So that nothing may be lost....

7/29

the Chapel

It's summer. So worship at Good Shepherd faith will be in the air conditioned chapel. As I arrive, my friend John and two other volunteer choir members are rehearsing harmonies for an anthem. As part of their summer tradition, the hymns will be "congregational favorites." After the reading of the gospel, John 6: 1-21, I share my reflection, or "prompting" as they call it here. 

It's funny how certain Bible passages bring memories. This gospel passage, for example, always takes me back to my senior year of Divinity  School. I was part of a special urban ministry project. There were 12 of us. Each of us had to have a minimum 12 hour a week job in an urban church. Because there was no Presbyterian Church in downtown New Haven I was assigned to St Paul's Episcopal Church in the Wooster Square neighborhood. An historic WASP neighborhood had a wave of Italians...and thus the claim to the first pizza parlor in the US...followed by African Americans and then Puerto Ricans. The congregation reflected all those changes. 

We would meet every Monday for four hours. There would be a paper presented on a selected reading. Then a case study from one of our placements. Then group process and finally worship. We would pray for each other and then share Eucharist from our own tradition. And afterwords, one of our co-leaders, Michael Allen (who actually was caricatured in Doonesbury) would say, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost." And we would share the leftover communion bread until all was gone.

That  class set me on a course for urban ministry. And here was my greatest learning:  at the beginning, there were some people in that group I simply did not like. Rubbed me the wrong way, turned me off. And after six months of praying for them every week, you know what, I still didn't like them, but I had learned to love them. ...so that nothing may be lost....that's my theme for the day...

This is a rare story that appears in all 4 gospels That suggests something like this must have happened. And in each of the other 3 Gospels, Jesus has a direct command: You feed them.  In this gospel, Jesus messes with them a little.  Asks them what they should do. The answers are instructive...Philip says "6 months wages wouldn't be enough." Andrew says "there's a boy here with 5 loaves and 2 fishes." And there we have it...urban ministry in a nutshell...

In my first training, we were taught to do "needs assessments." And eventually we learned that all they ultimately do is leave people depressed. Ala Philip. The other way to begin is with capacity. We have a boy here who has...Jesus says, let's start there...And they wind up with 12 baskets of leftovers...so that nothing may be lost...(John is the only one who shares that concern...)

There's a lot of hunger out there..
1.2 million New Yorkers...42% of our citizens don't have enough to meet basic needs...(how are you doin?)
41 million Americans
769 million world wide (Feeding America/New York Times)

At the same time, each of us are estimated to waste between 300 and 360 pounds of food a year, that's 165 billion pounds...(Christian Science Monitor) that nothing may be lost...

So that's actual literal hunger.  But there's lots of other hungers around the world as well...

And lots in danger of being lost...

So what are we to do?
Nadia Bolz-Weber is one of my favorite pastors, she came to West Park last year for a live performance of the NPR Moth story show. She is a master story teller. But a better pastor. For example, she rightly observes that the most important task of the church is to preach the forgiveness of sins. From her perspective as an urban pastor, most of us are not able to forgive ourselves even when we can forgive others. (Yeah, that's my hand going up too..)

But more than that, I have heard her say, what if I told you your church had 5 years and only 5 years to live, how would you live differently? If you could stop worrying about survival, would you give it all away? 

And her ultimate point is, if we lived like we'd be gone in 5 years, we'd last longer than that because our spirit, our passion, our zeal, would be so great we would become attractive to others. 

A lot of our New York City Presbytery has been fragmented. Lots of pieces lying around. It's time to start them up so "THAT NOTHING BE LOST."

My question to you Good Shepherd Faith, is not what you don't have,I mean look around... but what do you have? What gifts has God given you that re not being used? How many loaves, how many fishes do you have? 

In the end, this is not a miracle of production, it's a miracle of distribution...

And it's not surprising that this story is followed by Jesus walking on the water...I mean start using those untapped resources, no telling what might happen...

Let those 
with ears to hear, hear....

The congregation, as it does, responds back with its own refection. Especially about thinking about what they already have. As one person . said, if we just came in today and took this as a place to start, it's pretty good. And how starting the day by thinking about all we have to be thankful for changes how we take the day. 

I decided to use this Ephesians passage as my benediction:
14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

And then back into the warmth of the summer day...














Gospel John 6:1-21

1After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?" 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, 9"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?" 10Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. 11Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost." 13So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world."

15When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

16When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17got into a boat, and started across the lake to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18The lake became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." 21Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land towards which they were going.