Fast Food

According to my memory, the first McDonalds Restaurant in the Twin Cities was built in about 1962 on Snelling Avenue, just across the street from Har-Mar Mall. I know this dates me, but I recall being able to go to that place with my friends and be fed for $.35. It was fifteen cents for a hamburger, and a dime each for fries and a coke. No such thing as supersize fries or a double quarter-pounder in those days. And at age 13, that was enough to fill me up. When I got to high school, I needed a little more fuel for a growing body, but no worries; I had some good friends who worked at that same McDonalds. We would go in and order a burger, fries and a Coke, and pay our 35 cents, but what our friends would place in the bag was six cheeseburgers, four fries, two cokes and an apple pie. Knowing what I know now about lean profit margins, it was criminal what I was doing. I can sleep at night because I know that, over the years, I have paid for those hamburgers many times over.

I can say with some degree of confidence that the people in Jesus’ day never had the opportunity to buy a fast food meal. Today they can; there are restaurants in Jerusalem called “McDavid’s” who sell hamburgers, but not cheeseburgers, because it is against kosher law to mix meat and dairy at the same meal. But 2000 years ago, restaurants had not yet arrived. Food was cooked, and for the most part, eaten at home. And that’s why the gospel lesson today stands in such contrast to the lifestyle known to us.

But after listening to Jesus teach one day, more than 5000 were gathered on the shore of the Sea of Galilee near Tiberias, and it was dinner time. Jesus asked Philip where he might get food for the people because Tiberias was Philip’s hometown. Surely Philip would know the neighborhood. “Lord, there’s no way we can feed these people. Even if there WAS a store around here, it would take six months wages to buy the food. Nope, no way, no how, not going to happen.” Philip was right, of course; humanly speaking, there was no way to feed 5000 people on such short notice.

But then Andrew came forward, holding the hand of a small boy. “Master, this lad has a lunch of five buns and a couple of small fish, if you think that would help.” It sounded like such a foolish suggestion. Andrew is embarrassed, the other disciples are rolling their eyes in ridicule, but Jesus makes it work. He has the people sit down on the grass and he prays over the meager meal, and then distributes the bread and fish. After everyone had eaten, 12 baskets of leftovers remained.

What do you make of this story of the feeding of the 5000? I know it’s hard to believe. It seems as if there is part of the story missing, and if we knew what it was, we could understand how it could happen. But both Mark and John tell the story essentially the same way. So how do we grasp this story, and what does it mean for our lives?

Well, the first, and most obvious explanation is that Jesus literally multiplied the fishes and bread. Because he is God, he miraculously turned a humble meal into a feast, and with leftovers. Isn’t that just like Jesus, making something great out of something very, very humble?

In 2001, our little congregation was growing by leaps and bounds. We only had 884 members, but visitors were coming every Sunday, to the point where, at the 8AM service, the sanctuary was nearly full, and the 9:15 and 10:30 services spilled out into the narthex. Hallways were crowded, Sunday School classes were held in every spare corner, and parking was a nightmare. It’s a fact that when people begin coming to a new church, their giving doesn’t follow them right away. It takes awhile, so we were feeding an enormous crowd with a meager lunch. When the architect showed us a print of the new Community Life Center, we were thrilled, but when he revealed the price tag, our hearts sank. $3.1 million. Our little church couldn’t raise enough to build this. We prayed, we talked, and we prayed some more, and when our fund drive was finished, $1.5 million was raised; enough to build our new space. Once again, God showed the power to take a little and turn it into a lot for the glory of the Kingdom…just like that day on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

There is a second possible explanation as to how Jesus fed the 5000 on the shore that day, and it has to do with the child. He doesn’t have much, this little guy, but what he does have, he brings to Jesus and offers to share. Others in the crowd see his example and they begin taking out buns from their baskets, flasks of wine from their backpacks, and fish from their lunch pails. Pretty soon, food is just flying around that hillside, because the hard hearts of those people have been changed to hearts of generosity.

It was Andrew who brought the child to Jesus. If he had dismissed the idea as preposterous, none of this might have happened. But when you bring a child into the presence of Jesus, watch out! When you bring a child and all of her possibilities into the presence of Jesus, amazing things can happen. This coming week, we’re bringing nearly 500 little ones into the presence of Jesus, and we don’t know what’s going to happen. Some may have a nice week and go home on Friday, unfazed. But others will have their hearts explode open and their lives will be changed forever. They will remember this week 20 years from now, when they are teaching in public schools, or practicing medicine in Africa, or serving in the legislature, or pastoring a small church in South Dakota. All because someone brought them into the presence of Jesus when they were but a child.

Who brought you into the presence of Jesus? A mom or dad; a grandparent, some kind neighbor. Dave Philips brought me when I was 14 years old and a lost teenager. He looked past the smart alec, wild child and saw some possibility within me, and it change my life. Who brought you?

The third explanation of Jesus’ miracle on the Sea of Galilee is a subtle one. Jesus breaks the bread and begins placing it into the hands of the people, one by one. “This is for you” he says. “This is for you, this is for you.” And now the meal is actually a sacrament…a sacred moment…and the people are fed. We all come to worship on Sunday with some form of hunger, you know. Some of us need hope, others need acceptance, and still others are seeking healing. Can all those expectations be met in a one-hour worship? It seems impossible. But then the bread is broken; placed into the hands of desperate people. “This bread is for you…this wine is for you; eat, drink and be filled.” And by God’s grace, we are.

So there it is; one miracle, three explanations. I wonder which one is true?

In 1993, former President Jimmy Carter presented the commencement address to the graduating class at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He shared the story of a young college freshman who overslept for the final exam in geometry and pleaded for mercy from his professor. The professor granted it – sort of. “If you provide an accurate answer for one question” the professor said, “I will submit a passing grade for you.” Without much choice, the student agreed. Here is the question:

“If I give you a barometer, how can you use it to determine the height of this building?” The student smiled, and then began “Well there are several ways. I could tie the barometer to a rope, lower it from the roof to the ground and measure the length of the rope. Or I could drop the barometer, time its fall, and divide that time by 32 feet per second/per second. Or I could find the building superintendent and say ‘If you tell me the height of this building, I’ll give you this cool barometer.’ Or, if you want the conventional method, I could measure the barometric pressure at the base of the building, and again on the roof, and subtract the difference, thereby determining the building’s height.” The student passed.

Often, we try to put God in a box; to restrict how he can do his Kingdom work. We decide what constitutes a miracle, and how it must have happened. We decide if God is truly capable of solving the most challenging issues of our day, and the ones he can’t handle, we take on ourselves. We determine whose theology is accurate and whose is not. Who is going to heaven and who is not. And all the while, I think Jesus is looking down upon us and mumbling “Kids, kids, kids. Have you forgotten that I am God and can accomplish things that you can’t even imagine? My miracles are everywhere, and you don’t really have to understand them or explain them; just trust and obey.” And so we do. Thanks be to God. Amen.