8th Sunday after Pentecost.
You know, I hate it when this kind of thing happens. You’ve heard me say before, and I’m sure that I’ll say it again, that when reading the Bible, context is critical. And that’s why it always rankles me a bit when the planners of the Revised Common Lectionary, engage in some nipping and tucking. You’ll notice that the appointed reading for today is one such instance: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56. They just conveniently drop 19 verses. And those 19 verses are not inconsequential. They comprise the feeding of the 5,000! You have to wonder at what the thinking was, which drove such a decision. I mean, c’mon, if there’s a quintessential Jesus story it’s the feeding of the multitudes that we read about in all four of the gospels. Not only that: its absence seriously detracts from what we do read today, especially in light of last week’s reading.
In case you missed it last week, we had the story of the beheading of John the Baptizer.
6Then [Jesus] went about among the villages teaching. 7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10 He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13 They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
17 For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because Herod had married her. 18 For John had been telling Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. 21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. 22 When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it." 23 And he solemnly swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom." 24 She went out and said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" She replied, "The head of John the baptizer." 25 Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." 26 The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
30The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.
33Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 35 When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; 36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat." 37 But he answered them, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?" 38 And he said to them, "How many loaves have you? Go and see." When they had found out, they said, "Five, and two fish." 39 Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And all ate and were filled; 43 and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.
45Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47 When evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea. He intended to pass them by. 49 But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid." 51 Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. 54 When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, 55 and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
It’s important to hear all of that, because of what Mark is doing here. Taken by itself, the story of John the baptizer’s execution at the hands of Herod is kind of odd and sticks out like a sore thumb, because it seems like it’s just sort of plunked down there with no real thought given to it.
But let’s not forget that Mark is a skilled story-teller and that, as with any good author, there is a purpose in how he structures his narrative. The story of John’s execution is not to be read as a stand-alone story. It immediately precedes the story of the disciples’ excited return from their mission trip, where they taught, healed, and cast out demons. We then have two mass feedings. Two because first Jesus feeds them the word, and then he feeds them with bread and fish. Then Jesus miraculously walks across the water, and then we have mass healings.
Compare that to the story about Herod. The contrast couldn’t be more stark. Remember that throughout Israel’s history, the Shepherd served as a metaphor for the King. And what does it say near the beginning of the appointed text for today? “34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.”
Look at that structure: The story of the degenerate king, Herod, and then Mark’s commentary “…and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd”. And Jesus the Good Shepherd, does what a good shepherd, i.e. A good king, does: He feeds them, he comforts them, and he binds up their wounds. And notice how the people continually follow him from one place to another, like, well, like sheep following their shepherd.
Herod literally has whatever he wants at his fingertips. (So long as he doesn’t fall out of favor with Rome). But what does he do with that tremendous wealth? Absolutely nothing. He keeps it all for himself. And kills an innocent John, to boot.
Jesus and the disciples have next to nothing. And what do they do? The feed the hungry and they heal and comfort the sick. Those who have nothing become the embodiment of the abundance of the Kingdom of Heaven. And in doing so, they subvert the powers of the world.
Herod rules as the world rules. The world rules by fear. And it fosters and encourages that same fear in us. And when we live in fear, we live out of a spirit of scarcity. And nothing could be more counter to the spirit of the Gospel, than a spirit of scarcity. Scarcity tells us to horde it up for ourselves, ‘cause you never know when you might run out or when the Zombie Apocalypse might strike! The Gospel tells us to give it away. Thomas Hobbes was directly channeling the world and the spirit of scarcity and the fear of emptiness when he said that life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”. The Gospel tells us that life is abundant, rich, communal, grace-filled and blessed.
In doing what he does, Jesus subverts the order of the world. He upends the status quo. The healings that Jesus performs after the second sea crossing in today's text point to how the kingdom of God upends the economy of this world; the economy of scarcity. When Jesus and his apostles land, the people go throughout "the whole region," bringing the sick to wherever Jesus is. "And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, … and all who touched [the fringe of Jesus's cloak] were healed" (Mark 6:56). The word translated "marketplace," agora, refers to a public space in which legal hearings, elections, and debates took place, in addition to the buying and selling of goods. So, this wasn’t the Mt. Airy farmer’s market. The marketplace was the political and commercial center of a city or town. By healing the sick, the weakest and most vulnerable members of a community, in this space, Jesus is subverting the economy of this world by replacing it with God's kingdom economy. While the marketplaces of the world belong to the rich and powerful, in the kingdom of God this most political and commercial of spaces is occupied by those with the least.
Jesus and his disciples respond to the needs of the throngs coming to them. Seeing the crowds and their manifold unmet needs, Jesus has compassion on them. He puts his plans for rest temporarily on hold and goes out to them, healing, curing, feeding, and teaching all who are in need. But what about you? What’s your need? What do you need to feel whole, to be happy, to lead fulfilling lives, to make a difference in the world, to feel like you belong and have a place to call your own?
I think one of the biggest factors in the crisis in church membership and attendance is simply that we counted for far too long on people showing up to worship out of a sense of duty and obligation. It’s an attitude once supported not only by the church but also by the larger culture. Politicians from Benjamin Franklin to Dwight David Eisenhower urged people to go to church – any church – because they felt that church attendance made better citizens. But that cultural support has withered. It’s not that the vast majority of people are openly hostile to church. They simply don’t consider it a particularly compelling option on Sunday morning. We need to shift the conversation from coming to church out of a sense of duty to one of coming out of sense of delight, and desire, and anticipation. But that will only happen if we’re clear and honest about what we need, both as individuals and as a community, in order to flourish and be the people God has called us to be.
In the story from Mark, the needs are clear: People who are sick want to be healed. People who are hungry want to be fed. And those needs are in abundance all around us. And we play an active role in meeting those very concrete needs. But there are also some less tangible needs at play in Mark’s story. Jesus first responds to the crowds because they seem lost, like “sheep without a shepherd.” In that instance he doesn’t cure or feed but instead reaches out and meets them, teaching and preaching and opening up to them the power and possibility of life in God’s kingdom.
In order to discover the power and possibility of life in God’s kingdom, we need to be willing to ask two questions. First, what do you need – not just want, but really need? What would you change in order to fill that need? We often have more than we realize. In fact, our confusion of wants (often, media-induced wants) versus needs regularly contributes to our problem. In other words, it’s hard to pursue what you need, if you’re always chasing some false want nurtured by a consumer culture with an induced scarcity mentality at its core.
Second, how can the church help you live a more abundant life? Because that’s what I’m talking about: abundance. Not just happiness, or belonging, or a sense of purpose, but something bigger that includes all these things but also includes justice and peace and community.
In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus calls this the kingdom of God. In John, he often describes it as abundant life. Whatever you call it, we all want it. We all sense something more is out there for us, and we’d all desperately like some help in living into the kingdom world of more abundant, rich, communal, grace-filled and blessed life that Jesus offers.
It’s time to set aside fear and division. It’s time for peace and reconciliation. And as Ephesians makes clear, the work has already been done for us. 14For [Christ] is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. 17So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.
That sense that there’s something more to life? The answer is right here, right in front of us. We have only to accept it and embrace it and embody it. AMEN