ABUNDANCE
Sermon for July 26, 2009
Scriptures: 2 Kings 4:42-44, John 6:1-21
Let me tell you a couple of short stories to start this sermon off: Once upon a time there were two shoe salesmen who were sent by their company to a region in Africa where everyone went barefoot. One salesman dejectedly informed his superiors, "We might as well forget these people. No one here wears shoes." The other salesman elatedly informed the company, "Send as many shoes as you can as quickly as you can. Everyone here needs shoes!"
The second story may have taken place in one of our neighboring churches. A minister was making a home visit to one of the younger families in the community. A five-year-old boy answered the front door and told the minister his mother would be there shortly. To make some conversation, the minister asked the little guy what he would like to be when he grows up. The boy immediately answered, "I'd like to be possible." "What do you mean by that?" the puzzled minister asked. "Well, you see," the boy replied, "just about every day my mom tells me I'm impossible!"Here’s a question I’d like to have you think about: What seems to be impossible in your life or the life of Deering Community Church these days? Do you ever listen to the news and just let out a big sigh as you wonder about how in the world can we ever accomplish all the things that seem so impossible in our world today?" There’s health care, hunger, wars, the economy just to mention some of the big ones.
In each of our scriptures today there is a story about scarcity that is overcome by abundance. In each case there is someone who doubts it is possible; there’s someone who is generous and gives of what they have to get things started, and then a miracle happens—the few bits of food are multiplied not only to feed all those who are present but with much left over.
Let’s look in more detail at the gospel lesson in John. Jesus' disciples were faced with a big problem. They were surrounded by thousands of hungry people. Just like the shoe salesmen, the disciples mentioned had very different attitudes and points of view. Philip saw the problem and started worrying and calculating: "Two hundred denarii (six months' wages) would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." No way did this little group of disciples have such resources and probably felt it was impossible so he gave up. Another disciple, Andrew, reacted very differently. He told Jesus that a boy had five barley loaves and a couple of fish with him and brought him to Jesus as part of the solution. He knew the boy didn't have enough to feed everyone, but he figured at least it was a step in the right direction.
And of course we know what happened. After directing the disciples to tell the 5000 men plus women and children to sit down, Jesus took the loaves and fish, gave thanks to God for them, and distributed them to the crowd. The leftovers filled twelve baskets!
People with positive attitudes may not be able to solve everything but they will certainly be likely to find solutions much more often than those who are overwhelmed and give up. Lao Tzu’s quote that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step is something I like to remember when I’m about to get overwhelmed with the terrible suffering in our world. I also remind myself that I’m not alone. God’s great power showed through in Jesus. I can’t explain it in words that seem reasonable or scientific; however, there is inside of me a place that truly believes that with God all things can be possible.
One of my online Midrash colleagues1 says that we are the disciples and wonders if we respond to the needs of the world with a theology of scarcity. Do we say, “But Jesus, what we have to offer is no way enough for any meaningful solution to the suffering. We don’t have enough money; we don’t have enough time or energy. What could we or I possibly have to offer that would make a difference to those starving in body and spirit? Where are the crowds today? What are they looking for? Where are all the cars going today? To a mall or a gym? To a restaurant? What are the people looking for? What hunger are they and we trying to fill? My guess is that most of us are searching to fill a hunger much deeper than the physical—as important as that is. As I think about this I am reminded of St. Augustine saying that our hearts are restless until we rest in God.
Those of you that know me well know that my background was one of scarcity of material things—who else would come back from India with thousands of dollars left from “free Lilly money” because of a long ingrained frugality. I have to really struggle to develop a theology of abundance. Mark Nepo, one of my favorite authors, says “One of the most difficult things for us to accept is that beneath all our dreams and disappointments, we live and breathe abundance. It is hard when in pain to believe that all we ever need is before us, around us, within us.”2
How do we get to this kind of faithfulness in the Spirit and confidence in our own gifts given to us by the Creator? What can we do to embrace the Abundance that is always quietly there? Maybe the real miracle in our scripture lessons is the miracle of caring—all else follows. Elisha and Jesus cared about the people, they nourished their hopes and fed their bodies and their souls. When Elijah’s servant and Jesus’ disciples protested that the job of caring before them was too big, too impossible, both of them simply asked that they get started to involve themselves in the solution—getting the people to sit down and then starting to distribute the food. Nepo says, ‘…I have discovered that we cannot eliminate hunger, but we can feed each other. We cannot eliminate loneliness, but we can hold each other. We cannot eliminate pain, but we can live a life of compassion.”3
After the resurrection, Jesus kept asking Peter, “Do you love me?”, and after Peter assured him of his love, Jesus commanded in one form or another, “Feed my sheep.”
