August 6, 2017              Feeding the 5000                                                                  
            Our Gospel lesson this week tells us about the miraculous feeding of the 5,000, and this week, I know of another miraculous feeding story that I thought I would share with you.

            After months of hard work and years of saving, the day came for Ron and Jenny to open their own restaurant. All that was needed was the final health inspection and the issuing of their business permit. That was scheduled for first thing that morning; then their restaurant would be in business.

            But that morning the winds and rains of Hurricane Hugo hit, unexpectedly making its way 200 miles inland to their North Carolina town. Trees were uprooted, power lines were down, homes and stores were destroyed. Ron and Jenny hurried to their restaurant. Everything was intact.

            A deputy sheriff pulled up and told them that their restaurant, the fire station next door an a service station down the road were the only ones that electricity. Ron and Jenny called the health inspector to come immediately so they could open, but because of the power outage, he couldn’t get into his office to issue the permit. No permit, no business opening. With a refrigerator stocked with 300 pounds of bacon and beef and bushels of tomatoes, lettuce and bread, there was only one thing to do:

give the food away.

            They told the deputy, "Tell your coworkers and other emergency people you see that we’ll have free BLT’s and coffee for anybody who wants to drop by." Soon firemen, policemen, linemen and other workers were filing into the restaurant. When the couple heard that another restaurant was scalping people by charging ten dollars  for two eggs, toast and bacon, they placed a sign in their window: FREE BLT’S--FREE COFFEE. Families, travelers and street people were welcomed.

            Then something began to happen. People started to clean counters and sweep floors. Volunteers took over the dish washing   from Jenny and helped Ron at the grill. Hearing about what was going on at the restaurant from the local radio station, people from a neighboring town that had not been too badly hit by the storm brought food from their freezers. Stores and dairies sent

over chicken, milk and foodstuffs of all kinds.

            And so the long day went. Those first cups of coffee and BLT’s somehow stretched to 16,000 meals. The restaurant’s small stock increased by 500 loaves of bread, cases of mayonnaise, 350 pots of coffee and bushels of produce.

            Now some of you might say, “Pastor Ted, that’s not really a miracle story, people respond like this to hurricanes, floods, and tornado’s all the time, pitching in and helping, sending donations, and caring for total strangers, dozens and even hundreds of miles away.”

            And I would agree with you, in times of great suffering, some people, put aside the rules of selfishness and self-centeredness, and act with a spirit of compassion for others. Not everyone does this, remember the restaurant in the story that scalped people for meals – this actually happens, and then no one gets fed, or cared for. But Ron and Jenny had all of that food sitting in their fridge, they could have waited till the next day and opened, but instead they decided it was more important to feed these people in need.

            And then it happened, the more the news spread of their act of compassion, the more people wanted to be a part of it, and the more food came rolling in, to feed not just 5000, but 16,000 meals  That’s the miracle! The miracle of what we can do when we suspend the rules of self-interest that we live by every day, and work together in that same spirit of compassion and love for one another – a spirit revealed to us in Jesus Christ!

            One final thought, this past week I read a book called Rich Church, Poor Church – which I plan to do an adult study on starting this fall.  This book contrasts the difference in how each church looks at not just stewardship, but also mission, ministry, discipleship, and even advertising. The rich church acts in love towards others, not to get more members, but because it is what Jesus tells them to do! The members of the rich church know that Jesus tells them to proclaim the gospel in acts of love and fellowship. The members of the rich church give of themselves, not to make a budget, but to help make the kingdom of God present in people’s lives. Finally, the members of the rich church, find that through their discipleship, their faith makes a great difference in their lives.

            This is the miracle waiting for all of us, who are willing to do as Jesus commands us, and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with all the world!