 |
| Jesus multiplies the loaves and fish. Jesus Mafa Project, Cameroon |
A sermon given during Holy Communion at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Sunday 23rd July 2023. The Seventh Sunday after Trinity. Based on readings from Romans 6.19-end and Mark 8.1-9 (BCP).
Saint Mark’s Gospel begins
in the wilderness. After his baptism by John (the voice of the wilderness),
Jesus is driven by the Spirit deeper into the desert for forty days. It is from
this seemingly empty, lifeless place that Jesus begins his ministry. He emerges
proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of God.
Straightaway he captivates
his audience, who are astonished at the authority with which Jesus preaches and
teaches in the synagogue. By today’s gospel reading, four thousand people have
followed him through the dust and heat for three days, lapping up his every
word. His voice carried great distances through the stillness of the desert
air.
But the people have
nothing to eat - and Jesus is concerned they will not last the journey home.
“From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?”
his disciples ask.
It’s a question that our
Rector posed to us yesterday at our parish retreat.
How can the billions of
people who now follow Jesus find nourishment - satisfaction - in the wilderness
of our lives today? How can we be sustained on the journey to our eternal home?
We sought answers in the
great treasury of Christian tradition. Drawing, on this occasion, from the
wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. Anchorites who withdrew to the
deserts of Egypt, Palestine and Syria. Modelling their lives on Jesus’ time in
the wilderness. Finding the strength for their journey in prayer and study of
the scriptures, while all the time battling with temptation.
Christians would seek out
their wisdom, which survives in collections of short sayings.
Yesterday on our retreat,
we heard from one of the most vivid characters in the desert - Abba (or Father)
John the Dwarf, who attracted so many followers he dug himself further and
further into a cave to maintain his solitude. In one of his surviving sayings,
he states:
“a house is not built by
beginning at the top and working down. You must begin with the foundations in
order to reach the top.”
Much wisdom of the time
echoes this sentiment. That strength and nourishment can be found by stripping
back our lives to discover what is really supporting us. Letting go of the
baggage of daily life - as we began to do on the retreat - we realise that less
is more in order to be truly satisfied when we live our lives in Christ.
From whence can a man
satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?
From the great treasury of
Christian tradition.
And from the Word of God.
The association of bread
with God’s word is rooted in the wilderness. The Book of Deuteronomy records
words of Moses, stating that God fed the Israelites with the mysterious manna
from heaven so that they may know that “man doth not live by bread only, but by
every word that proceed with out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.”
In multiplying seven
loaves and a few fish to fill 4,000 hungry mouths, Jesus’ actions recall this
event - and the feeding of 100 men with twenty loaves of barley by the prophet
Elisha. The gospel shows how the Living Word fulfills both the law and the prophets.
It also reveals how our Lord is able to take however much we have to offer and
multiply it for the benefit of all.
Living and breathing the
word of God as revealed in the Holy Scriptures became a defining characteristic
of the Desert Tradition. Phrases were repeated over and over again in prayer
until they were embodied - like a heartbeat. John Cassian was the first to
record this technique. Knowing that we are only able to carry a few loaves and
fish with us at any time from the abundant feast of the scriptures, he
recommends the use of short, easily memorisable verses. Cassian suggests
starting with a verse from Psalm 70. Benedict adopted the same text as the
opening verse to his Daily Office - a place it still occupies in our Prayer
Book today.
So every time we say “O
God make speed to save us. O Lord, make haste to help us” we are following in
the tradition of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. And in offering back these few
words in prayer to the one who inspired them, we are assured that our Lord will
multiply them beyond anything we can imagine.
From whence can a man
satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?
From the great treasury of
Christian tradition.
From the Word of God.
And from the sacraments.
In the arid heat of the
desert, the fourfold actions of Jesus described by Saint Mark are the same that
he later reports at the institution of Holy Communion. When we receive the only
bread that can truly satisfy our hunger for the fullness of life that comes
from relationship with God. Our hunger for love.
Much ink has been spilt
trying to explain why Saint Mark and Saint Matthew’s gospels include an account
of Jesus feeding five thousand as well as this later, nearly identical but often
overlooked account of feeding four thousand people. Some suggest the first
account is symbolic of feeding the Jewish people and the second the Gentiles.
But perhaps the
duplication of these miraculous events is intended to highlight in the
disciples - and also in us - an inability to fully understand or accept that
perfect satisfaction that Christ has made. We need this miracle to be repeated
to have any hope of beginning to comprehend the compassion, generosity and
power of Jesus.
The one who commanded us
to perpetuate his actions - taking bread, giving thanks, breaking and
distributing it - in remembrance that he gave his life for our redemption -
making a full perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction for
the sins of the whole world.
From whence can a man
satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness, the disciples ask. Despite
having witnessed an almost identical miraculous event not that long ago!
Like them, we may find
ourselves asking this question again and again. Where can we find nourishment -
satisfaction - in the wilderness of our lives today?
When we do so, just as the
Desert Fathers and Mothers repeated their chants, we must return again and
again to the practices of individual and corporate prayer from the depth of
Christian Tradition, the treasury of the Holy Scriptures and the Prayer Book
that they inspired and the gift of the sacraments.
Today’s gospel reading
reminds us that however little we think we are carrying with us from these
great reservoirs of faith, we are carrying enough. And that when we offer it
back to God in prayer, it will be multiplied by the one who is our perfect satisfaction
- Jesus Christ, our Saviour.
Image : Jesus multiplies the loaves and fish. Jesus Mafa Project, Cameroon
No comments:
Post a Comment