Matthew 14:13–21

¹³Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves." ¹⁶But Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." ¹⁷They said to him, "We have only five loaves here and two fish." ¹⁸And he said, "Bring them here to me." ¹⁹Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. ²¹And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

It's hard to decide who was more crazy; Jesus or his followers? This Gospel reading is full of people doing crazy things; things that make no sense, that defy logic, that go against common sense.

First of all we see the crowds of Jesus' followers. When Jesus went out into the wilderness they just followed him out there. That doesn't make any sense. The wilderness was an uninhabitable place. It was not fit for human habitation. No one would want to live there. Wilderness was synonymous with a place of wild beasts and scorpions. It meant a dry, hot place with a scorching sun. But the followers of Jesus just ran right out there without taking the dangers into account. They didn't stop to count the cost, or plan their trip. They didn't make preparations. They didn't even bother to take food. As long as Jesus was there, that was all that mattered. If Jesus were there, everything was OK. They didn't just follow him into the wilderness, they ran on ahead of him to get there first.

Why did these people do such a foolish and reckless thing? Because they had faith! They knew that no matter what the living conditions, if Jesus were there, everything was good. It wasn't poor planning. It wasn't bad administration. It was pure, simple faith! Faith that when Jesus commands, "Follow me," he will also provide the means to do what he commands. Even in the wilderness Jesus had compassion on the people and healed their sick.

Because God, "who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us, will graciously give us all things." God does not forsake or abandon those who seek to obey him; who seek his will and seek to do all that he commands. He does not abandon those whom he has claimed for himself in Baptism; to whom has given the gift of faith; those who "hear the word of the gospel and believe." Those who "are sealed with the Holy Spirit."

This is you, faithful followers of Jesus, because Jesus died for your sins. He died and paid the penalty for the times you have failed to do his will. He sacrificed his life on the cross for you. And his Holy Spirit calls, illumines, gathers you into the church and sanctifies you. And it is his Holy Spirit who makes you followers of Jesus and gives you the faith to go into the wilderness with him knowing that where He is everything is OK. The Holy Spirit gives you the faith to trust Jesus even in the wilderness of life with its dangers, with wild animals attacking. There is an enemy out there all right, prowling around like a lion, seeking to devour you. He seeks to tempt you to not trust Jesus. He is seeking to devour your faith with unbelief. He seeks to lead you into sin and unrepentance in order to snatch you away from Jesus. He seeks to keep you from studying the Bible so that your faith will die. That enemy is on your doorstep just waiting for you to step out so he can devour you.

But faith in Jesus means putting yourself in his hands, under his protection and trusting him to protect you from that raging lion. It means stepping out of the door and following Jesus into the wilderness knowing that whatever happens, Jesus is carrying you in his arms, protecting you from the enemy, and providing for your needs. With faith given to you by the Spirit of God, you can dare to follow Jesus, even when he leads you straight into the wilderness.

And that is exactly where the crowds found themselves—in the wilderness. They had made no provisions for their journey. They had no food. Night was falling upon them and it was supper time.

The disciples of Jesus, filled with the love of God, were concerned for the welfare of their neighbor. They were disciples. They were the chosen people of God, the forgiven people of faith, children of God. And because they are God's people, they love their neighbor, they have compassion on the hungry, they care for the homeless, they help the unemployed. Because they had faith, they prayed to Jesus and asked him to provide for the people by sending them into the villages to buy food. But Jesus had a another plan.

Now it was Jesus' turn to do something crazy. He told the disciples, "They don't need to go buy food, you feed them." Perhaps the heat was getting to him. There were over 5000 people there. It would take nothing less than a military operation to feed so many people.

But the disciples of Jesus didn't hesitate to obey. Oh, yes, they knew it couldn't be done, but if Jesus said do it, they would at least give it their all. If it didn't work at least they had been faithful and tried to carry out the Lord's commands. They were practical, common sense people. First they took inventory to see what resources they had available. It came out to fives loaves of bread and two fish. So they gave these to Jesus, because they were obedient followers. Still, in the back of their minds they didn't think it could be done. "We could only came up with these fives loaves and two fish," they lamented, "there's no way it will feed so many people."

They were practical. They were realists. They were not starry eyed idealists. They had been owners and managers of small businesses before they met Jesus. They knew how to inventory their assets, how to manage their resources, how to set and follow a budget. They had experience in project management. And this project simply could not be done on their wimpy resources. But that didn't stop them from obeying. They handed this paltry amount of food over to Jesus.

So often we find ourselves in the same situation. We don't have what it takes. We are too old. We are too full of aches and pains. We are too few in number. We are too poor. We don't have what it takes to get the job done. Our sparse resources just won't go very far. Our day has come and gone. We are weak, suffering, persecuted and, well, just admit it, we are too old. So, instead of trying, we just give up. We might as well throw in the towel. Why bother trying?

But then Jesus did something even crazier. He told the people to sit down and get ready to eat. Then he said grace, and gave the two fish and five loaves back to the disciples and said, "Here, take these fish and this bread and start passing it out." Again, they knew this would never work. There was a big obstacle; one giant hurdle they could not get over—there just wasn't enough food. So they had a meeting and decided unanimously to say "No!"... O,..No! Wait a minute! Wrong notes! That's not what they did! They were skeptical, all right. They had their doubts for sure. But they obeyed, nevertheless, and they did what he told them to do. They started passing out the two fish and five loaves, and when they got done passing them out, and everyone had eaten and was full, there were 12 baskets full of leftovers to boot! What happened?

Well, here's what happened: Jesus had blessed the bread. With the blessing of Jesus nothing is impossible! With the blessing of Jesus, meager resources become an abundance. With the blessing of Jesus, "I can do all things." When Jesus blesses my puny resources, my empty bank account, my tired, worn out, aching body, or my empty refrigerator, these weaknesses of mine become strengths. With Jesus, we can do more than what he commands us, for "God's power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, let us boast all the more of our weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon us." In Christ, we are strongest when we are weak.

And so Jesus commands his disciples, today, just as then: "Feed the people." This is the same as saying, "Love your neighbor, and help those who are in need." He says, "A new commandment I give unto you, that you love your neighbor as I have loved you." Because Jesus loved you and died for you and feeds you every Lord's Day with his word and Sacrament, you then love your neighbor, sacrifice for him, and feed him whatever his needs are. Feed them with the gospel of salvation. Feed them with the assurance of forgiveness. Feed them with the hope of eternal life. Feed them when they are hungry, when they are sick, when they are homeless, when they are poor. Have compassion on them, just as Jesus had compassion on you. Have mercy on the needy, the helpless, the weak, the unemployed, the orphan, the foster child, and the widow. Jesus tells you today, "feed the people." And that is exactly what Jesus' disciples do every day. "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me."

You may look at your gifts, your talents, your resources and say, "That's sure not going to do the job." You may not have the money, or the time, or the energy, or the strength. You may be too old and filled with aches and pains, but with Jesus' blessing, your weakness becomes God's strength. From your meager gifts, you will even have leftovers. It is through you, his church, his people, that Jesus continues to feed his people. He feeds you in the Sacrament of the Altar with his very own flesh and blood. Then, through you, He feeds those who are lost in their sin with your witness and invitation to church. He feeds the hungry and poor through the work of the church in the neighborhood. He feeds the homeless through your volunteerism. He feeds the hopeless through your encouragement. He feeds the crowds of lost, confused, lonely people through your meager resources and efforts, and there is still plenty left over.

Now someone will surely say to me, "But, God gave us brains to use. We must first figure out if we can do it, and then decide." Well, that's true in the earthly realm, in the kingdom God's left hand. If you want to expand your business, or buy a new home, or take a vacation, yes, he gave you brains to sit down and figure if you can afford it or not. However, this does not apply to your relationship with God. Faith will never make sense to the brain that God gave you. That's why it is faith. When it comes to obedience to his commands, God doesn't even bother to test you with things that make sense. When Abraham left his home and followed God to "who-knows-where?" that didn't make sense. When Abraham and Sarah were both too old to sire children, it didn't make sense that he would have a baby. It didn't makes sense to sacrifice his son to God. It didn't make sense for Peter to step out onto the water in a storm and walk over to Jesus. When it comes to obeying or not obeying God, saying that we have to use our brains to figure out if we can do it or not is nothing but an excuse for disobedience. It is the sign that your faith is lacking and your love is cold. It is when we lack faith; when we lack obedience; when we lack love for our neighbor; when we are so proud that we rely on our own brains that God does cannot bless us. It is because we do not have faith that we, like the steward with one talent whose brains told him to keep it safe and preserve it well, that we hide our talent in the ground instead of using it for God's kingdom. Of such a servant Jesus says, "Cast him out into outer darkness."

But Jesus, having made us his children in Baptism, continues to feed us today. Just as he fed thousands with two fish and five loaves, he feeds you with his own flesh and blood so that by eating this bread of life we may have eternal life, and by drinking from this fountain of grace, we may live in God's house forever. And just as Jesus multiplied the two fish and five loaves, so he will multiply your blessings too when you reach out to others in love.

Amen.