use this power in the political realm of command control. They attempted to force Jesus to become the new king of Israel.

This is not the Plan of Salvation. Jesus performed miracles from the place of humility, thanksgiving and love. In humility Jesus’ constant prayer was: heavenly Father not my will but your will be done. In thanksgiving Jesus delighted in the abundance of the Creation. In love and indeed as love Jesus always sought the highest good for all people.

Jesus performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand from the place of steadfast, holy and unconditional love. Where everyone saw only scarcity he saw abundance and proclaimed abundance. He shared that abundance with everyone. He made no distinction based on class, ethnicity, gender, age or religious belief. As the unconditional love of God in human flesh Jesus fed everyone.

There are a billion people in the world starving to death. There are billions more who may have food today but are uncertain whether they will have food tomorrow. There are people in our community who live in fear with the reality of scarcity.
The problem of starvation, hunger and deprivation is not a lack of resources. It is a lack of love. The resources are abundant. The will to use those resources to fulfill the invitation our Heavenly Father offers to us in Jesus is what is missing.
The solution is to hear the question Jesus asks. Where are we to buy bread for the people to eat?”

The question is an invitation to ask other questions. Why are a billion people starving to death? Why are so many people in our own community living with fear, anxiety and confusion? What is wrong? What is the solution?

Moses and the prophets answer both questions. The problem is the choice our species made and continues to make to separate from God. The problem is rigid inflexible uncompromising ideology that not only fails to see the forest for the trees but can only see the cash value of the trees. The problem is the pride of individual self-will and exclusive self-interest.

The solution is Jesus. Jesus is the co-eternal Word of God. Jesus is the Beloved Son of the Father. Jesus is the forever friend who is encouraging us to enter into the abundance of reunification with God. Jesus is the solution who offers to transform each of us to be the abundance of God for our families, friends and neighbors.
The solution starts with a question. Bring your questions to Jesus. Allow Jesus to ask his questions of you.

A billion people are starving. Billions more are on the thin edge of hunger. Many in our own community cannot afford to feed themselves or their children. Jesus asks us as he asked his disciples so long ago: Where are we to buy bread for the people to eat?”