Grace and Gratitude
I recently made my first
trip to Central America and found it to be both a life changing and
“heart expanding” experience. I was moved by the extreme poverty
(that is, in terms of material things) that I witnessed among the
people of Guatemala, but even more so by their spirit of grace and
generosity. They were certainly not poor in spirit!
A friend and I visited a mission
outpost called “Ruth and Naomi” in a small hill country town northwest
of Guatemala City. It is run by a native pastor and his wife and
supported in part by the ELCA Division for Global Missions. They
work with single mothers who were widowed during the recent civil war
in that country—providing them with jobs creating handicrafts and
caring for their children. In addition to a worshipping
community, they run a small clinic and an orphanage.
We arrived at the mission just in time
for Sunday School. The pastor’s wife was teaching about a dozen
children, ranging in age from four to twelve. She was using a
flannel board to teach the story of Jesus and the miracle of the loaves
and fishes. (I hadn’t seen a flannel board since I was in Sunday
School years ago.) The children sang songs in Spanish and a
twelve year old boy closed with a beautiful, heartfelt prayer. We
then followed the children over to the orphanage where a simple mid-day
meal was being prepared for all the kids.
The children swarmed all over us,
laughing and smiling. I had brought a bag of candy with me, and
they lined up politely to get their share. I felt my heart
strangely warm and full. They seemed so grateful and pleased to
receive something so small as a piece of candy. I gave them all
two pieces hoping I would have enough, and still the bag seemed yet
full even after everyone had been served. As I handed the
remainder of the candy to the pastor’s wife, I thought about the
miracle of multiplication. The true miracle was one of grace and
gratitude.
In John’s gospel story of Jesus feeding the 5000, a young boy
is a symbol of the generous grace of God. He freely gives what
“little” he has and when placed in God’s hands it becomes more than
enough. So much so that there are baskets filled with
leftovers. God’s grace that keeps on giving! But that is
only part of the miracle. For those who received the gift of food
are like the native Mayan children in Guatemala. They are touched
with this gesture of generosity—however small the original gift—and
they are filled with gratitude. In the midst of their poverty and
want, they are overwhelmed and thankful. A miracle of grace in
the giving AND the receiving. It is amazing what God can do with
generous and grateful hearts!
Link to the First Reading
The
prophet Elisha faces the same dilemma as did Jesus in the
Gospels. Only his challenge is not quite as great. Instead
of feeding 5000, the prophet is asked to feed 100. And instead of
only five loaves of barely, he has twenty to distribute among the
smaller crowd. While Elisha’s servant is skeptical, the prophet
is confident that God will provide more than enough and predicts “They
will eat, and have some left over.” And indeed, this too is a
miracle of abundance for not only does everyone eat their fill but
there is food left over. This miracle story foreshadows an even
greater Prophet and Miracle-worker yet to come.
Link to the Second Reading
The
writer of Ephesians wants the reader to be amazed at the incredible
grace and generosity of God in Jesus Christ. “I pray that you,
being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all
the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of
Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be
filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (vs. 17-19)
This passage suggests that if one knows the magnitude of God’s love and
grace in Christ, it follows that one would be moved to gratitude and
generosity. This was perhaps a message to encourage the early
church to embrace a theology of abundance rather than cling to one of
scarcity. It is also a reminder of the One whom we serve—the
Bread of Life from today’s Gospel story—who died and rose that we might
have eternal life.
Link to the Gospel
Jesus
comes to offer spiritual food and ends up providing for the physical
needs of the crowd. In John’s gospel, however, the feeding is a
sign that Jesus is the Bread of Life—a sign that many misinterpret as
free food akin to Moses providing manna in the wilderness. Jesus
tests his disciples to see if they yet know who he is by asking how
they might feed the hungry crowd. Philip does not and complains
that it would take too much money (more than 200 denarri or about 200
days wages) to do so. Andrew responds with limited understanding,
pointing to the inadequacy of a young boy’s lunch which consisted of
five barely loaves and a couple of fish. There are eucharistic
overtones as Jesus takes the bread, gives thanks, and distributes it to
the crowds. Finally, the miracle is one of great abundance, for
not only are the people filled, but there are twelve baskets of food
left over!
Questions for Discussion
1. What is more miraculous? The spectacle of feeding the 5000
or the act of generosity that makes the miracle possible?
2. Some scholars suggest that rather than a metaphysical
multiplication of matter, the gospel story bearts witness to a
spiritual multiplication of generosity? What do you think? Did Jesus
perform the miracle itself, or did his gracious presense encourage the
crowded to perform the miracle - transforming selfishness into sharing?
3. How might hte generosity of the little boy and his gift
inspire us in our giving?
4. How might God multiply our gifts to provide both physical
and spiritual
food for those who are hungry? What does it take for this to happen?
5. Who are the hungry in our community that needs bread to eat
as well as the Bread of Life?
6. What are some issues which the Church should be prophetic
about in our
day? What do you think God has to say about those issues?
7. Did you live out of a theology of scarcity or abundace?
What about your congregation?
8. The contemporary poet Marie Angelu has said "Giving
liberates the soul of the giver." Do you think this is true? Why or why
not?
This WORDLINK prepared by:
Rev. Dr. Richard W. Rouse
Senior Pastor, Prince of Peach Lutheran Church
Phoenix, Arizona
|
July 30, 2006
8th Sunday after
Pentecost
2 Kings 4:42-44
Ephesians 3:14-21
John 6:1-21
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