In
the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
The disciples hear of the compassion of
Christ and are aghast. Rational thought denies the possibility of providing
food to 4,000 men plus women and children, probably 12,000, or so, in all. So
much for using reason to determine the actions of God. Reason itself is a good
gift of God but when set against the clear Word of God it becomes the worst of
blasphemies. Forcing the Word of God to fit into our rational mind has led to
many, if not most, of the worst heresies of the Church.
It doesn’t make sense that Jesus’ has
two natures, human and divine, in one person. It doesn’t make sense that a
Virgin would conceive and bear the Son of God. It doesn’t make sense that the
Incarnate Body and Blood of Jesus is present on altars throughout the world. It
doesn’t make sense that God inspired human men to write the words of Scripture
without allowing sin to corrupt the words.[1] It doesn’t even make sense that Christ
has forgiven your sin and yet you still suffer the effects of sin on this side
of heaven.
Thanks be to God we are not called to
make sense of these things. Our rational minds react to these mysteries like
the disciples, “No one could do that! That’s not possible!” The eyes of faith,
enlightened by the Holy Spirit, the heart of flesh which has replaced our
hearts of stone—these react like the multitude, “I will take the cup of
salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord.[2] I will sit at the feet of my Lord and
receive all He will give me. If he should appoint me to die this day, I know it
is good for me because He has promised to give me all good things.” Even those
sitting in the second and third row must’ve seen the paltry loaves and fish
Christ was blessing, yet they react in faith, trusting that Christ would
provide for each of them.
Here you might ask, “If Christ is such
a gracious provider to His beloved Church, why are there Christians who suffer
lack? Why does God allow Christians throughout the world to suffer poverty and
hunger?” This is a fair question, and the answer is in three parts.
First, the Kingdom of Christ to which
He has called you and in which you have citizenship, is not a temporal kingdom.
A temporal kingdom is composed of the things of this world: house and home, wife
and children, land, animals, governments of man, and all we have. A spiritual
kingdom is founded composed of that which is eternal: God and man in both body
and soul.
Christ has founded a spiritual kingdom,
in which we seek and find eternal and divine possessions. This Kingdom is provided
for by the Word of God, the Sacraments, the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit.
This Kingdom lacks nothing. A Christian, baptized into the Triune Name of God,
has the entire Trinity at his disposal. He may call God his Father, Jesus his
Lord and brother, and the Holy Spirit his Counselor and Comforter. If you have
God, you lack nothing.
Even if the building is destroyed; even
if you cannot receive the Sacrament because all Pastors have been rounded up
and killed by the government; even if they take your life, goods, fame, child,
and wife, though these all be gone, you have God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
As such, you lack nothing. You have everything.
Christ would have us long for the
eternal gifts of His Kingdom rather than pine for the things of this world.
Temporal governments, rulers, fathers, and neighbors may provide or steal
temporal goods, but they can never take away the eternal provisions of God.
Secondly, Christ would have all
Christians exercise faith in all matters, temporal and eternal, in seeing that
all things, temporal and eternal, are provided by Him. See the hands of Christ
in your paycheck; in the calloused hands of the farmer providing your food; in
the hands of the workman who builds your house; and even in your own hands when
you change diapers, share a cup of coffee, or clean a neighbor’s house.
It is necessary that Christ provide not
only for the Spiritual Kingdom of His salvation, but also for the temporal
kingdom. The world continues to exist only because God provides for her. The
world and all who dwell in her, exist for the support of the Church. If all
Christians suddenly died, the world would end because there would be no reason
for God to sustain it. Of course, this is not a concern for us since Christ has
promised to return and gather the faithful to His breast.[3]
“But since the devil rules in the world
and he is the enemy of Christ and of His Church, and since [the Church does not]
seek the things of this world, they must suffer [temporal possessions] to be
taken out of their mouths, and [to be] robbed of [that] which belongs to them.
Here now Christ must help His Church and give where she suffers need and want,
that she may continue to exist, that it may be called miraculous giving; and
the Christians acknowledge that it is given by Him and that He shows forth
continually in His [Church] such special miracles [of daily bread], so that
they will have something to eat, drink, etc., even if the world gives nothing
and grants no favors; but takes from her, and is jealous and hateful because of
what God gives her.”[4]
So, when Christians are lacking, they
know that what they can never lose is eternal life. No matter how impoverished
a Christian is, he holds the entire world in his hand because Christ is with
him. And should his stomach growl for lack of food, it is to remind him of
things eternal.
Thirdly, Christians suffer lack in this
world so that others might show them love. The multitudes suffered lack of food
and the disciples were appointed to distribute the miraculous bread to them. Sometimes
the vocation of a Christian requires him to be the one who is served, to be the
object of another’s affection. This is a holy calling in life: to be the one to
receive the good works of others. We are called to share all good things,
holding all things in common. To serve one another, even when we believe the
resources to be lacking, is a blessed work of God and a loving service to our
neighbor.
Finally, we must see the Feeding of the Four Thousand as a blessed picture of the life of the Church. You walk through those doors every week, after seven long days of journeying in the wilderness. You are tired from the cares of this world; from your own sin, the sins of others, and temptation to sin. If you should continue on your journey alone, you would surely faint.
Yet Christ has compassion upon you. He
has called you to follow Him, to hear His voice. Each Sunday, He teaches you in
His Holy Word – the Introit, the Old Testament, the Gradual, the Epistle, and
especially in the Holy Gospel. He is speaking to you now in the words of this
sermon, through the lips of an imperfect vessel. When the teaching for the day
is done, He calls you to gather before Him. He takes bread, blesses it and
gives thanks, then breaks it and calls His servant to distribute it to you.
Your body and soul are then satisfied with the Living Bread from Heaven. On the
strength of this bread, you return to the way, the path of life in this world,
until that day when your journey on this side of heaven is complete and you
enter eternal life, where the feast will never end.
‘What Jesus does for the multitude, He
does today. At that time, He acted visibly while today He acts invisibly. Then,
He fed the body. Today, He feeds body and soul. At that time, He gave men
perishable bread. Today He gives you the Eternal, Living Bread from Heaven. We,
the Baptized, need the nourishment of Christ’s own Body and Blood to support us
on the journey through the wilderness of this life toward our heavenly
fatherland.’[5]
O give thanks to the LORD, for He is
good; and His mercy endureth forever.[6]
In
+ Jesus’ name. Amen.
[1]
This is a reference to the autographs of the original human authors of
Scripture. I recognize there have been errors in the transmission of the
written texts, however the Word of God is infallible and communicates the
entire truth of Scripture, even if minor errors have been made in transmission
of the text.
[2]
Psalm 116:13.
[3]
The section regarding the question of why Christ allows Christians to suffer
lack is based on Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, Vol 4, translated
and edited by John Nicholas Lenker (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1983), 220-222.
[4]
Luther, Sermons, 221-222.
[5]
Pius Parsch, The Church’s Year of Grace, Vol 4 (Collegeville, MN: The
Liturgical Press, 1964), 76-77.
[6]
The Benedicamus.
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