St Mary's

I was in the Phillipines with some friends : and we ended up in a leaf hut in the middle of nowhere.

Marcos was still in power.  Private armies in the Philippines made it un-healthy to resist, or to question when rich landlords took over common land, and to add insult to injury left it fallow – while there was not enough for the sugar workers to eat.

For their children’s sake this had to change…

How could they change this injustice – New People’s Army maybe – or Corazon Aquino’ “People’s Power”…

And everywhere  … kids.

They found my hands interesting – not something I’m used to – because I have hairy fingers. “If you pulled the hairs”, they wondered, would they come out?”.  And I’m here to tell you, the answer is “Yes”…   That broke the ice, and the sugar workers began to talk … and they talked about “salvaging”…

If you spoke out, or were suspected of resistance – if you were seen as a leader – violent or peaceful – you could be found, dead, in a ditch…

Do you know anybody who has been salvaged? We asked.  And the litany began.  “My brother, last month”.. “My cousin … my son…”

It was illegal, of course. But when the rule of law is corrupt, what comfort is that… And they knew that they could be next.

And out of those small beginnings of resistance, big things were growing… and Marcos fell…. and opportunities opened for reform…  and for rear-guard actions to preserve power and privilege for the few…

It was no Pollyanna solution, solving all problems for all time…  Just more chances to get it right – and to get it wrong…. Big things growing from small beginnings – sometimes succeeding, sometimes dying away and needing to be begun again…

People sharing courage, hope and a vision

And at the time of Matthew’s story…  a high-profile activist had just been “salvaged” – no show trial here – just a sordid little piece of pay-back – with a little bit of booze, partying and sexual scandal thrown in…

Not strictly legal, of course – but then, who was going to challenge it…

John the Baptiser was dead.

And the disciples and Jesus knew they could be next.

So they found a deserted place (as they thought) to get their head space, to avoid the religious authorities who did not love them… and to think about “what next”…

“Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat, to a deserted place apart” (v. 13a).

Matthew does not spell out the reason for Jesus’ withdrawal.

• It could be fear.  Herod has just killed John the Baptist.  Jesus could be next.

• It could be timing.  On another occasion, Jesus chose not to go to Jerusalem because

“my time is not yet fulfilled” (John 7:8).

• It could be grief at John’s death.  John was kin and more than kin.  He was a close friend, a trusted colleague, and a member of the family.

So Jesus seeks solitude….

The only problem with his desire for solitude was – possibly spooked by the slaughter of John, 5000 people had followed him: people who were frightened and insecure: not happy with those who up to not had been their religious leaders; not at all sure of their future direction…  not sure of what or whom to believe, and looking for someone with answers.

They were needy. They were at risk. And they were hungry.

And the disciples suggested – Their hunger is their problem: let them fix it…

And when they have sorted out their own catering problems, then we can resume our brain-storming session…

And out of a small thing – the logistics of catering – came the chance of a big shift in their understanding.

It’s a bit hard to work out exactly what happens next…  I think this is a liturgical story…

The story is probably being told where the eucharist is to be celebrated so – Matthew emphasises the Bread  –  and goes easy on the fish…

And, with the eucharist in mind he has Jesus lift Eyes to heaven… blesses the bread and gives the loaves to the disciples to serve…

He even has Green grass in the desert…. For Matthew it’s a sign of the new reign of God …  In God’s kingdom ..the desert has becomes a place that can sustain life…

So what are we hearing : a liturgical story, not a literal reporting….

And what is the liturgical story telling us :

Out of a gesture of leadership – where an exhausted Jesus takes responsibility for making sure that the crowd is fed – grows caring and sharing, that makes a collection of individuals, for a time, into a community…

SHARE YOUR RESOURCES – BE A CARING COMMUNITY

Out of small things – a great thing grows… a sharing community

Let me tell you another story of leadership, shared risk, and compassion….

