Abundance and welcome

‘… he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him’. (John 6:5)

John 6:1-15 (Year B: Trinity+8)

Just imagine being at a concert where you are among thousands seated to hear a band or a speaker.  Free food is being handed out. No questions. No front rows and back rows. No vouchers and no limits. No distinction of race, social class or ethnic belonging. And no ‘religion’ as we normally understand and apply the term. Just ‘imagine’ as the title and saying goes in that famous song by pop star John Lennon.  In short, we might imagine a world free of fighting, rivalry and distrust where there is an abundance of what is essential.

And this is the Kingdom of God on earth and beyond our earthly imaginings.

We are so accustomed to an idea of reality based on scarcity of means, infinity of objectives and hard choices to meet at least some of these objectives. The paradox of modern living is that as some of us acquire more and more by way of material goods, conveniences and options for communication and travel the more we fret and worry over the distribution of spoils.  The mentality of scarcity, non-affordability and general angst over the future takes over. 

The kingdom of heaven turns this mentality on its head by declaring that there is an abundance if we are prepared to take baby steps in trust.

The story moves along from searching for Jesus to sitting down together to eating together to being taught.

Eating together has a profound significance that is often missed in 21st century Western cultures. In many places and times, the act of sharing a meal has more than functional relevance. It is a time of renewal, friendship and conversation.  In some mysterious way it is a rite of passage as we move from day to the next and from one phase of life to another. The ‘last supper’ taken on the eve of Jesus’ execution was the first of many suppers in which he would continue to share his bread with his friends. Again and again meals are a sign of something living and continuous in the life of Jesus and his disciples. The various miracle meal stories to be found in all four Gospels including chapter 6 of St John tell of a time of renewal, friendship, teaching and joy. In some sense the reality of sharing a meal hints at sacrifice past or in the future.

We celebrate together what has been and what is to come. (Not only is a funeral the central social ritual in Irish culture but the meal that follows – even if it is only soup and sandwiches – is  part of the ritual).

John more than hints at a link to the early Eucharist when he writes, in verse 4, that the Passover was near.

Is this passage about the Eucharist as we have received it in Christian tradition?

It is.

Clearly, it echoes something from the witness of Jesus and the understanding of the early Christian community in which John was written. But the Eucharist as we have received it is, at the same time, about what we hear and see in John 6. There a bigger picture, here, than the particular tradition in which we have received the sign of bread and fish multiplied.  It is the reality of an outrageously over-generous and inclusive God who feeds everyone who comes to be fed and restored. The dispensers of this food are the keepers and messengers but they do not own the message and the bread and do not control, ultimately, who gets to eat and stay. In modern day terms, such a festival of sharing in the divine banquet might leave us shocked and perplexed at who turns up to be fed as well as who doesn’t turn up because they find the whole business unsavoury and scandalous.

Sensitivity to the rich Hebrew and ancient scriptural traditions of Jesus’ time is useful as a way of understanding what was going on here. In 2 Kings 4:42-44, the prophet Elisha is involved in another miracle of loaves.  Again, we see a stretching of faith and possibilities when we allow our meagre resources to be used by God in ways that surpass our wildest expectations and dreams.  The ‘little lad’ who had the five humble barley loaves and 2 fish (in other words the common diet of common people in Jesus’ time) played a key role in making it possible for a doubting band of apostles to distribute God’s bounty.  Entrusting our cause even to those of limited means and standing in the community could open doors and possibilities for God’s miraculous everyday work.

There are strong hints of a great new prophet – like Moses - sitting down on raised ground to teach God’s people.

The bread that comes down from heaven is no mere ordinary bread. Something transforming is happening in this story and it is beautifully summarised in the very ancient writing of the 2nd century Didaché (9):

Just as the broken bread was scattered here and there over the hills and when gathered became one, so now, may your Church be gathered in your Kingdom from the ends of the earth.

And so, at this feast, there is a distribution of the goods without limit to everyone who is in need and as much or as little as they need. Nothing is left to waste as the fragments are gathered up (note that they tidied up after themselves at the picnic!). There is no evidence of preferential treatment or front row pews for some with an offer of extras for these. It is a radical egalitarian meal of equals characterised by God’s fathomless generosity.  In a way the story is a model of how we should live out the Eucharist in today’s world. It is far from the fractious abuse of the Eucharist described briefly by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:17-22. But, alas, in the 21^st century the Eucharist is still a battleground among those who seek to control access and exclude dissenters and those who do not conform to a particular theology or set of preferences. We would do well to pause and ask ourselves who is the chief Host at this feast (pun intended!) and who is any one of us to decide that we are more worthy or deserving or needy than any one else?

The heavenly banquet has already begun and the lame, the wounded, the sinful, the unsure, the tormented, the hurt, the broken, the needy are all invited. Go out and let this be known. To conclude let us consider the uncensored words of John Lennon who sought for something beyond this world and is now somewhere in another world:

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one