Sermon – Lent 4
“Laetare” - March 10th, 2013
St. Paul Lutheran
Church, Hamel, IL
John 6:1-6
“The Lord Who
Feeds”
I don't know how any Lutheran can
honestly look at the feeding of the five thousand and not think about
the Lord's Supper. Well, I guess I'm getting ahead of myself, but
that's where we're going, of course, to the table. But first let's
back up a bit.
Jesus is at the zenith of his
popularity. He is well known and well liked. The crowds are
following him. But largely for the wrong reasons. This crowd of
5000+ had followed him around the Sea of Galillee. They knew of his
many miracles and healings, and were looking for more. The other
Gospels tell us that yes, even here, he healed their sick. Our Lord
Jesus is merciful.
He had also been teaching them all day.
No doubt similar teachings to those in his other sermons –
teaching about the kingdom of God and how it's not the kingdom you
might think it is. A kingdom in which the king does things for the
subjects, not the usual other way around. He would soon demonstrate
this reality, as the true king, by feeding them. He knew what he had
in mind.
Later, after the feeding, the crowd
would try to make Jesus their king, their bread-king. But by doing
so they show they miss the point of the kingdom, that Jesus comes to
provide so much more than mere food. Some suggest that this crowd
was on its way to Jerusalem for the Passover, where one year later,
Jesus would also be – and where he would be sacrificed as the true
Passover lamb for them, and for us.
The apostles, as usual, are the
bumbling fools. Jesus tests them, “Where will we buy bread for
these people to eat?” but they stand powerless. The task is
overwhelming. They don't have what it takes to do it. Yes, but
Jesus does.
So the Lord in his good order doesn't
initiate a free-for-all, but has the disciples sit the people down
and prepare for the meal. He takes the elements of the meal, gives
thanks, and gives it to the disciples, whom He appoints to distribute
the fish and loaves, and miraculously, somehow, without explanation,
there is enough. All are fed and satisfied. There are even
leftovers enough for the disciples to each fill a basket.
When the people saw this sign, they
confessed Jesus as “the Prophet who is coming into the world”.
But sadly, though they got the words right, their interpetation was
all wrong. Jesus is indeed the One, but they, like so many others,
miss the point of what he came to do. His popularity would soon
wane. The bustling crowds would abandon him.
Now you and me. We come today to hear
Jesus, and receive good things from him. We come with various
hungers and needs. Perhaps a grumbling tummy – some earthly wants.
But most importantly we come hungry and thirsting for righteousness.
We are beggars before the king, far from home, nothing to bring to
the table. Indeed nothing but our sins.
Still, we come in faith, knowing that
the One who gathers us is One who joys to give. Our Lord Jesus is
merciful.
First we hear Christ's teaching – his
word, read, sung, proclaimed. We confess, same-say, what he has said
about us and to us. We pray for daily bread, but also forgiveness of
trespasses, using his own words. We acknowledge him as king, but
also as Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And he has
mercy on us.
The pastor, or pastors, the bumbling
fools that we are, nonetheless are charged with feeding the sheep.
We don't have what it takes to do it. But Jesus does. And he gives
freely. “Forgive their sins”, he tells his ministers, “and
they are forgiven in heaven. Feed my sheep – do this often – in
rememberance of me.”
And now we come to it, the sacrament
itself. The Holy Supper, the feeding of far more than 5000. A
greater miracle than multiplication of fish and loaves, but a bodily
and bloody presence of the man who is God made flesh. Crucified and
resurrected body, nonetheless. Here, now, for us to eat and drink.
In an orderly fashion, we come to
receive this gift. We come at Christ's invitation. Being well
prepared, examined, and confessing both our sins and our Savior's
promise in the meal. In the fellowship of a people who rejoice in
his teaching and proclaim it together – even proclaiming his death
until he comes – by our very presence at his table.
We receive the body of Christ. Take
and eat. It is given for you. Not some other sinner who sins less
than you. But you, yes, you... who doesn't do what you should. You
who break his commandments daily. You who love other gods, and love
yourself before your neighbor. This sacrament is given for you –
for the forgiveness of your sins. This wine is his blood, which was
shed for you on the cross, and which now covers your sins in its
crimson tide.
The point of it all – Christ our Lord
delights to feed his people. He fed the 5000 in word and miraculous
deed. And he still feeds his people today, in word and miraculous
sacrament. He gives us always exactly what we need, and need the
most. He gives us himself. Yes, he gives daily bread, too. But man
does not live by bread alone. Man does live, by Christ alone. And
in him, who we receive today, we live.
May we never abandon our Lord, or turn
from his teaching. May we never look to him only for earthly goods,
for he gives so much more. And may we follow him always, receive
from him always, and be fed by him with all the good things he has to
offer.
So come, gather at the rail, and be
blessed to be fed by our Lord. What a miraculous meal! What a
wonderful king! What a merciful Savior!
Amen.
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