July 22 & 26 - Pentecost + 8

Jesus Always Gives More Than Enough
John 6:1-21
Pentecost + 8, July 22 & 26, 2009

Andy & I are Costco members
When they hand out free samples, people line up like vultures
God help you if there are 2 at opposite sides of same aisle – you'll never get through!

Saw the same thing last summer
Southwest Airlines flight – no assigned seats; people push & shove to be near front, even though you know you've got a seat

Our instinct is to rush to the front
in case they might run out; to make sure you get in on the deal, etc.
Fear that there won't be enough of whatever it is
Whole economy is based on that underlying concern
supply & demand – when demand goes up or supply goes down, price goes up
Worry about food, money, jobs, homes
Worry that there isn't enough to go around
resources are scarce, so we hoard what we have, cling to it, try to get more, to stockpile for the future


See this same belief that there isn't enough from Philip & Andrew in the gospel
Jesus sees large crowd coming & asks Philip –
"where are we gonna get the bread to feed all these people?"

Philip says, "We'll never have enough money – 6 months worth of paychecks wouldn't buy them an appetizer!"

Andrew chimes in – "there's this kid who has 5 loaves of bread & a couple fish – but what's that gonna do? You see this crowd! This little bit of food wouldn't even feed our group, let alone 5000+ people!""


And yet Jesus says, "Tell the people to have a seat"

Jesus takes that little bit of food,
and he blesses and breaks it, the bread & the fish,
and starts passing it out to everybody sitting around

Can you imagine that scene as people start to realize that there's free food being handed out?
Having seen how people are at the Costco, perhaps the fact that they all stay seated & trust that there will be enough is the real miracle!

And get this – they get as much as they want!
Not a crumb & a bite of fish –
they get to take as much as they want!

And when they were satisfied, Jesus sends the disciples out through the crowd to clean up the leftovers (pack it in, pack it out, good hikers!)
And there are 12 baskets left! Not only was there enough, there was more than enough!
Way more than enough
An abundance!
Because in Jesus' hands, what seems like too little is always more than enough!


True of our lives too
We worry so much about ourselves, how we'll pay the bills, if we'll have enough for retirement, etc.
Yet God always provides abundantly
Usually much more than we need (think of it – there's an obesity “epidemic” in our country...)
The trick is learning to recognize when we've had enough to be satisfied

At Costco, I've never once seen them run out -
And how much more so is that true of God, of Jesus,
who teaches us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”
and then gives himself away to us as the bread of life
who feeds us in this meal,
giving just a little sip of wine and a bite of bread
And this meal, as little as it may seem, is always enough

And then sends us forth, satisfied, to share this meal with the world
And there is always more than enough to share,
because with Jesus,
there is always more than enough

Thanks be to God!
Amen.