Feeding the Multitude

In September our church will be hosting its second annual community picnic in the park across the street. Last year’s picnic grew out of discussions in the Outreach Team over what we could do for the surrounding community, which ranges from well-to-do to hand-to-mouth. Most church activities revolve around food, and weekday visitors often ask for food vouchers redeemable at the local supermarket, so the decision was made to get the entire parish involved in feeding people. It worked. Everyone had a good time.

The planning for this year’s picnic started in March. Three especially energetic new team members jumped on the chance to organize it, so now we have a menu, food sources, grill, entertainment, advertising, alternate rain location, and organizational chart. Soon there will be personal calls to everyone in the parish, signing them up for jobs. The picnic happens to be on September 11, so the tenth anniversary of 9/11 has been incorporated. It’s a lot of work, but everyone enjoys it. We hope to feed some two hundred people – or whoever shows up.

Jesus, too, fed whoever showed up. In contrast to our careful planning, however, Jesus simply took what was at hand and managed to make it stretch to five thousand men, besides women and children. (Doesn’t that “besides” get you? At least Matthew includes the women and children. Mark just has men.)

Jesus’ disciples clearly are not as thrilled about the prospect of feeding everyone as our Outreach Team. They seem a bit peeved that a crowd showed up in a deserted place where Jesus was supposed to get some down time. It didn’t help that he preached right through the dinner hour. When their stomachs were growling and they were eyeing the bread and fish they’d brought along, Jesus had the nerve to tell them to feed everyone. Not having a cooler full of meat and ten bags of charcoal handy, they protested.

So Jesus took the little that they had. He blessed it, broke, it, and gave it back to them so that they could feed everyone. And they did. Not only that, but when they cleaned up afterwards they filled twelve baskets with what remained.

It was only in connection with Jesus that the disciples were able to feed those thousands of people. It will only be in connection with Jesus that our church will be able to put on a community picnic. It is the Spirit of Christ within that makes us want to help others in the first place. It is the love of God revealed to us through Jesus Christ that brings us together as a Christian community. It is the joy of Jesus that will be expressed that day.

If we do start to run out of food in September, someone will make a quick trip to the store. No one will ask me to take, bless, break, and give what’s available, expecting that it will miraculously multiply. Jesus will be present, but we still have to do the work. And by the grace of God, everyone will eat and be filled.

[Pentecost 8: Matthew 14:13-21.]