Proper 12, Year B
Text: John 6:1-21
When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” (John 6:5-7)
Knox United Church was a typical urban church of our time.
Situated in a downtown district fled by the business community and now patronized mainly by the homeless and the drug pushers, it struggled to survive with an aging membership.
The congregation had faced and triumphed over many challenges in its long history. It had already come to the brink twice, surviving both times by merging with other congregations in the area. But now viable options were running out. After more than 100 years of mission, the Knox congregation was having to consider the possibility of ceasing to exist.
One day the minister proposed what may have seemed like the perfect solution to help keep Knox Church open.
What if the church refocused its energy toward a ministry among the poor and the homeless? In light of the economic decay of the neighbourhood, the proposal made sense. God seemed to be calling Knox to a new kind of mission, one that would make the gospel present in a concrete way among the destitute persons right outside its doors.
The proposal received some discussion in the congregation, but very few people were ready to embrace it. One hundred years of mission to be reduced to caring for the poor and the homeless—it didn’t sound right.
Besides, where was the energy to embark on this new direction? Where was the will and the money to make it all possible? It seemed more appropriate to let Knox die peacefully. Most people in the community felt a responsibility to protect the dignity of this historic institution.
Thus—after serious consideration—the church board rejected the proposal, citing the absence of the necessary resources to make it work.
This is what we might call a “faith blind spot,” a situation in which, after weighing all the options to a given problem, we conclude that it is impossible to find a satisfactory solution. So we abandon the effort.
In other words, we do not allow for the possibility that a solution may lie outside the range of our expectations or values: a blind spot that can only be illuminated by faith.
In the familiar story of “the feeding of the 5,000”—which is told in all four gospels*—the disciples are caught in a similar situation. Jesus had spent a full day of ministry among a crowd of people along the shores of Lake Galilee. As the sun began to set, the disciples became increasingly anxious. The crowd showed no signs of dissipating. In fact, it seemed to be growing larger every minute.
Anyone who has dealt with large crowds will appreciate the disciples’ anxiety. There are issues of security and people’s health to consider. What if a stampede broke out and some people got trampled on the ground? What about food and toilet facilities?
The response to Jesus’ ministry—as exciting and dramatic as it may have been—was now posing a serious practical problem. It was a problem the disciples were neither expecting nor equipped to manage.
In Matthew’s version of this story, the disciples approach Jesus and say, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves” (Matthew 14:15).
Of course. Encouraging the people to disperse seems like the responsible thing to do. “Teacher, we have to let the people go now. Enough is enough. We cannot feed this multitude. We cannot ensure their safety. The longer we allow them to be here like this, the greater the danger that something will go wrong. Send the crowds away, so that they may go and buy food for themselves.”
They were simply being realistic and practical. No doubt, seeing so many people responding to Jesus’ ministry was very exciting indeed. But a reality check was essential at this point. A serious problem was looming, and the disciples were unable to see a solution within the range of normal expectations, apart from encouraging the crowd to disperse.
Jesus disagreed. According to him, there was a spot within the range of possibilities that could not be seen by rational means alone—a spot that could only be embraced by faith. That, according to him, was where the disciples needed to focus their attention. Do not abandon these people, he told them. With a little faith, you yourselves can provide what they need.
We have all been there at one time or another, both in our individual and corporate lives. The obstacles facing us seem so large and impenetrable—and the range of possible solutions in our view so impoverished—we are ready to give up. Against all reason, we take one step forward anyway. Then we realize that the answer was there all along, hidden from our view, a solution we could only access by faith.
One of the fastest sprinters of our time once confessed to a degree of nervousness—sometimes bordering on panic—before every major race.
“You have to understand,” he said, “that each one of the competitors stands a good chance of winning. There are no guarantees.”
“Then how do you take control of your nerves and go on to win the race?” he was asked.
He said, “I quit thinking, and simply go in there and do it.”
In other words, at some point he must stop analyzing the challenge before him and simply get on with the race, as a matter of faith. In doing so, he finds his way to victory.
We are not called to plunge into situations without thinking. Neither should we respond to the challenges facing us without a careful analysis of the relevant dynamics. Reason is an integral part of living by faith. On that basis, it is right and proper for us to seek trusted counsel as a means of intelligent decision making.
It is also important to remember, however, that in seeking to decide which action we should be taking in a given situation, reason alone cannot give us the full range of potential courses of action.
There are possibilities hidden from our normal, rational view, and accessible only by faith. Sometimes we need to simply take that step of faith, trusting that God will provide a way.
Jesus said not to abandon these people. With a little faith, you yourselves can supply what they need.
With a little faith, we shall become people who are accustomed to seeing mountains move! With a little faith, you and I can become human channels of grace for others. We will see the dead raised and the hungry fed.
For the kingdom of heaven to come, for God’s will to be done, sometimes we must work very hard. But sometimes, we just need to get out of the way and let God be God.
However big the problem is, it is never too big for our Creator to solve. May God grant us courage to change the things we can, and trust enough to let go of the things we can’t.
Let us never forget that, when our best efforts have been inadequate, we can place our burdens and our problems in the Lord’s hands. Thanks be to God for that. Amen.
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* See Matt. 14:13-21, Mark 6:32-44, and Luke 9:10-17