July 29, 2018            Faith in God’s Abundance                            

A few weeks ago, a tv network was proclaiming a series of movies that would celebrate “Christmas in July”. Which of course made me think of one of my favorite Christmas movies, “It’s a Wonderful life”. And of all the great scenes in that movie, one of them was the scene in which the stock market crashes, all the people are anxious and fearful, there’s a run on the banks, and the George Bailey character manages to convince the investors in his savings and loan, to not pull all their money, and take only what they need to tide them over. He tells them not to lose their heads, and that they will get through this together.

Sure enough the people decide to trust that there will be enough to get them through this tough time, and because of their faith, a miracle happens, the savings and loan goes on to provide decent housing for the common working men and women of the community, rather than living in the slums of some greedy banker.

Of course, I thought of this story, because it contrasts the despair of scarcity with the faith of abundance. At the time of the market crash, many despaired, gave into fear, and lost all they had. Others, had faith, pulled together, and found that despite their losses, there was an abundance that sustained them, and even led to a better life! Which leads us to our gospel lesson this morning.

Our reading from the gospel of John this morning has two parts, the first is the feeding of the five thousand and the second is Jesus coming to the disciples on the water. Now one might wonder, why John puts these two stories together, but I believe that there is a common thread between the two, both stories talk about how scarcity is turned to abundance and anxiousness to peace, through faith in Jesus Christ.

In our first story, Jesus feeds the five thousand with five loaves and two fish. In past sermons, I have focused on the anxiety of the disciples when Jesus tells them to feed the people. It cannot be done is their response, and then Jesus does it. Now the story of the feeding of the multitudes must be an important one, because we find it in all four gospels, and in the gospel of Mark, we find it twice.

Another common theme among the gospels is that there are leftovers, 12 baskets full in some stories and 7 baskets full in others. Commentators on the gospel seem to universally agree, that the 12 basket of leftovers represents the twelve tribes of Israel, and 7 baskets of leftovers represents the 7 great nations of the world. Basically, the statement is, that faith in Jesus has the power to feed not only the multitudes, but the nation, and the world.

A third theme unites these stories, they are usually followed by some anxiety by the disciples. In one gospel the disciples have an anxious discussion about where there next meal will come from, and in this gospel, and others, there is a storm at sea that Jesus calms. In a couple of these, Jesus asks them, “didn’t you understand about the loaves and the fish?” And my interpretation of this question is that Jesus is saying to them – Don’t you understand that you don’t have to be anxious, have faith, and your needs will be met, and you will have peace in your lives.

Now in our prayer of confession this morning, I wrote that our fear of scarcity leads to greed and gluttony. What I meant by this was that if we believe there is not enough for all, we hoard as much as we can, and waste our lives in pursuit of lavish experiences. And if we believe in the abundance of God’s blessing, we can be happy in living plainly, and give of ourselves to one another.

A third thing that I did not mention, is that when we live in fear and anxiousness, we become paralyzed. We may have enough resources to do many good things, but we are afraid to use them. We may have enough time to do all we can do, but we fritter away that time with doubt and worry. But the good news of Jesus Christ is, that through faith in the abundance of God’s love and blessings to us, we can be freed to use our resources and the time God has given us to accomplish a great many things, rather than losing or wasting our lives on our own self-centered pursuits.   

Also, in our prayer of confession, I wrote that fear of scarcity leads to division, suffering, and death. One need only look to what happens when leaders say they will put their nation first! This leads to leads to a lack of cooperation, that creates trade problems that impact small businesses, families and farmers, raises prices on goods and services, and turns every disagreement into a threat of war. My point is that all of these things are driven by the fear of scarcity, and that fear leads to a world that is worse for all not better. And it is clear to me that those who sell this snake oil, do not understand the story of the loaves and fishes.

For the story of the loaves and fishes tells us that through faith in Jesus Christ, we can work together to discover that God’s creation is good, that God creation contains enough blessings for all the people of the earth, that God has given each of us enough resources and time to accomplish all that we need. Have faith brothers and sisters, for through your faith in Jesus Christ, you will not be afraid, and you will work miracles in your life, and in the world! This is the good news of Jesus Christ.