John 6:1-14
In our time, when many seem to think that Christianity goes hand in hand with right-wing visions of the world, it is important to remember that there has never been a conservative prophet. Prophets have never been called to conserve social orders that have stratified inequities of power and privilege and wealth. Prophets have always been led to change them so all can have access to the fullest fruits of life.
-Obery Hendricks Jr.
The Gospel of John is organized around a series of signs that prove Jesus’ power. He has been healing, a sign, and great crowds come to see it happen or to have him mend a bad back or a crooked foot. Jesus and the disciples try to escape, to take a day off. They climb a mountain to get away from it all, and the people find them. It’s a little like that car insurance commercial where the man finds a secluded, beautiful spot, only to be joined in a few seconds by 100’s of people waiting their turn to see the view. John tells us in advance that another sign is going to happen. Jesus asks the disciples, “Where will we buy bread for these folks?” Did you notice any bakeries on the way here? How’s the money bag holding out? The disciples, of course, want none of it. They want to be alone, not emptying the treasury to feed uninvited guests. But there’s a young boy who offers loaves and fishes, what fits in his backpack. And the rest, as they say, is history.
In my lifetime I’ve preached a couple thousand sermons, most of them unremarkable. But I remember early on preaching about this passage. I remember because when I was studying in preparation, I had one of those lifechanging insights – a real aha! Moment – that I’ve never forgotten. Something suggested to me that the sign of this story, the real miracle, isn’t about Jesus taking a bit of food and miraculously multiplying it a thousand-fold. The real miracle is Jesus, and the little boy determined that what little there was would be enough. The little boy shares. Jesus acts like the problem is solved. They start passing out the food, and little by little other folk start reaching into their backpacks and bringing out a loaf of bread, a dried fish, a handful of figs. Five thousand people didn’t come out into the countryside for the day with nothing in their bags. They were prepared to feed themselves. But when you’re packed into a crowd, nobody wants to be the first to pull out what you tucked away and eat in front of everyone else. It’s likely everyone would have gone hungry because no one wanted to be first. Except for the little boy. He was willing to share, and Jesus believed it would be enough.
All my life I’ve believed that there is enough. People are willing and able to share what they have when someone gets them started. Every month I remind people that we have a checking account for LaGrave food, and no one ever asks me for money for groceries. Each one decides they have enough to cover a meal. We spend a lot of money from our community fund, and it fills up again. Sometimes when we’ve paid rent for several people, I have to tell a social worker no. When that happens, another church steps up and needs are met. Whenever we study the first century groups of Jesus followers, we learn that they fed people who were hungry, gave shelter to travelers, taught skills to people without work. Following Jesus meant that there would be a way to meet the needs of the day. There would be enough because each one would give part of what she or he had, food, clothing, time, knowledge, until the need was met.
There’s a lot of talk these days about building our country on Christian principles. You can call it Christian Nationalism or whatever you want. I too think we should do everything we do based on the teachings of Jesus, or one of the other great spiritual leaders, because at the heart of their teaching, they mostly say the same thing.
Christian Nationalism seems to be based on rules and on those who have power making rules everyone else must follow. It’s based on saving what you’ve got so no one else gets it. These folks want to post the Ten Commandments everywhere (although they tend to follow them selectively). They want to tell women what medical decisions they can make. They want to tell poor folk that they must work to eat, but not provide public transportation or daycare so they can get to jobs and leave their children in safety. They want to tell immigrants they aren’t welcome, so no one takes the jobs no one wants anyway. You can make your own list. We hear their demands every day in the news.
Here's my simple guideline for whether or not a policy fits the teachings of Jesus: is it generous and is it joyful? What’s the sign that Jesus is a great prophet? He puts on a potluck picnic for 5000 people and gathers up 12 baskets of leftovers. When people believe there’s enough for everyone, there is enough for everyone and some to spare. You think that wasn’t a good time?
Obery Hendricks Jr. is a new scholar to me, but he’s spent his life reminding people that Jesus was on the side of the ordinary folks, the poor folks, the sick and disabled, the women and children. He can do that because it’s true. Jesus could do that because he stood in a long line of prophets who denounced the rich, the selfish, those who used power to accumulate wealth rather than to serve the people. God is on the side of the people. And God has provided enough for everyone to thrive, if we are willing to share and if we trust that what we have will be sufficient.
Family of God Church has a really good time giving away some of what we’ve got. We feed people – lots of people. We house people, through our community fund and Pat Moore’s work with Homeless Helpers. We help people with prescriptions so they can be well. We help buy phones so people can make appointments and apply for jobs. We help people with diapers and household supplies. We plant flowers to make the neighborhood pretty and green beans to share. It’s a good time! If we can do it, so can the community. So can the country. So can the world.
Don’t let anyone tell you to be afraid of immigrants. They are our friends. Don’t let them tell you to be afraid of spending money on education. The children are the future. Don’t let them tell you to be afraid of those who don’t match a preferred color or gender orientation or political party. Jesus let everyone come. He fed them all. He loved them all. So can we.
Let’s hold the vision of Jesus up against all the policies and promises of those who want to hold power in our nation, and then let’s choose the ones that match. Is it generous? Is it joyful? That’s the way to build a future for everyone.