THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Year A, Lectionary 18
August 3, 2014
Isaiah 55:1-5
Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21
Matthew 14:13-21
Pastor David Tryggestad
Concordia Evangelical
Lutheran Church
Duluth, Minnesota
You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every
living thing.
(Psalm 145:16)
I was at Camp
Hiawatha for two days
this past week. Every meal at camp is a feast, always with lots of homemade
food. Breakfast Thursday included two kinds of homemade breads: banana and
pumpkin. Every meal at camp is well-balanced, with lots of variety, fresh
fruits and vegetables, and options for those with food allergies of various
kinds. No one goes hungry at camp; there is always enough to satisfy every
appetite. Both Camp Vermilion and Camp Hiawatha
are intentional about living into and out of God’s intention that all should
have enough.
You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every
living thing.
After worship on Thursday morning, the adults—moms and dads
and grandmas and grandpas—gathered for conversation while all the children went
with the counselors for Bible study. We talked about the story of the Feeding
of the Five Thousand, and we noted an interesting detail in the text: all the
people in the crowd ate until they were filled.
I compared Matthew’s version of the story with the same story as told by the
Gospel writer, John, where it says that they ate until they were satisfied
(John 6:12a). They ate until they were satisfied. Curious, I went to the
original Greek, with the help of a lexicon, and found that the word Matthew
uses is most often translated satisfied,
that satisfied is closer to the
original language.
I’m wondering if there is a difference.
One participant in the conversation, a teacher, observed
that a co-teacher always asks the children at lunch if they are satisfied—not
if they are full. How different
might our appetites be if we ate until we are satisfied rather until we are full?
Another participant offered that in a counseling situation
he was facilitating, a man wanted to divorce his wife—he was no longer satisfied with her. He asked him what it
would take to satisfy him. The husband could not answer the question. The
counselor wondered if anyone or anything could satisfy him; he wondered if
nothing could satisfy.
You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every
living thing.
Two weeks ago some of our high school youth traveled to
Chanhassen to participate in a mission event with “Feed My Starving Children,”
an organization that sends nutritious food packets to 70 countries around the
world. Their vision is: With God’s help,
“Feed My Starving Children” will strive to eliminate starvation in children
throughout the world by helping to instill compassion in people to hear and
respond to the cries of those in need.
After watching a video about the mission of the
organization, we all went in into another large room that had stations
assembly-line fashion. Each person took a designated position to make the
operation efficient and precise. One person each measured the precise amount of
powdered vitamins, powdered vegetables, rice, and soy. Another held the bag
under the pour spout and weighed the total of ingredients. The next person
sealed each bag, and the next counted and boxed each bag: 32 bags per box. Each
bag, once boiled in water, contains six one-cup servings. Our group completed
37 boxes during our shift of about 90 minutes. Before leaving, we were invited
to gather around the pallat of food: 37 boxes, each with 32 packets, each
packet enough for six servings, totaling 7104 servings. After being informed
that our food would be shipped to Nicaragua, we were asked if someone
in our group would pray over the food. A large extended family spontaneously
volunteered the matriarch, the great-grandmother, who stepped forward to offer
a beautiful prayer of blessing on the food and on those who would receive it.
You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every
living thing.
In last Sunday’s Duluth
News Tribune, Beverly Godfrey offered a column entitled “My Kind of
Problems,” with the theme of “First World Problems,” borrowing the title from a
recent video from comedic singer “Weird Al” Yankovic. One of the First World
Problems Godfrey identifies is not having enough room in her refrigerator:
Have you ever bought too much food
to fit into your fridge? I’ve never taken a moment to be thankful for the
abundance of food when that happens because I’m too busy being annoyed. “We
need to have frozen pizzas for dinner tonight because I bought too many.” Ever
said something like that?[1]
You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every
living thing.
On the Sunday following Grandma’s Marathon, I talked about
Scottish runner Eric Liddell, who made international headlines during the 1924
Olympics, when he refused to run the 100 meter race, for which he was the
favorite, because it was scheduled for Sunday. He refused to break his
understanding of the commandment, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.”
After winning the 400 meter race later in the week, Eric went on to become a missionary
to China.
When WWII broke out and the Japanese controlled China,
Liddell was imprisoned in Shantung Compound with 2000 other internationals
representing many countries that were considered enemies of Japan. Some two
years later, living on a virtual starvation diet, and the population of the
camp was around 1500, a large shipment of care packages arrived from the
American Red Cross, each package containing many varieties of foods and other
goods. The Japanese leadership decided that each of the inmates would receive a
box for themselves, even the many children and young people, and, since there
were more boxes than inmates, each American would receive one and one-half
boxes. Some of the Americans protested that, since the care packages had come
from the American Red Cross, only American should receive the boxes. Since the
Americans numbered around 200, that would mean that each American would receive
seven and one-half boxes and the rest of the inmates nothing at all. This
caused a great stir in the camp, and a handful of Americans got together to
devise a plan to persuade the American inmates to abide by the Japanese
leadership decision, each person of the group going one-on-one to various of
the Americans who held influence over the others. When this small group came
back together, they shared with each other the very disturbing news that their
efforts to share had failed. The overwhelming majority of Americans insisted
that all of the care packages
belonged to the Americans alone. If individuals wanted to share from their
seven and one-half boxes, that was their
decision. The Japanese leadership at the camp petitioned Tokyo, and the decision from the top military
brass was that each person in the camp would receive one care package, even the
Americans, and the remaining boxes would be sent to another camp.
You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every
living thing.
When the disciples come to Jesus, suggesting that he send
the crowds away so that they can buy food, Jesus replies, “They need not go
away; you give them something to eat” (Matthew 14:16). The motto for the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA) is “God’s work. Our hands.” If God uses our hands, I wonder
if our hands need to open in order for God’s hands to open. When
the psalmist sings, “You open wide your hands . . .
” I wonder if it is necessary for our hands to open. Of, if our hands will not open, I wonder if God might choose other hands to do God’s work.
” I wonder if it is necessary for our hands to open. Of, if our hands will not open, I wonder if God might choose other hands to do God’s work.
Another interesting detail in our Gospel is that, after
blessing the loaves and the fish, Jesus gives them to the disciples to
distribute to the people. Our Lord graciously and generously provides for our
every need. Our Lord invites us to open our hands and to share what we have
been given.
You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every
living thing.
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