Monday, July 28, 2014

Gone Fishing: Feeding 5,000


Gone Fishing: Feeding 5,000

Matthew 14:13-21

July 28, 2014 

Mark S. Bollwinkel

 

This is the second sermon in a series exploring how the Bible uses the images of fishing and fish to illustrate the spiritual journey.   This is summertime and “the livin is easy, fish are jumping and the cotton is high…” so sings Bess in Gershwin’s wonderful musical “Porgy and Bess”.  This is the time of year we hang up the sign “Gone Fishing” at home or office.  We go to the beach, take in a movie or have a picnic with family and friends.   This is the time we take a break from the routine to recharge our batteries.

 

Ever notice bummer sticker wars?  When people start to argue with each other by the bummer stickers on their cars?   Years ago it became popular for certain Christians to put a fish sign on their car to make a public statement about their faith.  Then came the scientists’ retort with the fish sign with feet and “Darwin” in the middle for their support of evolution.  Then some Hebrew folk put up the fish sign with “Gefilta” in the middle for the tasty food of their traditional “gefiltafish”.  

 

In the ancient early church, one of the common baptismal vows was “Jesus Christ Son of God”.  When the initiate was willing and able to make such a public confession of faith they were ready for the sacrament of baptism.   Taking the first letters of each word in that confession spells out the word “fish” in the original; “ichthus”.  During the periods of persecution against the early church, Christians would identify themselves by making the fish sign in the dust as they greeted each other on the road or in the market place.  They would adorn the doorways of their homes with fish symbols.  They would have artisans do beautiful mosaic and tapestry fish for their residences and meeting places.  For the initiated, the fish symbol was an immediate identification of the Christian faith.  Its significance went back to the story of Jesus’ feeding the five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish, the text we have this morning for our worship.

 

Such miracle stories are problematic for North American people such as us, oriented to science and rationality.  We cringe at the notion that God would suspend natural law as we hear suggested in the gospel miracle stories.

 

Not all people of faith reject science as an affront to God, neither have all scientists rejected the existence of realities beyond what we can observe, measure and reproduce.   Since John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, began experimenting with electricity in the 18th century Methodists, in general, embrace the possibilities of science and do not fear critical thought.

 

This approach has been most helpful when we explore the miracle stories in the Bible, such as ours this morning.

 

Each of the New Testament gospels has a version of the miracle of the feeding of five thousand (Mark 6:32-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-13) in which Jesus blesses five loaves of bread and two fish to feed a huge crowd of people.  They followed Jesus and the disciples out to a secluded place to hear him preach and ask him to do healings.  Both Mark and Matthew report a second such miracle in the feeding of the four thousand as well (Matthew 15:32-39, Mark 8:1-10). 

 

In each version Jesus has compassion on the people knowing that they will go hungry out in the desert.   He asks the disciples to give them something to eat.  In each version of the story the "council of disciples" complains to Jesus that they can't feed the crowd of people because they don't have enough money.  

 

Please note, Jesus and his disciples didn’t have enough money.  And two thousand years later I don’t know a church, large or small, that can say they have enough money to do all the things they want to do.   Church budget crises are nothing new.  Neither is Jesus' insistence that ministry is never about the money.  It’s about faith.  The disciples already have enough to do miracles! They just don’t know it or chose not to. 

 

In John's version of the story a little boy comes forward to share five barley loaves....the poorest form of bread one can find....and two fish that he and his family brought along with them out into the desert to hear Jesus preach (John 6:9-f), implying that his act of sharing inspired the rest of the crowd to share what they had brought with them resulting in more than enough to feed five thousand!  We have more than enough to do miracles when we work together...even if we don't have a lot to share!  

 

Ironically in the Pixar movie "Finding Nemo" the fish find this out themselves.  Only can brilliant animation let us imagine what would happen if the fish figured it out.   Humans rely on panic and fear by these huge schools of fish to harvest them with nets.  What would happen if in such circumstance the fish worked together?

 

In this scene from "Finding Nemo": Dory, a beautiful blue regal tang tropical fish that struggles with memory loss is one of the heroes of the movie; the comedian Ellen Degeneres is the voice of Dory.  Dory is captured in a fishing net along with a school of panicky fish being hauled to the surface and certain doom.  In the scene Nemo and his father are able to organize the frighten school to all push together in the same direction which overwhelms the net and the fishermen, which eventually leads the fish and Dory to freedom.  Warning, the scene is a little intense and can be scary for youngsters…..

 

[Finding Nemo: Swim Together scene]

 

The scene illustrates a universal truth even from a fish perspective.  "We" is stronger than "me".  We can accomplish amazing things when community has common purpose and meaning.  And that’s true of spiritual as well.

