Empowered by God

The gospel reading for Proper 13 (also known as the 9th Sunday after Pentecost) is Matthew 14: 13-21. This reading in Matthew’s gospel has an awkward beginning which makes us to go back a few verses for context. When we do, we learn that John (the baptist and Jesus’ cousin) was beheaded as a macabre party favor. Jesus, upon hearing the news, withdraws from where he is, takes a boat, and heads for a deserted place. We presume he is in mourning, and, understandably, wants time to himself. However, this is not to be. A crowd has proceeded him. They want to hear from him. Jesus, who is in mourning, sees the crowd and filled with compassion, cures the sick. 

As evening falls the disciples approach Jesus to tell him that because of the locale and the hour, he should be telling people to go to the village and buy some food. Jesus responds by saying “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” The disciples come up with five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus looks toward heaven, blesses the bread, breaks the loaves, and then gives them to the disciples to distribute among the crowd. The crowd is fed, and there is food left over. The gospel tells us that the crowd that day consisted of “five thousand men, besides women and children.”

This passage is a glimpse into the Eucharist; but it also tells us something about who God is. God empowers us to act on his behalf in the world. Jesus doesn’t look at the crowd and ask them why they didn’t anticipate they would get hungry and prepare accordingly. He doesn’t chastise them for not bringing food to eat. He looks on them with compassion, and feeds them. He expects the same reaction from those who call themselves his followers.

Our current political & cultural climate is toxic. We’re hearing language that the poor among us are poor because of sin in their lives. This is not the gospel. Jesus expects us to act on behalf of those for whom the world has beaten down. It should be obvious that not everyone has equal opportunities. The expectation of the gospel is that those with means lend a hand to those without. We, who claim to be followers of The Way, have an obligation to ease the burden of the poor, the sick, and the needy. We are called to be like the Good Samaritan, not like a Pharisee.