When I was in North Dakota, I served a church that wasn't known for its potlucks. For most churches, a potluck was a chance to shine about your cooking skills and set aside one of the seven sins, which is gluttony. In this congregation, they brought meager portions and didn't put a lot of energy or thought into what was made or served. Just eat it, clean up, and go home. It wasn't until one of the newer members started bringing pickled sardines to the potluck that people started to feel a little guilty about the meager or poor portions that they brought. Some started stepping up their cooking game and soon everyone was bringing their best. You can almost always go home from a potluck with more than you come with, if you bring a couple of extra containers and know the right people who don't want to deal with the leftovers. Because everyone, almost always, brings more food than than they and their family can consume.
I am a Lord of the Rings geek, having read the entire series at the least 3 times and seen the movies multiple times over that. There is the one scene in which the Steward of Gondor, Denethor, (I had to look this up), refuses to acknowledge that his city is being invaded and while there are those outside the palace walls fighting for their lives, they cut to the scene of his gluttony over a feast fit for a king. The camera gets in real close and shows Denethor biting into a cherry tomato that squirts out its juice in contrast to a soldier being stabbed and a spray of blood. I tell this story because the story before this, the one that Jesus heard, was of King Herod and the beheading of John the Baptist. Just a quick re-cap, Herod threw a feast, the daughter of this wife Heriodias (probably not his child) danced so well he promised her anything she asked that she, on the consultation with her mother, asked for the head of John the Baptist that was brought to Herod on a platter during the banquet.
If we are to take the story of the Gospel of Luke to be true, then John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin and though they didn't grow up together, they probably hung out when the families got together and during times such as the Passover when all of Israel went to Jerusalem. So Jesus, upon hearing that his cousin was killed, grieved not for himself, and for the people of Judah, but also for his family, sharing their heartbreak, sought to be alone and have time to grieve. Unfortunately, the crowds got wind of where he was going and followed him there. Actually it says that they beat him there overland. Maybe he did get some time of rest out on the boat, out on the water. Being out there on the water often refreshes me, away from it all. Does that happen to you? Anyway, there the crowds were, the people in need, the people in trouble, the people who moved Jesus to compassion and started healing them, probably telling stories, listening to them, and bringing hope. He was taking his time, maybe even sharing the story of his own grief with a few or maybe all as the crowds probably also went out to be baptized by John the Baptist.
After a while, the disciples started looking at the sundials, the sun getting closer to the horizon and also had compassion for the crowds and their stomachs and wanted to send them away so they could get something to eat. It is interesting here that they weren't to be sent home, but just to places where they could buy something to eat. Imagine working at one of the local restaurants and having 5,000 people show up for the dinner hour. So many were too far to make it home before dark. And then Jesus tells them to give them something to eat, they do a quick check and find five fish and two loaves, barely enough to feed the twelve disciples, Jesus, and their followers, much less the crowds. However, it is also hard to imagine that if people were far from their homes, they wouldn't bring something to eat. For whatever reason, the story goes that Jesus orders them to sit in groups and then blesses what the disciples have and then feed the 5,000 men, in addition to the women and children. All were filled with baskets of food left over.
From what I understand of eating habits back then, which isn't too much, is that those of nobility or rich people in that day would eat to their hearts content and then the servants would be able to pick through the leftovers once the masters have left. It is about control over the food, and the standing of who deserved to be fed and who were lucky to be fed. So, taking this banquet of Herod, full of rich food, drink, and entertainment, probably over several days and contrasting it to Jesus being out in the wilderness and yet bringing abundance not just to feed the men with women and children getting scraps, but everyone getting enough shows exactly the heart of Christ and the heart of the community that wrote and revered the Gospel of Matthew, which a few chapters later tells the story of those who helped the least of these, has helped Christ himself.
In our debates, conversations, and politics of today, I stand pretty confidently that Jesus would be on the side for programs such as SNAP, for student loan forgiveness, and for ending tax breaks for the rich. As he took the time to heal everyone with pre-existing conditions, I say that Jesus is for universal health care in our society and world today. It would be good if we could just bless the food until all have enough. It is good for we already do produce enough food to feed everyone already, so we just need to make sure all can eat of our abundance. It would be good if all we had to do was pray, lay on hands, make mud with our spit and cure all infirmities and diseases, but we can save millions of lives and give comfort for what we do have and the knowledge of our healers if they just had access to our doctors and medicines without becoming bankrupt. What does Jesus say? "They do not need to go away, you give them something to eat." We do have enough in our society, in our country, and in our world, for God is a God of abundance, not scarcity. We are to give to those in need, and give them our best, not poorly made stuff or meager portions. There is always enough, and more.
Amen
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