 

Addicts find their most successful opportunity for recovery from alcohol, drugs, food or gambling addiction in 12 Step communities with others facing the same disease.  They need each other for the journey of healing.

Most of feel an overwhelming sense of powerlessness when we come across a homeless person in the street.  But when we work together in community programs such as Join Hands here in Carmel or Habitat for Humanity we find we can make an enormous difference in a person’s life.

 

When we share what we have with each other, even when it’s not much, we will find that it is more than enough.

 

Scholars suggest that the feeding miracles are literary references to God's feeding of the Israelites at the urging of Moses in the Exodus (Ex 16, Num. 11:1-35, Neh. 9:15, Ps. 78:19-20, Isa. 49:8-13), to the prophets Elijah feeding the widow at Sidon (1 Kings 17:8-16) and Elisha's feeding of one hundred (2 Kings 4:42-44).  There is clearly a reference to the early church practice of Holy Communion...."Jesus takes, blesses, breaks and gives" (Luke 22:19).  And the feeding miracles allude to the Jewish expectations that at the End of Time there will be a heavenly feast.  Jesus is the Messiah of such hope and the feasting began in his ministry (Isa. 25:6-8, Mt. 22:1-14, Luke 14:15-24).

 

All this is to say that if we are sitting here dismissing the Bible’s story as a fable we are missing the point entirely.   If we are so convinced that it is scientifically impossible to feed five thousand people with five loaves and two fish, we are missing the point.  The gospels writers were not worried about the material facts of their miracle stories so much as they were invested in its truth:

 

-don't let our fears about the material world get in the way of our compassion

-there will always be enough if we share

-the power of faith can move us to participate in good beyond our wildest dreams (Ephesians 3:20)

 

It may have been Jesus' association with the Sea of Galilee and its fishing industry that led him to call fishermen as disciples.  It might seem odd for an inland carpenter to consistently use the metaphors of fishing to illustrate his "good news" but fish and fishing are such a perfect examples of the awesome abundance of creation.

 

Is the miracle of the feeding of five thousand with five loaves and two fish the suspension of natural law or a metaphor for the possibility within the human community?  And who is to say these choices are mutually exclusive?

 

There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as though everything is a miracle.  (Albert Einstein)

 

Amen.

 

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Gone Fishing: Fishing for People


Gone Fishing: Fishing for People

Matt 4:12-13, 17-22

July 20, 2014

Mark S. Bollwinkel
 

This is the first sermon in a series especially designed for summertime, when wed all love to hang out the sign at home or office, Gone Fishing.  This is the time of year that many take vacations or long weekends to break the routine and re-charge our emotional, energy and at times spiritual batteries.  Its time to go fishing, take a picnic to the beach or see a blockbuster movie.  Lets look at just a few of the Bibles lessons about the spiritual journey that use fish and/or fishing as an illustration.   

 

In our gospel lesson this morning from Matthew we hear the author's version of Jesus calling his first disciples.   Jesus' ministry is the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy that God's "good news" is meant for the gentiles as well as the Hebrews.  This is revolutionary as pious Hebrews considered the gentiles profane and beyond redemption.  The good news is that God's love is available to all people not just the chosen few.

 

In Matthew as in the gospel of Mark (1:15) we hear Jesus' first proclamation, "Repent, the kingdom of heaven has come near."  In the original language "repent" means "to turn your life around", "to go in an entirely different direction that the one youre in". 

 

Scholars still debate the meaning of "kingdom of heaven has come near".  "Kingdom of heaven" is Matthew's preferred reference to divinity.  The term is only found in the Matthew, nowhere else in the Bible. The writer uses the phrase 31 times.   In our lesson this morning it is set in a sentence with both present and future tense, as if to say the "Kingdom of Heaven" ....all of the promises God has ever made about the future for the world, a future of love, justice and peace...the "Kingdom of Heaven" is not only about the future it is here right now.

 

Luke picks up this sense when the writer reports Jesus' first sermon, again in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah Jesus says....:

 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

   because he has anointed me

     to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

   and recovery of sight to the blind,

     to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lords favor.

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. (Luke 4:18-21)

 

All the promises of God for a future of love, peace and justice are here right now in the teaching and example of Jesus.   We who follow Jesus live in the spirit of God's future here in the present.  The Kingdom of Heaven has eternal implications and is "at hand" or as Luke puts it "is within you" (17:20-21).

