From the Vicar's "sermon barrel"...
There is no lack in God; there is nothing but abundance
While Fr. Chip is away, we reach back into his "sermon barrel" for a few words on this coming Sunday's Gospel. This is an excerpt of a sermon he preached in August, 2011 at Church of the Holy Spirit, Plymouth.
This Sunday's Gospel reading is a familiar one where Jesus feeds 5,000 people with just a few loaves of bread and some fish. In fact, it's one of the few stories about Jesus that makes it into all four Gospel accounts of his life. There are some parts that vary with each story, but overall the story is the same. What that tells us is that this event was pivotal to Jesus' followers and contains a message that is so important we still need to hear it today.
However, many churches and, yes, preachers, get sidetracked from the real message of this story because they get hung up arguing over whether or not a miracle really took place. You have those who believe that miracle stories like this one are literally true − that Jesus took these loaves and fishes and multiplied them so the crowd would be fed with much left over. And then you have others who believe that the miracle stories are more metaphor than fact − meant to point to a larger story outside of any literal sense.
What all this arguing misses, however, is the real, raw power of this story. What this story really illustrates is Jesus' power to take even our smallest gifts and infinitely multiply them with more than enough left over.
Jesus tells the disciples to bring the meager gift of five loaves and two fishes to him. The disciples were dubious about whether the small amount of food would feed such a large crowd, but Jesus knew that it wasn't the size of the gift that mattered. What matters is the giving.
What Jesus asks us to do - whether here in church, or in the larger community, or in our own households - is give whatever it is we have, whether or not that means giving money. Jesus wants whatever you can offer, no matter how large or how small. Perhaps it's the gift of time, the gift of an understanding ear, the gift of a ride to church, the gift of a smile for a stranger, the gift of old clothes for those in need. These are gifts that Jesus can take and multiply, blessing not just us, but people we cannot even envision or imagine.
In the same way that God grows a small apple seed, or peach pit, into an entire orchard or grove of trees, God can take our smallest gift of love, or time, or prayer, or, yes, financial generosity, and transform it into a gift that keeps on giving not just in our community, but beyond - indeed, around the world.
What small gift do you have that you have not brought to God yet because you feel ashamed, or you feel that it is not enough? What are you holding onto that could be blessing to everyone in this church, and everyone in the world?
The message of this Gospel passage is this: Whatever you bring to God will be more than enough. There is no lack in God. There is nothing but abundance. There is more in God than you could ever ask or imagine. God stands ready, every minute of the day, to transform even the smallest act of kindness, or mercy, or generosity, into a gift that will feed the multitudes and result in baskets and baskets of leftover blessings.
Fr. Chip
Our guest celebrant while Fr. Chip is away...
We welcome Fr. Bill Gannon again Aug. 2/3
We are delighted to welcome the Rev. Bill Gannon as our guest celebrant at both churches again this weekend. Fr. Bill was Trinity's interim prior to the establishment of our Shared Ministry, and is a familiar face to many at Christ Church as well. A retired priest from the Diocese of Newark (N.J.), Fr. Bill makes his home in Bedford and has been active in both supply and interim ministry since returning to his native New Hampshire several years ago.
