6After 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 toward 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 sea, 17got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea 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 toward which they were going.” John 6:1-21

Let’s start by putting ourselves in the place of the crowds following Jesus. In particular, let’s imagine just how disappointed and confused those folks must have been when Jesus left them. Disappointed because they had just witnessed an incredible miracle and so expected such great things from this young prophet only to have him abandon them. Confused because they could not understand why Jesus would leave them, why he would run away in response to their appreciation and adulation.

 Disappointment, confusion, misunderstanding. It’s a strange way to start John’s sixth chapter, a chapter so rich in its imagery and important in its theology concerning the Holy Communion. Or is it? Disappointment, confusion, misunderstanding. How clearly, I wonder, do these words reflect our own sense of Communion and of the sacraments in general? Do we really comprehend the theological and existential significance of pouring water over a child’s head or gathering around the altar, the Table of the Lord?

 And if we don’t understand these things, is it really any wonder? I mean, debate about the meaning of the sacraments rages within the Church, both between different traditions and within them. So the sacraments hold this unusual place in the Church, in that they are both central to our life of faith and yet also can be so very confusing. In an attempt to clarify the connect between the sacraments and our daily lives, I’ll start with a phrase from St. Augustine: “visible words.” I find this phrase attractive because it helps me appreciate Baptism and Communion as the visible, physical counterpoint to the preaching and teaching of the church. That is, the sacraments are the embodiment of the proclaimed and heard gospel in physical form, the gospel given shape in water, bread, and wine. They serve us, then, as physical reminders of what we have heard and believe simply because we are physical creatures and remembering and believing can be so hard. And so we have the gospel preached to us so that we may hear it, and we have the same gospel given to us so that we may taste and touch and feel it with our hands and mouths and bodies.

 Visible, physical words for visible, physical people. Now, if this is true, then the sacraments will share the same character as the proclaimed gospel. That is, the sacramental word, as with the preached word, will be primarily about one thing: telling the truth. And perhaps this is where our difficulty with the sacraments begins, because to do this — to tell unflinchingly the honest-to-goodness truth — is rarely easy and almost never welcome.” (Visible Words, David Lose, “…in the meantime” website, July 20, 2015)

Tell the truth. We say this so often to our kids, our grandkids, even our kids from the neighborhood. We want to encourage everyone around us to tell the truth. And yet, we know how hard it is to always tell the truth. In fact, none of us can say that we have always told the truth, in every situation in our life. There is telling the truth — and there is having some decorum in our relationships with others where telling the truth will do more harm than good — and in those words I have now explained why we do not always tell the truth.

If we are in the court of law, we swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. In every other situation, all bets are off. Even in the offices of the Mayor, the Governor, and the President of the United States, telling the truth is often something akin to a Ponzi Scheme…it appears that something is there, but in the end there is little of substance.

This is where we encounter the Sacrament of Holy Communion — at the intersection of intangible and tangible — where the words of the Gospel promise can be felt, touched and taken into our bodies. In the story of the Feeding of the 5000, there is a sacramental element of Jesus breaking the bread and sharing it with the people. The truth of this story is the element of Jesus’ presence in the miracle — just as we trust in the presence of Jesus in the elements of bread and wine in communion. In the act of Holy Communion, experience “visible, physical words of truth from Jesus for visible, physical people”.

Pastor Dave

“King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.” (Mark 6:14-29)

“In what way is Herod like a first-century Richard Nixon, so blinded by ambition that he is willing to sacrifice his principles for political gain? Or maybe he seems to you more like a Don Draper of Mad Men, so mired in a life of deception that he can hardly tell the difference between a pitch and a profession of good faith. Can John possibly be like Martin Luther King, Jr. or Oscar Romero, spiritual leaders willing to tell truth to power whatever the costs? Or does he seem more like the moral, and somewhat moralistic, Will McAvoy of The Newsroom? Perhaps Herodias reminds you of Game of Throne’s Cersei Lannister, who in a dramatic scene late in the first season justified the brutal course of action she would soon take on the basis of her love for her children. Might Herodias also want to protect herself and her children from John’s claims, even if they are true, and have we considered the lengths to which we would go to protect our family from harm? 

I think it’s worth delving into this story because Mark puts it here for a reason. While I can’t be absolutely sure of Mark’s motives, I have a hunch he wants to impress deep into the imagination of his readers two things. First, Jesus’ ministry, like John’s, has significant political implications. And I don’t mean “political” in the sense of who to vote for. No, I mean that the kingdom Jesus preaches challenges our penchant for the status quo and our all too easy acquiescence with the cultural presumption that might (or wealth or status or fame) makes right. Proclaim God’s kingdom of mercy and grace and, as with Jesus and his forerunner John, there will be costs to pay.

Second, Mark wants us to take seriously that this is, indeed, the way of the world. Those who stand up to City Hall often take a beating, and those who advocate an alternative to the status quo can usually expect those who benefit from the status quo to come down on them hard. We watch programs like Mad Men, The Newsroom, Game of Thrones, West  Wing, The Sopranos, and the like because we see ourselves in them. We might not always like what we see, but at least it seems real. And Mark is, if nothing else, a realist. He is writing, after all, in the wake of the devastation caused by the Romans exercising their brutal power by destroying the Jerusalem Temple. So part of why he tells this story is because this is the world as he knows it, the world he lives in and, by extension, the world we live in as well.” (David Lose, Tell the Truth Twice, working preacher.org, July 8, 2012)

You know, you gather stories as you live your life.  Stories can be a reminder of how crazy, or how interesting, or how full our lives are.  And of course, we all want to live a life that is full – with a full bank account, a full house, full stomachs, and full relationships.  But then, there is another sense of the word “full” that we all also crave to be – “success-ful”, “power-ful”, “beauti-ful”.   How full we are, or how “ful” we are depends on the placement of our plumb line.  The plumb line is used to build something (usually a wall) that is straight and true.  If the plumb line we use is one based on worldly standards, then our lives will be built, and defined by those standards.

John the Baptist, on the other hand, was NOT successful from many perspectives, but his life and his ministry was successful, because he was “Significant”.  And he was willing to sacrifice everything to remain “Dutiful”.  You see, his plumb line was discerned from his calling by G-d – he was called to be an instrument of the Lord – to prepare the way of Jesus Christ.  And because we are followers of Jesus, then we are called to have lives that are more “significant” than “successful”.  You see, because we are followers of Jesus, we are already “Successful”.  Jesus makes us successful – Jesus has done all that needs to be done for our success – and G-d has given us the plumb line of Jesus for us to conform our lives to his.  And because Jesus is “Truthful” and “Merciful” then our lives will be “Bountiful” and “Graceful” when our lives are defined by the plumb line of Jesus.

Pastor Dave