[Read Mark 6:30-44]
“You Give Them Something to Eat”
“Jesus had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd” — And He told His disciples, “You give them something to eat.”
Sheep without a shepherd are harassed by predators. And sheep without a shepherd cannot find for themselves proper nutrition. They wander and fall into many dangers.
A crowd ran from the towns on foot and gathered at the shore where Jesus and His disciples were about to dock. When Jesus saw these masses of people, He felt gut-wrenching compassion for them.
The masses were like sheep with no Shepherd – they were not feeding on what was best; they were harassed by the enemy; and their lives were wandering and straying from the truth.
So, Jesus shepherds them – “He began to teach them many things.” He tends to them by gently teaching and preaching His Word.
The crowds listen to the words of Jesus so late into the day that dinner is approaching, or is even past. They must eat. They’re in a desolate place. It’s like I-76 in Pennsylvania, there’s nowhere to stop for food.
And the disciples of Jesus say, “We have too little to offer here. The needs they have we can’t meet. Send them somewhere else.”
“This is a desolate place,” they remind Jesus, “and the hour is now late. Send them away…” Send them to the surrounding villages to “buy for themselves something to eat.”
The disciples only had at their disposal five loaves of bread and two fish. What were these among five thousand men plus their wives and children? [Matthew 14:21]
Nevertheless, Jesus tells the disciples, “You give them something to eat.” Don’t send them elsewhere for their bread. You give them something to eat.
The crowds sit down in groups on the green grass, by hundreds and fifties. Jesus takes the five loaves and two fish, looks up to heaven and says a blessing, breaks the bread, and the disciples distribute the food. The crowds eat until they are fully satisfied.
When the disciples considered what they had to offer for this crowd, they counted the five loaves and two fish, but they didn’t take into account that the very Bread of Life was with them.
No matter how desolate that wilderness was – no matter how sparse their resources – no matter how little from themselves they had to offer – nevertheless, the masses of lost sheep had more in the wilderness with Jesus and His disciples than what all the world could offer.
The disciples underestimated what they had to offer. They thought only in an earthly way.
The church too, when we think in earthly terms, says, “Not enough.” The needs are too great – the needs are too new, things we don’t understand. Our resources, our numbers, our talents and abilities, are all too few. “What can we really do for so many? Not enough.”
In effect, we send people elsewhere when we stop believing strongly in what we have to offer. When we lose confidence.
As individuals, in your daily lives – and as a congregation here in Scarsdale, NY – what you have to offer is the Bread of Life Himself, the Savior of the World, Jesus.
There are many individuals and organizations that abound in talent, charisma, money, and resources. Some for their own benefit. Others to do many good things in the world.
But only one organization has the Word of Truth, the Author of Life, Christ crucified and risen, the Savior and the Mediator between man and God – the Bread of Life, Jesus.
And that one organization is not an organization but the mystical body of Christ, the Church, the assembly of baptized believers in Christ.
Jesus is received here in Word and Sacrament. And you who receive Him are also those who now have Him to offer to others, as their true loaves and fish.
Whether it’s an attempted assassination, or ongoing poverty, or the emptiness of riches – or something else – the root of desolation in this world is man and woman’s separation from God because of sin.
The human race is a fallen race – which is made clear by the wrongs we each do, the good we fail to do, and by the wrongs in the world.
The world, with its abundance of resources and money and talent and education and increasing knowledge – so much of which is so good – nevertheless it cannot forgive sins and return man back to God.
But that one small person or that one small assembly gathered in the name of Jesus – having little in earthly terms – has an abundance more to offer than the whole world. They have the Savior Jesus to offer who does solve man’s deepest problems.
Jesus said of Himself, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” — “And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” [John 6:35,51]. He gave Himself on the cross.
Jesus saw the whole world and had compassion and laid down His life on the cross to be the sacrifice for sin – to forgive sins by dying for your sins, thereby redeeming you back to God.
Jesus made Himself the “Good Shepherd” who “lays down His life for the sheep” [John 10:11] – so that fallen people no longer have to be like sheep without a Shepherd.
This great act of the Savior was a very small event by earthly standards when it happened. He was crucified among a small group of criminals in a small corner of the world. But that small thing was the greatest thing God has ever done.
Among us, we each have different talents and abilities, some less and some more – and different deficiencies, some less and some more. But each of you has this Bread of Life and Good Shepherd to offer your neighbor.
The church always has more than much to offer. Through the church – which is always small by earthly measurements – God gives Jesus, the Savior, into the world.
In short, brothers and sisters, when the individuals in your life are troubled or dismayed by events in the world – or when they are wandering like sheep without a shepherd – Jesus is telling you, “You give them something to eat.”
You each have the greatest thing to give. Give the Bread of Life by speaking about who and what Jesus has been for you – by showing it in your life – and by inviting others to the feast of His Word preached.
