Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
October 2, 2005

Scripture:

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

Most of you know that this is our regularly scheduled Communion Sunday, the first Sunday of the month. You may not be aware that this particular first Sunday of the month is World Communion Sunday, a Sunday designated by the ecumenical movement to commemorate the unity of the church, invisible as it may be, around the Lord’s Table. And so it is particularly appropriate on this particular Sunday that we reflect at least briefly on the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Holy Communion. To help us do that I have chosen a Gospel passage that is not from the lectionary readings for today. It is from the lectionary readings for July 31 of this year, but that’s OK It’s still the Gospel. It is, as we just heard, Matthew’s version of the miracle known as the feeding of the five thousand.

I have often been struck when reading this story by how Eucharistic it is. Of course, it isn’t the story of the Last Supper, the Gospel story that deals directly with Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper that gives us the words we always use when we celebrate the Sacrament. It does, however, contain these words: "He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves...and all ate and were filled." Matt. 14:19a-20a Although that language isn’t in the actual story that gives us the Eucharist, it is definitely Eucharistic language; and it suggests to me a way to understand this feeding miracle story that isn’t literal but that is, I think faithful to the story’s intent.

I understand this story not as a factual account of the Lord’s Supper or literally as a miracle story either, but then we modern people-or post-modern people, whatever we are-get way too hung up on taking Bible stories literally. The very early church, the church in the second and third centuries CE, was very clear that there are several ways to read Bible stories. One way is literally, factually, and the early church didn’t discount that way of reading; but it didn’t consider it the most significant way of reading either. Early theologians, like Origen for instance, thought that a non-literal way of reading the Bible that they called "allegorical" got at a deeper meaning of a Bible story than a mere literal, factual reading. My dictionary defines an allegory as "a story in which people, things, and happenings have another meaning" or a "symbolic narration or description." I want to suggest this morning that we understand the story of the feeding of the five thousand as an allegory of the Eucharist, as Matthew’s Eucharistic language clearly invites us to do.

What happens in the story? Jesus and the disciples are faced with the seemingly impossible task of feeding a large throng of people with seemingly grossly inadequate resources. It was impossible. It couldn’t be done. Yet we are told that all ate and were filled, and there was food left over for many more people. That seems impossible, but look at it as an allegory that is saying not that the people were fed physically but that they were nourished spiritually. Then it makes a lot more sense.

Just like the Eucharist. As I told the kids a few minutes ago, we call it a meal. We come to the Lord’s table to be fed. At the end of every Communion service lately I’ve been using the hymn "Go My Children With My Blessing," the second verse of which begins: "Go my children, fed and nourished...." A meal? Fed and nourished on a crumb of bread and a sip of grape juice? Impossible! It can’t be done!

Well, not literally it can’t, but allegorically it can. Because you see the Eucharist isn’t a real meal, it is an allegorical meal. It isn’t enough good or drink to nourish our bodies, not the way the church does it today; but that isn’t what Communion is about. It doesn’t feed our bodies, it feeds our hearts. It doesn’t prevent physical hunger or dehydration, it feeds our spiritual hunger and gives us the Living Water of Jesus Christ.

A crumb of bread and a sip of juice aren’t enough to feed our bodies, but they are more than enough to feed our souls, for speaking allegorically we feed on the presence and the grace of Jesus Christ. The presence of Christ can be symbolized by a crumb of bread and a sip of juice. We can take the grace of Christ into our lives through a crumb of bread and a sip of juice, but Christ’s presence overflows our plate and our cup like the loaves and fish overflowed the baskets in our Gospel story. The grace of Christ overflows our little symbols and fills the entire world, the entire cosmos. The Gospel story is literally about abundant food. For us it is about abundant grace, just like the Eucharist. Grace in little symbols that fills our souls with peace, hope, courage, and joy. Grace in little symbols that flows out from here and from every place that the Eucharist is celebrated, filling the whole world with God’s love. Of that grace, all eat and are filled. It isn’t possible. It can’t be done. Maybe not. It just happens to be true anyway. And for that feeding miracle we can all give God our sincerest thanks and praise. Amen.