To me this is the basis for all the miracles, this compassion and willingness to care for the other. I often call it a ministry of presence, and remember in our church although we have ordained ministers, everyone is a minister, sometimes referred to as the priesthood of all believers. Our ministry of presence arises out of God’s love for us, in gratitude for all the abundant blessings we have. This kind of caring and action creates hope and faith in those who are beneficiaries as well as those who act. When we come from a place of radical abundance, we make hope possible, rather than making despair convincing. (repeat) Everyone can do something and no one has to do everything. I think of our oldest member, Margaret Colburn, and what a ministry she has on the telephone. Through the years we’ve been together, so many of the people, the sick and the dying that I visit will tell me about Margaret’s calls and how much they mean. Kay Bliss, now passed on, would often tell me about how useless she felt, yet she would write to me and other church members with such loving thoughts. From the beginning of my ministry here, she was always so concerned about my well-being and so willing to help in any way she could.
There are many of you here that show your caring in so many ways, both in and out of the church. The more we share our gifts with others, the more abundance will be here. If we visit those that are sick or lonely, feed those that need food and/or hope, if we do those random acts of kindness, give our money as generously as we are able, always remembering that God will be with us, increasing our power and our love, we will be part of God’s miracles in this world.. In the end, I am sure we will have much left over, more blessings than we started with, more love, more joy, more hope, more of everything that we truly need. Thanks be to God, Amen.
1 Anna Murdock
2 Book of Awakening, p. 132
3 The Exquisite Risk, Daring to Live an Authentic Life, p. 240
Scriptures: 2 Kings 4:42-44, John 6:1-21
Let me tell you a couple of short stories to start this sermon off: Once upon a time there were two shoe salesmen who were sent by their company to a region in Africa where everyone went barefoot. One salesman dejectedly informed his superiors, "We might as well forget these people. No one here wears shoes." The other salesman elatedly informed the company, "Send as many shoes as you can as quickly as you can. Everyone here needs shoes!"
The second story may have taken place in one of our neighboring churches. A minister was making a home visit to one of the younger families in the community. A five-year-old boy answered the front door and told the minister his mother would be there shortly. To make some conversation, the minister asked the little guy what he would like to be when he grows up. The boy immediately answered, "I'd like to be possible." "What do you mean by that?" the puzzled minister asked. "Well, you see," the boy replied, "just about every day my mom tells me I'm impossible!"Here’s a question I’d like to have you think about: What seems to be impossible in your life or the life of Deering Community Church these days? Do you ever listen to the news and just let out a big sigh as you wonder about how in the world can we ever accomplish all the things that seem so impossible in our world today?" There’s health care, hunger, wars, the economy just to mention some of the big ones.
In each of our scriptures today there is a story about scarcity that is overcome by abundance. In each case there is someone who doubts it is possible; there’s someone who is generous and gives of what they have to get things started, and then a miracle happens—the few bits of food are multiplied not only to feed all those who are present but with much left over.
Let’s look in more detail at the gospel lesson in John. Jesus' disciples were faced with a big problem. They were surrounded by thousands of hungry people. Just like the shoe salesmen, the disciples mentioned had very different attitudes and points of view. Philip saw the problem and started worrying and calculating: "Two hundred denarii (six months' wages) would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." No way did this little group of disciples have such resources and probably felt it was impossible so he gave up. Another disciple, Andrew, reacted very differently. He told Jesus that a boy had five barley loaves and a couple of fish with him and brought him to Jesus as part of the solution. He knew the boy didn't have enough to feed everyone, but he figured at least it was a step in the right direction.
