Living in the Spirit

August 2, 2020

Scripture Reading: Matthew 14:13-21
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

What had Jesus just heard that resulted in his withdrawing in a boat to a deserted place by himself? He had just heard the horrible report of John the Baptist’s being beheaded. Apparently, Jesus never got to spend much time alone with God as, in this instance, the people followed him and were waiting on him when he went ashore. His response was to venture forth among them and cure the sick, followed by feeding all of them. There is a lesson in that for all of us.

We have a lot of craziness going on in our world today, people even senselessly being killed. While some people are dying of a virus, others are claiming their rights are being violated if they are required to wear a mask to protect themselves, or others, from getting the virus. Many are out of work, and our economy is in trouble. Yet our leaders cannot find common ground for the Common Good targeted at addressing the virus and its side effects.

The story of the feeding of the 5,000 is a story for our times. Amid great tragedy and personal sorrow, Jesus calmly in love went about the business of restoring health, feeding the hungry, and nurturing souls. We, the Body of Christ in the world today, are called to do the same in direct service and in advocacy for justice.

Prayer: God of Love strengthen our drooping hands and weak knees, show us the path toward our actions so our people and our land can be healed*. Amen.

*Derived from Hebrews 12:12-13.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.