Forward with Faith: Sealed in Faith (Part 4 of a 4 part series)



We have spent a few weeks preparing for this day.  We have explored the idea that we have been created by a generous and abundant God and as a result, we are created for generosity – a generosity of love, a generosity of spirit, and a generosity of sharing from what we have.

We have explored a resulting call to gratitude.  When we recognize all that we have received, we are then called to spill over and share from the abundance we have. For some, it is a natural instinct. For others, it is a discipline of letting go that will need to be nurtured, cultivated, experimented with, prayed over.

And then last week, I invited us all to dive deeply into that backdrop of abundance and gratitude with a big open-ended question to God.  In light of all that I am in you, what would you have me do? what would you have me share? what would you have me give?

Today, we take just the first step into living in a new way in light of what we’ve talked about these past weeks.  Today, we make our commitment – our personal promise – to recognize our abundance with gratitude, and to follow God’s call in light of that.

Our commitment, our decision to faithfully do something in light of who God is and what God is doing is “sealed in Faith.” And as a family of Faith moving forward with Faith, we are learning it as mantra:

 - faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Today’s gospel lesson is the miracle of the loaves and fishes as told in John’s gospel.  The feeding of the 5000 is only miracle story found in all four gospel texts.  It’s one of those that, if we grew up anywhere near Sunday School or Vacation Bible School, we learned early on.  We drew pictures of five fishes and two loaves of bread.  Maybe as children we imagined the magical multiplication as baskets seemed to never be emptied, instead filled at each pass from family to family – overflowing with plenty.

I want us to look at this story today with slightly different eyes – eyes of hope and faith.  With eyes that are seeing abundance and gratitude. 

Watching an enormous crowd gather on a hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Jesus turns to his disciple Philip – “Where are we going to buy bread for these people to eat?? “

I think it is notable that only in John’s gospel does Jesus initiate this conversation.  It’s not the disciples wringing their hands, afraid to lose the crowd to hunger-driven unrest. 
Philip answers with some despair – “it would cost so much to feed these folks even a little.”

But Andrew says, “there is this boy with a little bit of food – I mean I’m not sure what that little does, but there IS SOME.”

And Jesus takes those loaves, and gives thanks for them, because even in their not muchness, they are something – and he begins to pass them out to the crowd.

Again, I note that John’s gospel has JESUS doing the distribution…”He distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted….”

Certainly one way to look at this story is that of a miraculous, mysterious, magical multiplication.  Of cartoon like self-generating baskets of smoky fish and crusty bread that just keeps bubbling up and over the edges of the basket.

Another way to look at this story is that of miraculous sharing on the part of all who gathered. 

These people, hungry for Jesus, hungry for a moment in his presence, hungry to hear what it is he has to say, hungry to hear a word of hope in the difficult daily life of Roman oppression, gather in the hope and faith that what they hear on this hillside will make a difference.

So that they have the stamina to remain, listen and be taught, Jesus calls on the disciples to trust that indeed, they will be physically able to stay and listen and grow. The resources exist.

Present in that crowd was the capacity for enough – actually for more than enough.  More than a snack.  There was capacity in that crowd for a sustaining feast of bread and fish for each person gathered. 

I wonder…

What is the enough that we have in our midst?

What are the bits and pieces we are holding onto? 

A few hours of our time because we might need it. 

Our ability to work with numbers, because really, who wants to choose to spend time looking at another budget spreadsheet.

Our ability to troubleshoot technology. Our ability to lay out a newsletter.  Our ability to share our witness with another who is trying to learn and grow.

Money that we’re not entirely sure we can “entrust” to the work of the church right now because there is so much change in the world. So much change in the church.

Willingness to show up to one another, to demonstrate love to one another, even when we don’t completely agree or see the same next steps.

What is the enough that we have in our midst?

What are the bits and pieces we are holding onto? 

And what would it look like if we trusted there was enough to go around?  If we believed that we wouldn’t run short in our personal stash – our stash of time, of talent, of things –

Might there be baskets of plenty?

What if we imagined Jesus standing with us as we hold our breath waiting to hear words of life, stomachs growling but afraid we might miss the very best part if we leave.

What if we imagine Jesus standing with us giving thanks for our meager offering and blessing it to God’s work in the world.

Might we find our basket overflowing –
overflowing with the commitment of little bits of time and talent that add up to revitalized ministry to young families.
overflowing with the commitment of little bits of connection and relationship that might help us discover people who need the warm embrace of this community.
overflowing with little bits of vision about how we might offer our building and our experience as a thriving church to help another congregation thrive and grow and become.
overflowing with little bits of money that doubles our outreach, keeps our building safe, keeps our music streaming, keeps allowing us to offer childcare for meetings and events, keeps helping us take the risk to reach a new set of people?

Our hands releasing those little bits with confidence that God blesses our vision and our work and all of our little bits…

there is enough for music
there is enough for heat
there is enough for new small groups
there is enough for mission trips
there is enough for energy efficient windows and doors that honor creation
there is enough to help our homeless neighbors
there is enough to grow our youth outreach
there is enough…
and not just enough.  There is plenty.

And those little bits, taken, blessed, broken and given, sealed in FAITH add up to a God size dream.

Our little bits of imagination, our little bits of vision, our little bits of hope are also somehow blessed and multiplied. 

A feeding – bodily or spiritually – of a crowd larger than we could have imagined.

This.

This is how we will move forward with Faith.  Unclenching.  Releasing. Called to let go of anxiety and worry.  Called to let go of our fear of there not being enough.  Called to let go of what has been with hope and faith and vision for what God is doing in our midst. 

Confident that our little bits become MUCH.  With faith in the muchness of God.


May it be so.
Amen.

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