2 Kings 4:42-44;
Eph 3:14-21
John 6:1-21

All this talk about food is making me hungry! These stories remind me of good times with my family. When I was growing up, my cousins’ families and my family were often found at my grandmother’s house for a meal. Grandma had been widowed when I was three years old, and my carpenter grandfather hadn’t left any kind of inheritance for her, but it seemed to me that there was always plenty of food to go around whenever we were at Grandma’s house.

Besides the food, there was the laughter and the fun of being with people who loved us. In Grandma’s little house there was acceptance and fair discipline and pride in our accomplishments. There was always plenty of plenty to go around in that home filled with love. Our scripture readings for today tell us stories like this, too.

Our first lesson tells of the man from Baal-shalishah who brought his tithe to the Lord. He offered the first fruits of his meager crops to the prophet Elisha, and Elisha made good use of it right away. The man was afraid there wouldn’t be enough to go around, but God took what the man was giving out of love and gratitude and there was plenty to meet the peoples’ needs.

In the same way, the good news from John tells us about one small boy with five barley rolls and two dried fish he’d brought for his own lunch, the equivalent of today’s half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and no Oreos. This was a poor boy’s meager meal. We don’t have to do much imagining to recreate the scene by the lakeshore that day. Philip informs us clearly about the large crowds following Jesus that fresh spring day, just outside this rather new suburb of Jerusalem. He looks up and surveys the crowds and realizes it would take six-months’ wages to be able to feed them all.

Then, along comes Andrew. And, maybe in jest, he points to the boy in the crowd with his little, cloth-wrapped snack. Can’t you just hear it? Jesus asks how they’re going to feed all these people, and Andrew – with a snicker in his voice – jokingly recommends they’d have plenty, since there’s obviously food available. It’s just in the little boy’s pouch at the moment. Didn’t Jesus think five barley loaves and two little fish would be more than enough to go around?

But, Jesus calls his bluff. He accepts the offering of this poor child’s lunch and blesses it. He receives this offering, as little as it is, and uses it for his own purposes – to provide more than enough for anyone who comes to him. We know there was more than enough because after everyone had eaten their fill the disciples gathered 12 baskets full of the fragments left over. And the people were amazed!

Over one hundred years ago, a group of Slovak immigrants got together and formed this congregation. They took what they had – a love for God, a comfortable conversational language their ancestors had used for centuries in worship, their families and their meager offerings – and they dedicated them to God’s purposes. Within twenty years of this initiative, the small band dedicated its first church building in downtown Bridgeport. And, in just another decade the congregation built a new sanctuary to embrace its expanding congregation.

This growth in the congregation didn’t come easily, as far as money was concerned. But, the members gave generously from their own meager incomes, even through the depression years, and they worked hard to provide food and services to the community that generated more contributions to enable the proclamation of the gospel.

The people of God gathered in this place weren’t without their differences of opinion or occasional selfishness, but for the most part they kept their attention focused on bringing the good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ to as many people as wanted to hear it. They took their little lunch of five hard rolls and two fish and offered it to God. And, God used their offering and their own bodies and efforts to bring good news to thousands of eager ears over the past hundred years.

Today (Last evening), we witness(ed) yet another dedication to the Lord. Meghan Rhea is being (was) baptized, washed in the living waters of forgiveness, marked with the cross of Christ and sealed with the Holy Spirit forever. She is an inheritor of the kingdom of God along with us, her brothers and sisters in Christ. But, in addition, she’s an inheritor of a rich heritage of dedication to God’s purposes.

Paraphrasing the author of Ephesians, we pray for Meghan, “that according to the riches of God’s glory, she may be strengthened in her inner being with power through the Holy Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in her heart through faith, as she is being rooted and grounded in love. We pray that she may have the power to comprehend, with all of us, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that she may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:16-19)

We know that God has blessed Meghan’s family, from her great-grandfather, John, a former pastor of this congregation, and his loving wife, Doris; through her grandparents, Barbara and Tony, who carried the good news to a new generation; through her parents, Chris and Maggie who minister to us with their musical talents and through her big brother, Mark, who keeps us mindful of how little children lead the faithful. She is, indeed, an inheritor of a rich tradition of love and faith, and we pray she will continue to grow in that faith and proclaim it to yet more and more eager hearers.

You and I have a part in all this, too. Whenever we see another baby brought to the baptismal font, our hearts are touched and we think on that one with love and prayer. We get a warm feeling inside and begin to sense how much God’s love means to each one of us. And – even if just for a brief time – we realize how much God has blessed us.

We have another part to play in this drama of life and love and joy, too. Like the man from Baal-shalishah, who brought his twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain to offer to the Lord’s servant, Elisha, you and I are asked to bring our first fruits and offer them to the Lord. Like the poor boy with five hard rolls and two fish, you and I are asked to share our own possessions with those who need them.

We all have more than bread and grain and dried fish. We have more than half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We have Oreos, and ice cream, and meat. We have two shirts or more. We have coats and boots and hats and gloves and blankets when it’s cold. Many of us have air conditioning and a car or two. We have doctors and medical treatments available. We can all read. We have air to breathe, food to eat, shelter, transportation, family, friends and love to spare.

What are you willing to offer to the Lord today? Is it your time? Do you have a gift for listening, compassion, organization, teaching, singing, building, cleaning ... a talent God has given you that you can use for God’ s glory? Do you have enough income to provide for your needs, much less your wants? Think about the response you are currently making. Think about the response God is due in gratitude for our many blessings. What if we all offered our first fruits, our bag lunches, our time, our talents and our possessions?

Think of how our Lord could multiply what we offer so that the good news of God’s love for all in Jesus Christ could be made known beyond our little circle, beyond this building, beyond this town and into all the world. What are you waiting for? I challenge you to look at your many blessings and find a way to offer them to the Lord.

I know it seems like a difficult thing to do, to take what we consider to be barely enough and offer a little more, and we certainly aren’t asking anyone to disregard their need for medical care, food or shelter, but search your hearts and see if you can find a way to make sure God’s good news will continue to be proclaimed from this place.

You and I are inheritors of a tradition of working hard to make sure God’s good news is heard. We are inheritors of blessing on blessing through our Lord Jesus Christ. We are inheritors of the kingdom of God through our baptism in the Holy Spirit. We have SO much to be grateful for. We have plenty of plenty to go around and then some.

I’ve been looking over my own blessings, my own income, my own hours and talents and calling. And, while I may not yet be able to increase my financial support for the Lord’s work beyond, or even up to, ten percent at this time, I’m working on it. Each year I increase the amount I put into my offering envelope. I look for new ways to make myself available to serve God. I study scripture and question and share ideas with others. And, I’m not alone in this approach. I know many of you are doing exactly the same thing. I see you sharing your time visiting hospitalized friends, comforting those who mourn, and laughing with the children to help them know they’re loved.

You and I are wealthy beyond all counting. We have been blessed by the Lord God and called to make a difference in the world. We can offer ourselves, our time, our talents and our financial resources to Jesus and let him multiply them so that each one who seeks the Lord may be fed. God will take what we give out of love and gratitude and provide plenty to meet peoples’ needs. Our God is generous. Let’s follow our creator’s example. Amen