The sermon text is below the sermon audio…
Sermon Preached at St. Stephen’s Church, Goldsboro NC
Sunday July 25th 2021
The Reverend Alan Neale
“Precious in His Sight”
Many years ago, one Sunday afternoon, I was telephoned by a member of the parish I was serving in Rhode Island.
Katie, then a young mother of two children, told me that at Sunday lunch her son, Alexander, had blurted out, “Father Neale is a magician!”.
Katie, her husband Toby, were intrigued by this declaration and asked Alexander to say more about his comment.
“Well,” said Alexander, “every Sunday Father Neale takes a large white wafer, breaks it into pieces and when I come to the altar rail… it has become one whole round wafer – it’s magic!”.
Alexander was impressed by this magical ability to take fragments and transform them into a perfect round shape.
You and I know that there’s no magic here; but what we see in today’s Gospel is a glorious, stunning, attractive divine “magic” to take up fragments and transform them into a beautiful and perfect whole.
John 6:12-13 “When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up… and filled twelve baskets.”
The grace, the generosity, the power of Jesus.
The grace of Jesus. “Gather up the fragments left over…”. The Greek word for “gather up” suggests an act of hospitality and welcome; this command to the disciples came not from a mind concerned with tidiness, nor a mind that objected to mess… no, it came from a heart of loving hospitality. A heart that sees a crowd hungry and weary, a heart that engages Philip in this miraculous work, a heart that values a young boy though his gift is dismissed by disciples (disciples who should know better) with these dismissive words, “what are these among so many?” (Message Translation “that’s a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this!”).
Some sixty years ago, a young boy in inner London, was walking back from school. On the way, he noticed some flowers growing by the roadside. He stopped, gathered a few with the intention to give them to his mother. As he began to climb the steps to the apartment (“flat”) a neighbor saw him and asked what he was carrying. “Flowers, for my mum.” She responded, “They’re not flowers, they’re weeds.” Suddenly what had been a precious gift, because of thoughtless words, became an embarrassment. He dropped them.
The church community should never be like this – thoughtless, dismissive, demanding. At its best, the church community is one of grace, valuing the member and the guest, allowing contributions from all no matter how tiny or imperfect they may seem.
On this glorious day of baptism, the old song reminds us “Jesus loves all the little children… they are precious in His sight.”
The generosity of Jesus. “When they were satisfied…”. In these accounts of the feeding of the five and four thousand, we do not observe a mere attempt to ease their hunger, or stave off for a moment their need. No, what we observe here is the incredible generosity of Jesus that offers a complete filling, a definitive satisfaction, a consummate gratification of those in need.
Listen to these words from Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap…”. This describes the generosity of Jesus to each and every one who comes to him hungry and thirsty, without hope and without purpose.
And this generosity, this super-abundant desire to give, results in twelve baskets filled with fragments. Twelve – a perfect number reminiscent of twelve tribes of Israel, twelve disciples of Jesus, and some avid numerologists (maybe with not much else to do) even perceive a Trinitarian reference as 1 and 2 = 3!!!
The church community should represent, mirror, express this generosity of Jesus. And in these days of partisanship, suspicion and division… the church is desperately needed as a place of generous respect, generous forgiveness and generous acceptance.
The grace, the generosity and…
The power of Jesus. In the strong, creative and skilled hands of Jesus even broken fragments can be endued with power so that they become whole and able to nourish, strengthen, nurture others.
Jesus does not look for perfection, He looks for surrender; the heart of Jesus yearns not for flawlessness, His heart yearns for submission to his gracious, generous and powerful rule. Listen to these words from Bill Wilson: “The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves.”
Observe this profound, psychic, primal action as Jesus takes… blesses… breaks and gives.
On this day of baptism, will you offer yourself again to Jesus?… surrender to this fourfold spiritual dynamic… let him take you, bless you, accompany you as you suffer brokenness and offer you as food and drink to a hungry and thirsty world? I can leave no better gift to you all, to this wondrous church community.
I finish with a prayer that my beloved mentor, John Watson, introduced to me years, decades ago…
“Lord Jesus Christ, Master Carpenter of Nazareth, on a cross through wood and nails you have wrought our salvation; wield well your tools in the workshop of our hearts, so that we who come to you rough-hewn, may by you be fashioned to a truer beauty according to your will; for the sake of your tender mercy. Amen.”