Sermon for 9th Pentecost
Fishes and Loaves and Goats
By The Rev. Eric Christopher Shafer -
As we pulled into their compound, we were greeted by Margaret Nakoto Lubyayi, the group’s chairwoman. She was wearing a long blue dress with a gold belt and with her hair pulled up and tied in a matching blue ribbon. Margaret took us to their office and told us of the work they do. With our hunger appeal funds, they had just purchased their first computer and she showed it off proudly for us. Now they could track their association and its budget and the growth of their many projects.
Then Margaret got into the van with us and we drove another hour or so, this time to a site, owned by a Ugandan king, next to Lake Victoria. There 50 – 60 women were waiting for us, all dressed exactly as Margaret was, in what we later found was the Katosi Women’s Fishing & Development Association uniform.
The women sang and danced and gave us refreshments. They told us their new education programs and health and hygiene classes and how latrines and clean water had improved and lengthened their lives and the lives of everyone in their village. There are even some embarrassing photos of their attempts to get me to dance with them, or, should I say, my embarrassing attempts to dance with them.
So successful has their association been, that, along with their goat and cow breeding and sharing, the women have now formed four additional women’s associations, since they did not want each group to become larger than 50 – 60 women. In each association, each member contributes their monthly dues, each member gets a goat and a cow, and each member uses these animals for food and financial independence. Now five villages have similar organizations and are building more latrines and starting more loan programs and sponsoring health and hygiene classes. Of course, only the Katosi women have the blue dresses, the other groups must choose another color.
And all this started because some strong women would not take NO for an answer when they wanted to fish in Lake Victoria. And, all this started because you and I contribute to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal which used our funds, through Lutheran World Relief, to support the work of the Katosi Women’s Fishing & Development Association.
“And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.”
Jesus replies, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat."
If you and I had been there, we probably also would have been distressed by Jesus’ response, "you give them something to eat." If we think about what Jesus said, it really made no sense. "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish" – in this situation, a feeling of scarcity is a very natural thing.
At that critical moment Jesus does something that is not natural, something that is quite miraculous.
With the help of his disciples, Jesus orders the crowd to take a seat in the grass. Taking the five loaves and two fish, he looks up to heaven, blesses and breaks the loaves. Fish and bread are distributed, and suddenly there are more fillets and loaves than were there before.
The crowd numbers five thousand men, with women and children besides. Yet all eat and are filled. They collect what is left over, and there are twelve baskets full of broken pieces, far more than Jesus started with.
What really happened that day? I know a true miracle happened, a miracle of sharing and abundance. Scholars have long debated what exactly happened that day, was there an almost magical miracle of the fish and bread multiplying or was it more of a miracle of sharing among those gathered. I have very little interest in that debate.
What I do know is that Jesus changed a situation of scarcity into one of plenty, one of abundance, just like he can and does for every one of us every day. As Christians, we can live amid God’s abundant love for us, no matter what our physical surroundings or situation indicates. Thus, we have a choice – to live in scarcity or to live in abundance.
We, you and I, have a choice to live lives of scarcity or to live lives of abundance. If we live in scarcity, we live in fear – fear for ourselves, our families, our congregation, our community. Will we have enough to eat, a safe place to stay, our health, a job? There is a lot of which to be fearful.
Jesus offers us a different life, a life of abundance and plenty, not scarcity. When we live in Jesus’ love, we can live in the confidence of that love, in the safety of God’s love. And in that confidence and safety, we can live lives of abundance, whether we are rich or poor, no matter what our physical situation is.
The women of the Katosi Women’s Fishing & Development Association told us the day we visited that their association with the Lutheran Church brings them respect in their community. Their Christian faith also helps them understand scarsity and abundance. These women had every reason to assume scarcity – they were poor, powerless and uneducated. However, because they knew God’s love for them, they assumed God’s abundance, that, with their efforts, God would provide for them. And now they have extra income, a goat and cow for each home, a bathroom and are educating themselves in health and hygiene and so much more.
As I reflected again this week on the women of the Katosi Women’s Fishing & Development Association and their great success, I thought again of how theirs is a miracle about the abundance of God’s love for us, just like Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000.
The Rev. Eric Christopher Shafer
Senior Pastor - Mt. Olive Lutheran Church
Santa Monica, California
Aug 6, 2017