Sermon for 9th Pentecost
Give Them Something To Eat
By Samantha LaDue -
Brene Brown is a sociologist, a research professor at the University of Houston. She’s a prolific writer and speaker. I really value her work, which repeatedly points to the importance of achieving human connection as a means to living well. Part of her current biography says “I believe that you have to walk through vulnerability to get to courage, and therefore . . . embrace the suck. I try to be grateful every day and my motto right now is “Courage over comfort.”
Brene’s work focuses on understanding how fear, shame, trauma, and various ideologies (all concepts that we’re socialized to play a role in) leave us exposed to the very worst pain of all: loneliness and disconnection. I often find myself reading Brene’s studies, hypothesis, and conclusions, and thinking about how frequently they reflect the truths we Christians encounter in the New Testament. This quote in particular stood out to me, this week:
“Worrying about scarcity is our culture’s version of post-traumatic stress. It happens when we’ve been through too much, and rather than coming together to heal (which requires vulnerability) we’re angry and scared and at each other’s throats.”
The Gospel today doesn’t specifically name Jesus’ or the disciples’ feelings. We know that Jesus had just heard the cruel story of John the Baptist’s beheading. We know that in response he withdrew from his community—the disciples, and others, by going in a boat to a deserted place. So, in Brene’s words, this sucks and Jesus is embracing it.
Tensions between Jesus and other authorities have been rising. In prior chapters of Matthew, we see controversies over the Sabbath and Jesus’ power. Perhaps people’s natural curiosity led them to leave their homes and go to the water. Maybe these people were speculating and gossiping along the way, wondering if there would be a big response to John the Baptist’s unjust death. Or, maybe they too were feeling the suck, and wanted to go to a deserted place as well.
Eventually, Jesus returns to the shore and re-connects to his community. We are told that he has compassion for them, and heals the sick. Isn’t it curious that after actions that most of us would identify as indicators of deep grief and pain over death and loss, Jesus joins others in a deserted place (deserted places often symbolize the space where God reveals themself!)—and together there is healing. This sounds like courage, to me.
That’s a really beautiful story, all by itself, isn’t it?
But, it doesn’t stop there. Now, we get a twist in the story: Our friends, the well-meaning group of partners in biblical shenanigans, also known as the Disciples, show up.
“Hey, uh, Jesus—this crowd is huge, and we’re probably already on some kind of hit list seeing as how everyone knows that you were friendly with John the Baptist, so uh… let’s avoid the potential bad press here, and send these nice but needy folks off to take care of themselves-- because we can’t and we don’t want to be liable for this.”
Well, that seems socially responsible on the surface. They’re thinking with strategy and care for themselves as well as this crowd out here in the deserted place by the water. Yet- Jesus doesn’t respond by saying “Ok- that makes complete sense, guys. Thanks for looking at the bigger picture here. Good critical thinking, let’s do something about this.” Instead, he responds with “Excuse? They don’t need to go. YOU need to give them something to eat.”
And their knee-jerk response? “we have nothing…except for this food, right here.” --- did you just hear the record scratch? It’s suddenly silent. They just said they have nothing, except for the food they have right there.
You’ve got to ask yourself at this point, was the Disciples assessment and request to send people away actually about care for others, or was it grounded in a combination of fear and scarcity mindset as a result of failing to connect and heal?
Brene Brown’s work often talks about feeling pain, rather than spreading it. Her research repeatedly demonstrates that the only way to connection is having the courage to go to the deserted place and do our individual work, to stand strong in who we are and then come together, so that we can connect and heal.
Who’s feeling the pain in this scene, and who is inadvertently spreading it? Who’s entering the deserted place (on more than a superficial level), embracing the suck, and gathering courage to go forth and engage in healing rather than hanging on to fear and a scarcity mindset?
Is this story actually about feeding 5000 people, or is it about the domino effect of what happens when we avoid our proverbial boats and deserted places. Is this story really about Jesus feeding 5000 when, what Jesus said was, “YOU give them something to eat.”
Every person on earth is God’s loving spirit embodied. Jesus is a roadmap for how that manifests in human form. The miracle here is that our individual mustard-seed-size choice to go to the deserted place provides us with the courage to
listen and hear God’s voice,
escape the scarcity mindset,
see the immense abundance we have to share,
stop laboring for that which doesn’t satisfy,
speak truth in Christ,
and—
give them something to eat.
Samantha LaDue
Candidate for rostered ministry with
the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.
Sermon for:
August 2, 2020