 

Please note that when Jesus calls his disciples he doesn't say, "Believe in me or you will be punished in hell forever!" or "Join my church or you will go to hell!"  or "Be baptized in my prescribed manner or you will suffer eternal damnation!"  You may be able to patch those notions together from bits and pieces in the New Testament but that's not the message of Jesus. That's a message about Jesus that churches have promoted for centuries.  But its not the message of Jesus. (Thank you Professor Dennis Watson!)   The message of Jesus is "turn your life around and follow me, all that God has ever promised and more is within your grasp".     And the invitation is for all people, even the ones who didn't count, even those considered profane outcasts and sinners by the holy people.

 

Even fishermen.  

 

Consider the motley crew that Jesus put together as his first disciples; a clan of fishermen, Peter, Andrew, James and John; Matthew and possibly James son of Alphaeus, are tax collectors, considered traitorous collaborators with the Roman occupation; Philip and Bartholomew aka Nathaniel are seminary drop-outs (John 1:35-51); Simon the Cananaean and Judas Iscariot are zealous revolutionaries looking for war against the Romans; doubting Thomas  (John 20:24-29) will write his own gospel and go off to India to start his own church; and nobody is really sure who Thaddaeus is because the twelfth disciple is also called "Lebbeus" and/or "Jude" and/or "Judas, son of James" in the other gospels.

 

These weren't saints although by tradition each would become one.  These were very human people with strengths and weaknesses, fears and hopes.   People kind of like us.  It wasn't their position in society, their wealth or education that qualified them to be disciples.  The one thing they all had in common was their willingness to follow.

 

That path would lead them to become "fishers of men" or "to fish for people".

 

Consider this wonderful story as an illustration.

 

Norman Maclean's semi-autobiographical novella A River Runs through It (Univ of Chicago Press, 1976) describes the family of a Presbyterian minister in the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana.   The pastor constantly refers to fly fishing as a metaphor for life in his sermons and as he home schools his two sons Norman and Paul.  In this scene from the movie adaptation directed by Robert Redford, the father is played by Tom Skerritt, Norman by Craig Sheffer and Paul by a young Brad Pitt.  In 1992 the movie was nominated for three Academy Awards and won an Oscar for best cinematography:

 

[Scene with the three men fishing, the unspoken competition and deep affection between them as a result....]

 

The two brothers could not be more different.  They have lived with and been tutored by a brilliant and pious father whose standards in life are extremely high; he describes Methodistsas Baptists that can read…”  As a result the two brothers are well educated in language, history and writing.  They both chaff under the weight of their father's orthodox morality and yet in their own distinct ways, each will become disciples of their father's faith and ethics.

 

Norman will go back East for an Ivy League education, eventually becoming a college professor in literature, dedicating his life to his students in higher education; the author Norman Maclean taught at and was a Dean of the University of Chicago until his retirement in 1973.  Paul will be the rebel in the family, hanging out with 'the wrong crowd', drinking and gambling, falling in love with a beautiful Native American woman.  He will become an investigative journalist, a "mud raker", publishing stories of the corruption between big business and politics in Montana.  His passion for justice and to give voice to the oppressed will eventually cost him his life.

 

Although neither men will adopt the piety of their father both in their own ways follow his examples and teaching, dedicating their lives to service to others, dedicating their lives to ideals much greater than themselves. Both men will attract others to their causes, just as their father.  All will be fishers of men in their own ways.

 

Yet the bond they share as family can never be broken and for the Maclean family it always goes back to fishing:

 

[Scene, A Moment of Perfection....]

 

Three men are entirely different yet so much the same.  In their own ways each man is a disciple of a higher calling, one a parish priest, one a teacher and the other an advocate for justice.

 

Disciples won't always look alike or agree on everything.  They won't always succeed; many will stumble along the journey.  But what they have in common, a bond that can never be broken, is the love of a Parent who calls them to follow and in so doing find their true home.

 

Disciples of Jesus follow him, to the best of their unique abilities.   They live by Jesus' teachings and emulate his example.  They live out the message of Jesus, "Turn your life around.  All that God has ever promised and more is within your grasp".   More than a slogan it is a way of living that continues to attract and empower.

 

The hope and possibility of a new way of living can be contagious.  It builds new communities.  It reclaims broken lives with meaning and purpose.  It rattles the cage of the entrenched status quo invested in the power and profit of the past.  It insists that there is something more than the conventional wisdom we've all grown to accept as the norm.  

 

In Africa, Asia and Latin America the church is thriving with new people inspired by the message of Jesus.  In North America and Europe the churches are declining as they promote the message about Jesus.

 

If we who would aspire to be disciples want to fish for people they will not find Jesus in the exclusivity of our institutional religions.  Do we want more people to come to church?  What will attract them is when we live as if we mean it when we pray, Our God in heaven, holy is your name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven....." 

 

Amen.