The assigned gospel story for this Sunday is Matthew’s version of the feeding of the multitude. In reading this familiar passage of scripture again this week, I was struck by the abundance you find in the beginning and the end of the story.
The story begins with Jesus, while trying to get away for some down time, encountering a crowd following Him. The spiritual abundance is that Jesus knows the incredible issues of emotional, mental, spiritual and physical health needs among them. Jesus has compassion on them and cures them. This all-day healing service lasted over into the evening. By now, these folks are out here in the middle of nowhere, with no food to eat. This is when the physical abundance in this story takes place. Five loaves of bread (more like 5 biscuits) and 2 fishes are multiplied into enough to feed 5000 men, plus woman and children present. Not only that, but 12 baskets of overages were collected from this meal after everyone ate.
Many will theorize as to whether this story is real or not. Others, assuming if it’s in the Bible it must be true, will seek ways to explain how this happened. Both approaches miss the point of the story all together. To realize why this story of God’s spiritual and physical abundance is in the Bible, we need to consider two verses from the alternate Psalm scripture assigned for this Sunday.
Psalm 145:8-9, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and God’s compassion is over all that God has made.” It’s pretty simple: “God is good. God is Love. God made and God cares for you and me!”
Jesus often challenges His followers to “go and do likewise.” Join us at Covenant this Sunday. I will revisit our vision statement to encourage us to “go and do likewise.” The sermon is “Abundance: A Vision of Hope, Faithfulness and Joy,” based on “Matthew 14:13-21.”
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