SCRIPTURE: John 6:1-21
TEXT: 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.” THEME: Jesus makes God visible to us by what he does, and says. INTRODUCTION We have been looking at who Jesus is through the eyes of the Gospel writer Mark; with his hometown, with Herod, with tending to his human side, and today with his divine side. This story, although in the gospel of Mark, is taken from the Gospel of John and begins five Sundays discussing the bread of heaven. We are attracted to the things we see Jesus doing. It witnesses to the power of God that is among us. Saying grace before a meal gives us pause to reflect upon our day and be thankful for a great day of blessings. Thankful for all of the things that God has done, thankful for the food, thankful for our safety and thankful for each other. A crowd of people have dropped what they were doing to follow Jesus. SCRIPTURE Healing the sick, teaching about God in loving ways of covenant and reconciliation, and casting out of unclean spirits have created a following. Jesus makes it to the other side of the Sea of Galilee where a large crowd approach Jesus. Philip is asked to find something for this crowd to eat. Six month’s wages would only give each a taste. Then Andrew interrupts. He was listening to a boy’s offer of a bowl of poi and two dried akule. Hawaiian style. One day after church Arthur invited Jann and I for lunch at this house. We had been on Molokai only for a short while. We sat with his wife at the kitchen table where there was a common bowl of the most sour poi I have ever tasted. The moldy crust on top of the poi was stirred into the bowl as we ate our full, seasoned with the salty fish. That was a kind of communion. God provides for us in one way or another. When we pause and think about it, it is amazing. Now, imagine 5,000 people gathered on a grassy hill side. As this boy’s lunch is shared, everyone takes a portion and is provided for by God, as everyone is satisfied with something to eat. Just as God provides for us, every day, Jesus makes God’s provision visible in this one huge event. When the leftovers were gathered, there was 12 baskets, abundantly more than enough. “If Jesus can provide bread for everyone, why not make him king?” This is what the people were thinking. Jesus makes the activity of God visible. He gives witness to a God who heals, a God who casts out unclean spirits, a God who is about life, A God who cares for us. A God who’s rule bring equality and justice. A God who fosters good relationships. A God who draws us near through Jesus. A God who journeys with us through suffering and pain. A God who is compassionate and provides us with food to eat. Who Jesus is not, is king. Jesus is not a political entity. Jesus is not rallying support for a revolution but for citizens for the Kingdom of God. For family members for the Family of God. So, when the crowd approaches him to make him king, Jesus makes his way up to the mountains and the disciples head out to the other shore. This is the backdrop for another story revealing the divinity of Jesus, walking on water, identifying himself as the ‘I am’ and the disciple’s miraculous arrival to the other shore. APPLICATION We are influenced by the relationships that we keep. Whether it is with hobbies, foods or doing good or bad. What kind life, has our relationship with Jesus influenced us to live? Our journeying as a church has been littered with signs along the way. Answered prayer, God’s providing for the financial needs of the church through the concession at the County Fair, acquiring the Organ for our 150th anniversary, re-roofing of Sanderson and Ritter Hall, and there is a whole list of things associate with the Wailuku Mission Housing which is a part of my annual report after church today. There have been healings along the way, God has helped us when we struggled. And we are in a different place today because of how God has led us to see ourselves as missional instead of a chaplaincy, and how we have developed practices of discerning the will of God. Even during the Pandemic, there are signs of God’s provision, of sharing, of blessings, and God’s guidance that shows our participation in what God was doing in our world. We were bread for some families who found they only had a few slices left. We were a point of contact in a sheltered in world. We were practicing safety even when there was conflicting information. We made accommodations, we assimilated, we adapted as God’s spirit lead, empowered, created the right opportunities for things to happen. Today, we have a new video set up. Broadcasting on Facebook and YouTube, with an emerging audio set up. Jesus makes God’s activity among us visible. We are loved, guided, helped, supplied and empowered by God’s good grace to help our neighbor. To provide child care so parents could work. For spiritual support, mental health, for gaining a calm confidence, and peace in a world filled with anxiety. We have taken our imagination, and asked how is it that God would want us to be stewards of 2.5 acres we have in Wailuku town. We are becoming the inn keeper in the parable of the Good Samaritan, venturing to offer affordable homes, so our neighbors to have housing. CONCLUSION Jesus makes the activity of God among us visible. We follow Jesus to see what God is doing, but it is God who is healing, God who is casting out the unclean spirits, God who is feeding the 5,000 God who is drawing us into God’s self, as a parent loves their offspring. God is drawing us into a relationship of nurture and caring where we live with a God who is present in our lives. Into a relationship where we are not alone but have help through our hunger, we have comfort through our illnesses, and companionship in our wandering. God is drawing us into a relationship where we are called to participate with God, in what God is doing, to be partners in mission, stewards of creation, co-creators of something new and witnesses of the power of God that is among us. God is visible for other to see in us as the bread of heaven becomes our food.
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