In the name of God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Holy Eucharist is the principal act of worship on the Lord’s Day, or so our Book of Common Prayer tells us. As some of you may remember, when the current Prayer Book was published, there came with it a shift from Morning Prayer as the normative Sunday worship experience to that of weekly Eucharist. And with that shift, came a change of identity of who we are as Episcopalians. We are people of God who gather weekly around the altar to receive the gifts of God. Part of what makes us distinctively Anglican is the way in which our worship is patterned around the Table.
This morning, I would suggest that it is not only our worship that is to be patterned on the Eucharist, but our entire lives. And our celebration of the Eucharist did not come about when a bunch of theologians got together and made it up. No, the essence of our celebration of the Holy Eucharist comes from the ministry of Jesus himself, being founded on today’s reading from Matthew.
In 1945, