12B Behind the Scenes of Feeding of 5000 John 6:1-21 July 28, 2024, Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Little Rock, Joanna Seibert
Once, I took a six-month sabbatical from my medical practice at Children’s Hospital, planning an international meeting for my specialty. The meeting went well, but few people knew about the many behind-the-scenes events that made it happen. The conference was in Colorado Springs in early May. As the meeting began, I looked/ in disbelief /out a window and saw a heavy snowfall/ on the spring tulips. Quickly, overnight, we changed the planned golf and tennis events to winter sports. We taped the speakers after their session, as this was the first year of our specialty’s re-certification. I casually asked another pediatric radiologist, Marilyn Goske, to look in on the taping. Marilyn ended up never attending the meeting sessions, spending time with one speaker, never satisfied with his recording, who redid his talk five times. Perhaps the most innovative behind-the-scenes event was the spontaneous, impromptu marriage of two pediatric radiologists who lived continents apart. Our “yes, we can do it” meeting planner set up the ceremony in less than twenty-four hours. That wedding stands as the only nuptial event at this annual conference to date! ////
John’s telling of the feeding of the 5000 also lets us in at a rare/ behind-the-scenes look at how miracles take place.1 A large crowd follows Jesus as he heals the sick. Jesus goes up a mountain and sits down with his disciples. Unlike in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), JESUS, /not the disciples,/ initiates a discussion about how to feed the now-hungry multitude. Phillip is practical and realistic, does the math, and sees no possible plan. Andrew, resourceful and observant, reports that a boy offers five barley loaves and two fish. However, Andrew, known for bringing people to Jesus, like this boy, his brother Peter, and later some Greeks,/ min/i/miz/es the possibility that this plan will work. Jesus then asks the disciples to have the crowd sit in a grassy area. He takes the barley loaves, the bread of the poor, and the fish, offers thanksgiving, and then Jesus distributes the food./ In the synoptic gospels, the disciples hand out the food. John reiterates that Jesus is always the giver, even if the gift is mediated through us./
After the people are satisfied, Jesus asks the disciples to gather the fragments so “nothing may be lost.” They fill twelve baskets. The people are so astonished that they want to make Jesus king, but he withdraws up the mountain by himself. Jesus knows well that being king of the Jewish people is not his calling. He comes to teach us about a different kingdom.//
So much of this miracle, the movement of the Spirit, happens behind the scenes in this story/ and in our everyday lives. We witness Jesus’ resourcefulness bursting open our notion of limits and possibilities in our lives, work, callings, and relationships,/ possibilities we have missed in our shortsightedness. Here is a story of resourcefulness and generosity, using what we have, our small gift, that can have a significant impact. It is about having faith that God’s power is operational and overabundant. Andrew and Phillip especially remind us of the times we minimize how God works in our lives. Sometimes, our gifts are ready to be used, but we wait until we might be even more prepared. The enemy of good is perfection! That desire for perfection turns into a miserable, isolating, never-ending addiction. This story also reminds us how Jesus cares for our physical needs as much as our spiritual concerns. Jesus cares for the whole person. This is why the Benedictine rule of life is so vital for us to consider: time for prayer, study, eating, sleeping, working, and recreation.
Jesus doesn’t meet the minimum requirements for feeding the 5000. He lavishes food on them until they are satisfied, and then gathers the leftovers to take to those not there. There should be no waste. Jesus does not want anyone to be left out. The story is not just about abundance, but an overwhelming cup full,/ running over.//
Do you remember when Jesus asked Saint Mark’s, “How will you feed the hungry crowd?” There had been a capital campaign where money was left over. The Spirit moves the people of Saint Mark’s to remember the miracle of that abundance. They put that money into an outreach account, with part going to outreach and the other to Mustard Seed start-up grants for new outreach projects. We all know the story. Here comes another behind-the-scenes miracle. At about that time in 2016, another church on Mississippi cannot sustain its food pantry and asks if Saint Mark’s can support it. There are discussions similar to Phillip’s that Saint Mark’s might not take in enough money to support it, and Andrew’s that the proposed food pantry’s needs might exceed their allotted amount. Established ministries may have to share space. How will people needing food impact the day school? But again, somehow, there is another miracle. One person speaks up, saying, “Saint Mark’s needs this ministry. I hope we can find a way to work together to say yes.” The whole direction changes. The Holy Spirit takes over and turns a food pantry serving 500 people and 90 families monthly into a large-scale weekly food ministry to our neighbors that this May serves 3000 people and 650 families, with a continued yearly increase in people served. In the meantime, another behind-the-scenes miracle. Long-time members of Saint Mark’s, Gladys Beal, a VA operating nurse, and her husband leave money in their will to renovate the youth area and enlarge the food pantry to its present state. Need and abundance that keeps on growing. Thank you to so many who make the core value of Saint Mark’s identity a place of miracles and abundance.////
Lastly, in this feeding story, Jesus embraces a child’s extravagant generosity,/ reminiscent of a child offering to help their parents buy a new house by offering up their piggy bank. This takes us back to another behind-the-scene story at our Colorado Springs meeting. We engaged the nearby Air Force Academy chorus to sing at our banquet, but overnight, they go on maneuvers. Our meeting planner again responds, “We can make this work,” and books a local children’s chorus. I am distressed,/ thinking they will be amateurish. But they are amazing professional voices, leaving the audience in tears. As the children conclude the program, they go to each pediatric physician, sing directly to them, and give them a gentle hug and a thank you. The children bring to each person that source of abundant love we so often learn from the young. ///
Today’s final adventure with the disciples finds them in a storm in the Sea of Galilee. Jesus walks on the water toward them. They are terrified and initially cannot recognize him. Jesus speaks one of his favorite lines, “It is I, do not be afraid,” and “The boat reaches land where they were going.” This is how Jesus works when we are in difficult situations. He walks in “behind the scenes.” Often, we do not recognize his presence. Finally, when we do, we come to a safe harbor. When we lose our capacity to wonder, we become skeptical about the extraordinary and miss the extraordinary within the ordinary. The miracle in this last story is that Christ’s presence in ordinary, fearful people can calm their anxieties and cause them to walk where they feared to walk before. I believe Christ was present in that person at Saint Mark’s,/ you know who you are, /who finally speaks up and says, “Saint Mark’s needs this ministry. I hope we can find a way to say yes.”/
May each of us say our prayers and stay connected to the Christ, the Holy Spirit within us. May we be that person at Saint Mark’s who has experienced abundance and love, who can speak truth at the right moment,/ often behind the scenes, and says, “Saint Mark’s needs this ministry. I hope we can find a way/ to reach out of ourselves/ and support/ the needs of our community around us and in the world.”
1Jean Greenwood in Feasting on the Gospels ( Westminster John Knox Press 2015), pp.10-174.
Joanna Seibert