Matthew 14:13-33
13 Now when Jesus heard about (the death of John the Baptist),
he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the
crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went
ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their
sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is
a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they
may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." 16 Jesus said to
them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." 17
They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." 18
And he said, "Bring them here to me." 19 Then he ordered the crowds
to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up
to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples,
and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled; and
they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21
And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. 22
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the
other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the
crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was
there alone, 24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from
the land, for the wind was against them.
25 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on
the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were
terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear. 27
But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not
be afraid." 28 Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to
come to you on the water." 29 He said, "Come." So Peter got out
of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when
he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he
cried out, "Lord, save me!" 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand
and caught him, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you
doubt?" 32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in
the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
The message
There is a chinese restaurant on Broadway called 5 loaves
and 2 fish, I knew it was owned by Christians and suspected someone from the
Fujianese church that meets here, (which it is). What a great way to be known and
recognized.
Today’s reading starts with a very important event. Jesus
has to withdraw from the crowd and go to a quiet, prayerful place after he
hears the news about what happened to John the Baptist. Jesus
receives a report that John was dead, killed by King Herod after the king is
tricked by his wife and stepdaughter. John
had been arrested because of the growing crowds and his preaching. In
particular John was publically condemning King Herod and his family for a
morally questionable marriage (Herod ends up breaking up his step brother’s
marriage and marrying his step brother’s wife) . Herod does not particularly want to hurt
John, just shut him up. John is seen as a prophet and holy man by a great
number of people. Harming him would be
extremely unpopular. Plus, it seems like Herod is at least intrigued by John’s
teachings (expect the part condemning Herod’s marriage, he don’t like that).
Herod hosts a great banquet where his step daughter does a
dance. Herod is so excited by her
performance her promises her anything she wishes, up to half his kingdom.
Instead of asking for a city, no school, or jewelry, her step mother puts the
girl up to asking for the head of the John the Baptist. Now,
you would think a king could just say, that’s unexpected, I’m going to give you
this shinny necklace and a luxury trip to Rome instead.
We are told because of his guests, Herod must comply. Herod
is forced to kill John the Baptist, a man he views as a prophet and a holy man
with a very significant following.
Failing to keep his promise would be a sign of weakness and call his
power into question.. Herod, the host and king is not that important. He rules by the consent of Rome and because
those with power in the region don’t make a fuss. It was a tenuous position, if people
complained, Rome was likely to just say “fine, get a different king, who cares
anyway “, if other aspiring kings sensed weakness, they would try to take his
throne. This banquet is a drama of power struggle, important people, political
decisions, fighting and a carefully selected guest list. Each guest asking “What can I get from being
here”. Is it a way to sure up my power, get rid of john the baptist, a
promotion, insight into an enemy, a gift, new connections and perceived status
.These things are on everyone’s mind
Today’s reading is really a story of 2 meals. It is Herod’s Banquet and Jesus feeding the
crowds. They are 2 very different meals.
One is exclusive, a show and it leads to death, one is a meal for everyone that
leads to life and proclaims the power and love of God. I can remember days when
I ate two very different meals, having lunch with bishops, CEOs and professors,
followed by dinner with homeless of Bristol, CT, having breakfast alone at Taco
Bell and then dinner with a group of delegates from the UN, eating lunch with a
group of familiar volunteers and then dinner with a group of unknown, wealthy
donors, having breakfast at a bible study for the street homeless of NY and
lunch with elected officials. It should
be all the same, id like to say its all the same, Like that’s the right answer,
but it is not.
I can remember having lunch at a soup kitchen where I volunteered
regularly and then going to that same organization’s major fundraising event
that evening. Everyone was dressed
differently, the staff, cooks and security guards that I would hang out with
during a shift, talk to about what was going in their lives, how the program
runs or just the news, were now in tuxedos and speaking another, way more
formal and uncomfortable language, the station that used to serve cups of bulk
coffee or juice in the cheapest way possible was now serving wine and champagne
in crystal glasses. I was now “sir
” (with the occasional, oh it’s just
pastor joe). The normal kitchen language of “get out of the way” or “hurry up and get another tray of rice” was
now “can I offer you a cocktail shrimp or this little pastry thing” (that looks
way better than it tastes).
A few years ago I was invited to the Mayor’s clergy
breakfast. I didn’t know what to expect but didn’t really think I belonged
there either. As soon as I got the
email, I wondered who put me on that list, as those of you here know, I am not
the pastor of a large church. Then I started the ‘who am I going to sit with”, I was hoping there would be assigned seats (I
knew there wouldn’t be, its too easy to
piss too many people off, better to let us fend for ourselves), I spent the
week before emailing and calling people, asking “did you get invited, are you
going” no one was (I did get quite a few requests to tag along). I got there and start the desperate search
for someone I knew, a familiar face, a remotely familiar face, someone I might
have meet once or is from the neighborhood. I got there early, to sit at a less
full table and let everyone else look at me and decide if I was too important
to sit with. I sat out of the way, in the back, near the door. I wanted to
avoid anyone too important (which I assumed would be sitting up front in the
important seats). As it turns out, most of the very important people often get
important or emergency calls so they all sit in the back near the door where
they can go and do important things without interfering with an event or being
noticed.
Herod’s banquet is filled with those questions and
anxieties, what will my guests think, do I fit in here, who should I sit with,
I better watch my table manners, I better use my big words, talk in sentences,
use silverware, it is uncomfortable.
Jesus feeding of the crowds is different. It is one of the only miracles in all
4 of the Gospels (along with calming the storm and the resurrection). Come, as
you are, and be loved, be fed, God is in charge of this meal and everyone
eats. There is no this seat is reserved
there is no question of where will I say there is no rich or poor because there
was no where to buy anything no restaurant to go to no Marketplace no special
booth 4 VIPs no now this is a story that is in all four the gospels twice in
one of them this is the kingdom of God all who are hungry come and eat
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