During World War II there was an incredible man who cared. His name was Metropolitan Cyrill. He was from Bulgaria. I don’t know whether you know much about Bulgaria, but it was an ally of Nazi  Germany during World War II. In spite of that fact, Hitler was not able to round up a single Jew in Bulgaria, primarily because of the leaders of the church there. They stood against Hitler. They cared for their Jewish brothers and sisters and they hung tough when the time came.

This is the story. German soldiers rounded up the Jews and had them down at the train station. They were ready to load them on the trains to ship them off to Auschwitz. It was the midnight hour. Suddenly at the end of the boulevard leading to the train station, there appeared this great church leader dressed in black with a beard that came down to his waist. He stood 6″5′ to start with but those Orthodox priests have miters on top of their heads so he must have looked like a giant. They said when he walked, men had to run to keep up with him because his stride was so great. Suddenly this man appeared at the end of the boulevard with about a thousand church people behind him. He strode down the boulevard, the church people marching behind him in silence in the dead of the night.

They surrounded the enclave of Jews. The SS Troopers tried to keep them out. Metropolitan Cyrill just laughed at them, pushed their guns aside, and marched among the Jews. As the Jews gathered around them, he let them know that he cared for them. He raised his hands and with one verse of scripture changed the destiny of a nation. He quoted from the Book of Ruth. He said this to the Jews as they gathered around him hysterically, ready to be shipped off to Auschwitz:

“Whithersoever thou goest, I will go. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my  God.”

Caring people, sharing compassion for others, taking a risk, and not knowing where it would lead them in the future….  not even knowing if they had a future

In the midst of a chaos of negativity, making a difference in the survival of others, and in their shared vision of themselves  – and sharing while respecting the integrity of widely divergent beliefs…

One last story: not surprisingly, from Northern Ireland

In 1974 I left Princeton  – having applied for a Presbyterian congregation in Northern Ireland…  I flew home on a Thursday, and preached on the Sunday – and was offered the position. Being the only applicant might have helped…  My predecessor had been there 46 years. His predecessor had been there longer, and then there was a fly-by-night who had been there 25 years.

The buildings were venerable but needed work.

• Fundraising.
• Start with a dance – who’s the best band in the area – we’ll spend more, charge more and make more.
• Leo McCaffrey – but he digs with the other foot.
• “What do you think about that” – decent man – for all that he’s a catholic…
• Leo told me it was the first time he’d been asked to play in a Presbyterian hall…
• We parked cars round the hall that we knew.. car bomb – no there isn’t.
• Sold out – broke fire regulations ..   From small things bigger things grew :
• stop now?  Too much fun.   … pantomime (I wrote it)
• there was one problem… we hadn’t been on the stage… so we thought – we need a professional –
• Leo McCaffrey -  who took a lot less than his usual fee – Don’t think that I don’t know what you’re doing…
• we opened the rehearsals to kids… protestant and catholic – who met and chatted as they picked up their kids..
• Bomb – Death of a parishioner  / funeral… invite the priest /
• from small beginnings, worthwhile things grew
• I make no claims for how lasting the effects were … the tribal pressures and the distrust were so strong — but it felt like a small sign of how things could be… as people shared risks, and built bridges between communities…

To me the essence of the feeding of the 5000 is that, in a context of threat and fear, a community learned – however fleetingly – to share and care…  a shared meal that fore-shadowed the Last Supper, and the sacrament of Communion.

I’m very conscious that we are in a community not unfamiliar with taking risks, not unfamiliar with being a pilgim people, not unfamiliar with sharing with those in need, not unfamilar with being maligned and misunderstood…

It seems therefore singularly appropriate to close this meditation  on sharing and caring with Rheinhold Neibuhr’s words of assurance — edited a little…

v “Nothing that is worth doing …. can be achieved in a lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.  Let us share our hope…

v Nothing, which is true or good or beautiful … makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we must be saved by faith.  Let us share our faith..

v Nothing we do….. however virtuous, can be accomplished alone. Therefore, we are saved, in community, by love.”  Let us share our love…