Matt. 14:13-21
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
It is so good to be with you Holy Trinity, Ephrata and friends for this 80th anniversary—80 years of memories, of faithful Word and Sacrament ministry, of passing on the Lutheran Christian faith to the next generation, of sharing the love of Jesus Christ with your neighbors in Ephrata and across the globe. Today we rejoice that through so much, ministry and this expression of the Body of Christ continue. I trust, knowing this congregation, that on your 80th anniversary, you are looking ahead to the next chapter, entrusting this congregation to the triune God who has accompanied you for so long, committing to sharing that same life-giving good news of Jesus Christ.
So now, let’s turn to this feast of a gospel for this celebratory day. There are two details in this story that I absolutely love, and think are so crucial for our lives today. First, Jesus cares about actual bodies. This is an important reminder to us now as we spend more and more time online, as the wealth gap continues to grow and people struggle with food and housing security, as what some have called the loneliness pandemic persists. Today we think about friends and neighbors who are hosting evacuated bodies due to the wildfires impacting Spokane and our entire synod.
At the same time, we celebrate that through the power of the Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity Lutheran in Ephrata has, like Jesus, remembered that humans are embodied. Whether it was the Holy Communion Table, Hosanna Preschool, OMNY, or a funeral luncheon, this expression of the church as fed embodied people with actual bread.
The larger church body to which we belong, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has a social statement titled, “A Message on People Living with Disabilities.” It states, “This church believes that God, as creator and sustainer, intends that society regard all people as of equal worth and make it possible for all—those without and those with disabilities—to participate freely and fully as members of society in all important aspects of common life.”
When Jesus cured the sick and facilitated the feeding of the 5,000, he said with his actions that physical bodies matter to God. Of course, mercy, forgiveness, and love matter and he wanted people to be emotionally and mentally and spiritually well too. But you can hardly hear and take in “I love you” if you are hungry, beaten up, or sick. As we continue to navigate this new chapter of our lives as people of faith, we do well to remember that God, through Jesus, cares about physical bodies, ours and our neighbors. Thank you, Holy Trinity, for caring for actual bodies—yours and your neighbors.
The other detail I love in this story is this: Jesus insists that has disciples make compassion their own work as well. This feeding is not a razzle-dazzle spectacle to boost Jesus’ image with the crowd. It begins with the insistence that the disciples themselves give the people something to eat. This is a story of Jesus charging those who follow him to be agents of God’s compassion and power.
Ministry does not just belong to a few leaders. We end worship with the words “Go in peace, serve the Lord.” Sometimes I think we should begin worship, not with announcements but with a question, “How did that serving the Lord go this week?” (Tiede)
We are not the first generation of Jesus’ disciples to need continual reminders that ministry belongs to everyone. One of the great gifts of the Reformation is the Priesthood of All Believers. In 1520, Martin Luther wrote “An Appeal to the Ruling Class of German Nationality as to the Amelioration of the State of Christendom.” He did not have a good editor yet to help him with titles. We will forgive him that because of what he writes in the document. This was his document calling on the ruling class to reform the Church, since the Church was not reforming itself.
Luther wrote, “The fact is that our baptism consecrates us all without exception and makes us all priests. As St. Peter says, ‘You are a royal priesthood and a realm of priests.”” Luther goes on, “For all Christians whatsoever really and truly belong to the religious class, and there is no difference among them except in so far as they do different work.”
Most of the time that work looks different, based on our various gifts and passions and callings. Many of us get to put all of the gifts God has given us to work in our actual place of work. We also do ministry, as Luther wrote about elsewhere, in various communities—families, friends, congregations, other nonprofits. Sometimes we come together, as Jesus and the disciples did in our story this morning, for some big joint venture.
Again, Holy Trinity has lived out Luther’s Priesthood of All Believers throughout its history. It’s there in the many ministries you started that so many people took leadership in. It was there in the equipping that happens in every worship service, every bible study, and every time people prayed for one another’s many vocations—job, parent, friend, volunteer, citizen. And I love that today, towards the end of worship, after we will feast on God’s abundant bread and wine and receive grace and forgiveness once again, we will all affirm our Chrisitan vocation together. We will commit to pattern our lives, all our lives, on the Lord Jesus Christ. We will pray for courage, patience, and vision for our daily callings. Alleluia!
Life can feel overwhelming right now. It’s felt that way for saints before us, but that does not make it any less heavy. Whatever God is leading us into right now, however the Holy Spirit is blowing, know that the work is going to take all of us, going in peace and serving the Lord in our daily lives. You were all made ministers in the waters of Holy Baptism—joined to Christ for a life with God.
That life will not always be easy. If we are honest with our callings, there will be a cost to discipleship, to following Jesus’ way of love and mercy. But God is faithful—faithful on that hillside feeding the multitude, faithful for 80 years of ministry at 10th Ave and C Street, faithful today as we share the Lord’s Supper, faithful as we will once again be sent out. Jesus, Immanuel, is with us still. And in that there is hope and assurance. Amen.
With current Interim Pastor Laura Olson, daughter of Holy Trinity Pastor Yvette Schock, and former Holy Trinity Pastor John LaMunyan.
A Place at the Table 