Trust with confidence that what Jesus gives will be sufficient for every need. Amen.
[Read Mark 5:21-43]
Endurance Under Trials
A man and woman inherited a vacation home in a desirable location, in a place they had never been, but a place they trusted to be very beautiful – and it truly was beautiful.
The drive there, however, was treacherous. A long drive with dangers along the way: Washed out roads, highway robbers, expensive gasoline, bad coffee, boredom – and breakdowns and accidents, mistreatment from other travelers – even illness and death.
This man and woman endured for several long hours but eventually got so discouraged that they turned off and got a hotel room in a small roadside town.
The stay there was not very good either, but they couldn’t bring themselves to get back on the road. There they stayed, and there they eventually died years later.
Little did they know, all those years, their vacation home was just over the next hill. They quit too early. Giving in to discouragement caused their temporary trial to become a permanent loss.
This is called despair – a person leaves the road of faith in Christ – or puts life in Christ on pause, for longer and longer and eventually forever — because of discouraging trials. What would have been a temporary trial becomes an eternal loss.
But that’s not what happens with the suffering woman and the distressed father in our Gospel reading today! One endures a very long trial. The other a very severe trial. They turn to Christ and do not give up.
The woman in our Gospel had been suffering from a discharge of blood for twelve years. Twelve years of bodily distress. Twelve years of social disruption because of the nature of her condition.
And twelve years of being financially broke – she “suffered much under many doctors, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.”
All that time, she didn’t know it would be done in twelve years. Maybe the next doctor visit would fix it; or maybe it would never end. Every year, she didn’t know if there was an end in sight.
We don’t know how well this woman endured under trial throughout those twelve years. We don’t know if she always remained steadfast or if she despaired and gave up at times.
But in today’s Gospel, she sees Jesus. And she knows in herself that, somehow, this Jesus is her answer, saying in herself, “If I touch even His garments, I will be made well.”
While she’s dealing with this, Jesus is traveling along with that man in distress – a ruler of the town synagogue – whose daughter is at the point of death. The ultimate blow, death, and not in himself, but in his child. The worst nightmare.
In the face of death, the man flees to Jesus. “Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing Jesus, he fell at Jesus’ feet and implored Him earnestly – he prayed – saying, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.’ And Jesus went with him.”
As the man is approaching home, with Jesus at his side, he is told to give up – “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?”
But Jesus hears and says, “Do not fear, only believe” – “believe” – “have faith, have trust in Me.” “Continue to trust in Me for this”, Jesus is saying.
Death in the family is not too great a trial for Jesus to be your Savior in. “Taking her by the hand Jesus said to her, ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise.’ And immediately the girl got up…”
The girl’s death was not greater than Jesus’ ability to be her Savior and Savior to her grieving parents. In such a trial, “Do not fear; only believe.”
And the length of twelve years did not mean that there was no end in sight for the woman suffering from the discharge of blood – “Immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease” – “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
The woman could have given up hope after eleven years to never see that twelfth, like the couple in my made-up story who quit the road too early. With Jesus, temporary trials need never become permanent loss.
The man could have given up at those words, “Why trouble the Teacher any further?”, and never seen what Jesus was about to do for him so soon. With Jesus, death ends with the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting, which is soon to come.
Your Savior Jesus has not set you on the road alone but wants you to continue troubling Him – calling upon Him in prayer – until He fulfills His purpose in each trial. We don’t know the reason, but there was a reason for the length of that woman’s trial and the severity of that man’s trial.
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” [Romans 8:28]
You are His beloved children, called by name in Baptism according to His purpose. In trials, “we walk by faith, not by sight” [2 Corinthians 5:7], believing God’s goodness without demanding sight to first see the result, but trusting Him to be Lord.
There are trials of bodily illness. Trials of the death of loved ones or of facing our own death. Trials of doubt or of difficulty accepting aspects of our Christian beliefs. There is the trial of a guilty conscience about the past. And trials of temptations to sin in the present.
We should not give up hope at the eleventh hour but instead trust that Christ’s answer and aid is coming at the twelfth. His help is always in front of us. He does not fail to keep His promises.
Jesus, in fact, has never abandoned you in any trial. Instead, He is the One who has already made all your trials His own on the cross.
On the cross Jesus fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases” [Matthew 8:17] – “Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” And, “He was pierced for our transgressions” – “the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” [Isaiah 53:4-6]
All suffering of the body and all anguish of the soul – and all that comes with our sin-fallen condition – all earthly trials and all eternal hell – was taken up into His flesh and soul on the cross for you.
He absorbed it all. He is your Savior in all your trials, having made them all His own.
Jesus, who suffered all trials, is now living and risen from the dead. Now, in trials and temptations He is carrying you through all that He has conquered. Any trial. Any temptation.
