SERMON “Jesus’ Unannounced Potluck” Audio Link http://dl.dropbox.com/u/23575548/110731Matthew14.mp3
(Psalm 19.14) May the words of my lips and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, oh Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.
I think we all know how a potluck dinner works. You bring something, I bring something, and so do most of the people who are coming. By the time it’s all laid out, since most people bring a little more than they would eat, everyone has a lot. We gather around the tables, we probably eat too much of foods that are not very good for us, and we can spend some time talking, laughing, catching up with one another. It’s a good time.
What happens, though, when we have a potluck dinner and don’t announce it to anyone? Do you normally bring something to eat after the divine service? I think most of us don’t. What we usually do is come to church, gather together, then disappear to our homes or maybe a restaurant, maybe someone else’s home if we have an invitation, and eat there. Our family had a routine for several years that we called a “halfway market” meal. We went to a church some distance from our home and we would often stop at a little store on the way home to pick up some cheese, crackers, and fruit. Because it was a little expensive, more often we’d have a “halfway market” meal that came from the grocery store close to our home but which we carried with us on Sunday.
But let’s look at this situation Jesus and his disciples find themselves in. Jesus had received some bad news. His friend, his cousin, John the baptizer, had been imprisoned and beheaded. It seems our Lord wanted to get away from the crowds for a little while, so he went to a rural area where there wouldn’t be many people. However, Jesus’ reputation was greater than his need or desire for privacy. He was flocked by people, a large crowd of people, more people than we have in this town.
What does our Lord do when his people come to him? He heals us. He teaches us. He provides us with what we need. And at the end of a long day’s work, the disciples start to realize what Jesus knew all along. The crowd doesn’t have food. These are people who set out without provisions. They may not have means to buy food. And the market won’t have what they need. Picture yourself walking into the grocery store. Maybe not a grocery store here. They are in a rural area. Yes, I know, Watseka seems to be a pretty rural area. But this is the big town. Let’s take this crowd to Gilman, just down the road. It’s more like a village. Actually, it’s a little big to be a village. Now, we take this crowd, some five thousand men plus women and children, and we go into the convenience store in Gilman. Everybody needs supper. Do you see something wrong with that picture? Yes, the store can get enough food for that number of people. No, it doesn’t have the food in stock. It simply isn’t going to work. After a few hundred people come in the store will have a full cash register and empty shelves.
What does Jesus do? He does a parable. I know we’re used to the idea of Jesus saying parables, but here he does a parable. Sometimes our actions speak much louder than our words. Jesus’ actions here speak much more than his words could. So what happens in this parable? Jesus, the one who heals and provides for his people, puts the people in order, gives thanks to God, and starts handing bread and fish to the people. Jesus Christ, the one who sometimes refers to himself as the true bread of heaven, distributes a supernatural banquet to all who believe him enough to sit down and wait there. And his provision for them is abundant. They have plenty to eat and there are left overs, more than the food Jesus started with. What did the people bring? They didn’t bring food. No, we bring nothing to the table of God, nothing but our need, nothing but our hunger. But Jesus takes a bit of normal sustenance and multiplies it, providing what his people need, food and drink which nourishes our faith, which delivers forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Yes, our deeds speak louder than words. Jesus gives himself for his people, that they may receive him and live.
Next Sunday we are going to celebrate together as we receive the body and blood of our Lord, given and shed for us. How do we prepare? What do we bring? As our teens acted out earlier in the service, we don’t bring anything of any use to God. What we offer to God is a broken heart, a contrite spirit. We confess that we cannot earn any merit, that we are ultimately bent in upon ourselves in sin. No, we bring nothing but our repentance. It’s Jesus who gives us what we need, his forgiveness, his life, his salvation.
Does the goodness of God move us to repentance? Do we start to see times when we have claimed credit for good which belongs to our Lord and Savior? Do we see ourselves as those who can overcome our sin and present ourselves to the Lord as pure and worthy of being in fellowship with him? Let us remember again how our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the true bread of heaven, has broken the bread and distributed it to his people, that all who believe may receive the nourishment they need. Salvation is of the Lord. It is not anything we can provide. It is nothing we can earn. It is purely from our God.
Let us rise and give thanks to our Lord, the one who is able to have an unannounced potluck dinner and provide for us all, every one of us, all we need, and much more.
Our Lord, Bread of Heaven, we confess that we try to depend on our own ability. We think we can bring something to your table, though we know we can’t. Grant us repentance and remind us yet again of your forgiveness. Give us hope and nourish our faith, for you, the author and finisher of our salvation, live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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