A Gospel of Abundance

'Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward 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.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”'

--John 6: 1-14

How many of you remember the game Musical Chairs from elementary school?  Or the card game Spoons?  Do you know what both of those games have in common?  They're both based around the principle of scarcity. In Musical Chairs several chairs are set up in a circular pattern, the music plays, you and your friends walk or dance around the chairs, and when the music stops you try to find a chair to sit in, only there's always one less chair than there are kids playing, so someone always ends up without a chair, and if you're that someone, you're out.  In Spoons you and several others dig through a bunch of cards in an attempt to get four of a kind.  If you do you pick up a spoon, but like Musical Chairs, there's always one less spoon than people playing, so if you can't get a spoon, you're out.  I find it somewhat ironic that we are entertained by games with the message that there is never enough for everyone, and children's games at that.  

Why did we think this was fun??

 The very idea of scarcity is frightening, isn't it?  Think back to the days of the pandemic and people who were so afraid of running out of milk, bread, and toilet paper, that they raided stores and hoarded so much and it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. The fear of not having enough was what drove folks to stock up on way more than they needed.  We do it, though, all of us, to some degree, when we are scared of not having enough. Gospels of scarcity are powerful and powerfully effective at getting us to buy more and share less. Capitalism itself is a gospel of scarcity.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, however, is not a gospel of scarcity.  It should be, but it isn't.  Think about it:  we're told that Jesus was a carpenter, but he never actually works in the Gospels, so what's his income?  It ain’t coming from his apostles, either, because they all left their jobs to follow him.  They don't have homes, they just wander around--Jesus makes note of this when he comments that the Son of Man has no place to lay his head--and most days they don't even know where their next meal is coming from, they just have to rely on someone inviting them to dinner, like Simon the Leper, or hope that the women of their group brought enough cash since, according to the Gospel of Luke, they helped finance the ministry. Put most of us in the same situation--no income, no regular housing, no idea how we're going to feed ourselves, and we would be terrified, wouldn't we?  We would be preaching a gospel of scarcity, of not having enough, but blessedly this is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

The word Gospel comes from the Greek εὐαγγέλιον which means Good News.  A message of scarcity is not good news, but a message of abundance is.  The great irony of the Gospel of Jesus is that the story of a homeless, jobless, itinerant preacher is actually a story of the abundance of God's grace and love and mercy.  Take the story we heard this week, the feeding of the 5000.  It's in all four of the canonical gospels, though a bit different. In the version we hear in John’s Gospel today, two of the apostles, Phillip and Andrew, address the situation from a place of scarcity.  Phillip remarks that six months' wages wouldn't feed everyone gathered on that hillside in Tabgah of Galilee.  Andrew points out that there is a boy with five loaves and two fish, but then he pessimistically asks, "What are they among so many?"   Even those closest to Jesus can't help but be fearful of not having enough.  But you know who isn't fearful?  The boy.

An icon of the feeding of the 5000, as depicted in the Fourth Gospel.

He's only found in John's version of the story. This boy offers what he has, and he shares it, not only with Jesus but with the crowd as well.  This is the great miracle of this story:  that out in the desert, tired and hungry, a single individual would be willing to share what he has for the sake of so large a community.  Can’t you see the whole hillside stir to life as now everyone begins to take some of their supplies for the journey and starts sending them forward for Jesus to take, bless, break, and give. In this neighborly sharing what little they have, all end up being fed. 

That’s the gospel of abundance, the good news that there is always enough, so long as we are willing to let what we have pass through the hands of Jesus. Five loaves and two fish CAN feed 5000 people, not because Jesus performed a magic trick, like he’s Madrox the Multiple Man, but because one person offered what little they had, and the people responded with generosity so great, that by the time Jesus was done, everyone got fed. They all shared instead of hoarding for themselves, and that is a miracle. 

Multiple Man as a member of Marvel's X-Factor.

Brothers and sisters, do you realize that a miracle occurs here in your church every single week?  At the altar we do as Jesus did. We take, bless, break, and give, and a tiny piece of bread and a little sip of wine are given to everyone, and miraculously we are filled. If sharing just a little bread and wine can do that, imagine what we can do if, like that like the boy in the story, we shared our loaves of bread, our fish, our time, our resources with those who are in need, stranger and friend alike.  Imagine what could happen if we focused less on the myth of scarcity and more on the truth of abundance, the truth that the hungry can be fed, the sick can be made well, and the poor can be given hope for their future if we are willing to let what we have pass through Jesus' hands and be offered for the sake of others.  If we could do that, well, that would be a miracle.

Miracles, it has been said, are not something that just happen, they're something that people make happen.  We don’t know if this is a factual story, but it is a true one because it speaks to the truth of what being followers of Jesus means, that there’s always enough. So why not share it. Maybe we hear that this small offering didn’t just feed all these folks but that it also resulted in 12 baskets full of leftovers, and we just can’t believe it. But knowing how true abundance likes to hide in very small places, and how even a tiny acorn of faith can inspire great movements, makes it very difficult NOT to believe this story. 

This past Sunday, the parish where I've been serving as Interim Rector for the last year - St. James' in Skaneateles, New York - shared that they had called their next Rector, who will be joining them on September 8. I closed out my sermon with these words for them:

You have so much to give, St. James’. To one another, yes, to the people out there, yes. And to your next rector. Soon and very soon. You have fed and nourished the Mitchell family in ways you will never know. Maybe it seemed small to you, but when what you offer passes through Jesus’ hands, abundant love, abundant life, flows. As you head into your next season of ministry together with your new rector, be on guard against the gospel of scarcity, which will try to tell you that you don’t have enough, whether it’s butts in the pews or bucks in the plates, that you’re not doing enough, that need is just too big, and the work just too hard. Don’t believe it. Continue to preach the gospel of abundance, and when necessary, use words. Offer up whatever you’ve got for the sake of the other, and all will be fed and filled, and miracles will happen.