And of course we know what happened. After directing the disciples to tell the 5000 men plus women and children to sit down, Jesus took the loaves and fish, gave thanks to God for them, and distributed them to the crowd. The leftovers filled twelve baskets!
People with positive attitudes may not be able to solve everything but they will certainly be likely to find solutions much more often than those who are overwhelmed and give up. Lao Tzu’s quote that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step is something I like to remember when I’m about to get overwhelmed with the terrible suffering in our world. I also remind myself that I’m not alone. God’s great power showed through in Jesus. I can’t explain it in words that seem reasonable or scientific; however, there is inside of me a place that truly believes that with God all things can be possible.
One of my online Midrash colleagues1 says that we are the disciples and wonders if we respond to the needs of the world with a theology of scarcity. Do we say, “But Jesus, what we have to offer is no way enough for any meaningful solution to the suffering. We don’t have enough money; we don’t have enough time or energy. What could we or I possibly have to offer that would make a difference to those starving in body and spirit? Where are the crowds today? What are they looking for? Where are all the cars going today? To a mall or a gym? To a restaurant? What are the people looking for? What hunger are they and we trying to fill? My guess is that most of us are searching to fill a hunger much deeper than the physical—as important as that is. As I think about this I am reminded of St. Augustine saying that our hearts are restless until we rest in God.
Those of you that know me well know that my background was one of scarcity of material things—who else would come back from India with thousands of dollars left from “free Lilly money” because of a long ingrained frugality. I have to really struggle to develop a theology of abundance. Mark Nepo, one of my favorite authors, says “One of the most difficult things for us to accept is that beneath all our dreams and disappointments, we live and breathe abundance. It is hard when in pain to believe that all we ever need is before us, around us, within us.”2
How do we get to this kind of faithfulness in the Spirit and confidence in our own gifts given to us by the Creator? What can we do to embrace the Abundance that is always quietly there? Maybe the real miracle in our scripture lessons is the miracle of caring—all else follows. Elisha and Jesus cared about the people, they nourished their hopes and fed their bodies and their souls. When Elijah’s servant and Jesus’ disciples protested that the job of caring before them was too big, too impossible, both of them simply asked that they get started to involve themselves in the solution—getting the people to sit down and then starting to distribute the food. Nepo says, ‘…I have discovered that we cannot eliminate hunger, but we can feed each other. We cannot eliminate loneliness, but we can hold each other. We cannot eliminate pain, but we can live a life of compassion.”3
After the resurrection, Jesus kept asking Peter, “Do you love me?”, and after Peter assured him of his love, Jesus commanded in one form or another, “Feed my sheep.”
To me this is the basis for all the miracles, this compassion and willingness to care for the other. I often call it a ministry of presence, and remember in our church although we have ordained ministers, everyone is a minister, sometimes referred to as the priesthood of all believers. Our ministry of presence arises out of God’s love for us, in gratitude for all the abundant blessings we have. This kind of caring and action creates hope and faith in those who are beneficiaries as well as those who act. When we come from a place of radical abundance, we make hope possible, rather than making despair convincing. (repeat) Everyone can do something and no one has to do everything. I think of our oldest member, Margaret Colburn, and what a ministry she has on the telephone. Through the years we’ve been together, so many of the people, the sick and the dying that I visit will tell me about Margaret’s calls and how much they mean. Kay Bliss, now passed on, would often tell me about how useless she felt, yet she would write to me and other church members with such loving thoughts. From the beginning of my ministry here, she was always so concerned about my well-being and so willing to help in any way she could.
There are many of you here that show your caring in so many ways, both in and out of the church. The more we share our gifts with others, the more abundance will be here. If we visit those that are sick or lonely, feed those that need food and/or hope, if we do those random acts of kindness, give our money as generously as we are able, always remembering that God will be with us, increasing our power and our love, we will be part of God’s miracles in this world.. In the end, I am sure we will have much left over, more blessings than we started with, more love, more joy, more hope, more of everything that we truly need. Thanks be to God, Amen.
1 Anna Murdock
2 Book of Awakening, p. 132
3 The Exquisite Risk, Daring to Live an Authentic Life, p. 240
posted by Sermons given at Deering Community Church @ 1:00 PM
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