The answers may not come as soon as we would like in this life. And the answers might not always be what we would like in this life. But, every time, His purpose as your loving Savior is fulfilled.
His purpose in this life is our sanctification, to make us a holy people [1 Thessalonians 4:3]. Like gold and steel, He is purifying and strengthening us by fire – by trials, endured in faith – to make us more and more the men and women we ought to be.
Our final inheritance is that we will, finally, be the men and women we ought to be. Holy, without spot or blemish. No longer sinners. This inheritance is finally ours at the end of the road – in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.
“And I am sure of this”, Scripture says, “that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” [Philippians 1:6]
So, let’s trust that our Savior will succeed at bringing us to our final inheritance, and let’s not become discouraged by trials along the way. Amen.
[Mark 4:35-41] On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?”
Jesus Calms the Storm
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?!”
The disciples got into the boat with Jesus. They set out on the water. And a great windstorm arose, so that the waves were crashing over the boat and filling it.
The disciples are about to sink into the abyss. Jesus is asleep on a cushion. They wake Him and cry out, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
Jesus rose. Rebuked the wind. And spoke to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” (“Be quiet”) He quieted the sea. Hushed the threatening waves. “The wind stopped, and there was a great calm.”
“Why are you afraid? Do you not yet have faith?”, Jesus said. But He didn’t wait for that stronger faith before He saved them. He cared that they were perishing.
The disciples were filled with a great and wondrous fear, “Who then is this that even wind and sea obey Him?”
Who is He? Amazingly, the One who calms wind and wave is also the very One who sends wind and wave. He is the Lord:
“For He commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away… they were at their wits' end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.” [Psalm 107:25-29]
The Lord of wind and wave can calm wind and wave – just as He can also calm the greater storm against us.
The greater storm that threatens you and me is God’s anger against our sins. We don’t believe God is angry with our sins because we “think of sin but lightly” [LSB 451].
But, in truth, our sins stir up a right and just storm against us, by which we would perish eternally. “On account of these – our many sins – the wrath of God is coming” [Colossians 3:6].
The Lord is Judge. Nevertheless, as with the storm, the same Lord who rightly lifts His wrath against us is also the One who has quieted it forever – “Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” [1 Thessalonians 1:10].
Jesus, the Lord, has already suffered that storm-of-God’s-wrath to fall upon Himself. Jesus, who alone is righteous and holy, willingly let Himself be counted the Sinner – counted guilty of all man’s sin, in man’s place, and nailed to a cross.
This is what we read in today’s Epistle reading: “For our sake He made Him who knew no sin to be sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” [2 Corinthians 5:21].
Also, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” [Galatians 3:13].
Jesus took your place so that your sin is His and His righteousness is yours. He, though righteous, is counted the sinner. You, though a sinner, are counted righteous.
In Jesus, therefore, there is now, for you, a great calm – peace. Forgiveness. The storm is quieted. You no longer live under God’s wrath. The wind and waves are done.
So, now what? How is this a sermon for a tenth anniversary of a pastor’s ordination? Do today’s appointed readings have any connection?
It was a word spoken that calmed the wind and sea in our Gospel. And it is a Word spoken that calms the storm for you.
Our flesh still sees wind and waves against us. But through the ministry of the Word, the Gospel ministry, a spoken Word from God – “Your sins are forgiven” – delivers the calm quiet of redemption to a troubled conscience.
Our reading today says that those in the preaching ministry are God’s ambassadors for your sake – that, week after week, God is making His appeal through your pastor, urging you: “Be reconciled to God”, because He has reconciled you to Himself in Jesus.
“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” [2 Corinthians 5:18-20]
This is the pastoral ministry. (And pastors have had and have pastors for themselves too.) The pastoral ministry is worth giving thanks for, for all of us.
And this ambassadorship of the pastor, speaking the Gospel on behalf of Christ, does not make your pastor special or higher or greater than any of you. There is no throne on earth for pastors.
Why? Because this is your calling as well. In a different capacity; in different ways. But speaking and spreading the message that God has reconciled sinners unto Himself – that sins are forgiven in Jesus – that there is new life in Jesus --
-- you also, because you are disciples of Jesus by your baptism, have this ambassadorship-calling of the Gospel.
Through word and example — Individually, to those in your arm’s reach — And as a whole, as His church in this world — God is making His appeal through you to your neighbor: “Now is the favorable time; now is the day of salvation” [2 Corinthians 6:2] – “be reconciled to God.”
This message is the only thing that matters forever, and, therefore, is the thing that matters most. It’s worth everything; and it’s worth everything we give up.
For ten years, for forty – for all the years of your life – remember your calling, that you are ambassadors in this world for the Gospel of Christ who has calmed the storm for sinners tossed by the waves. Amen.
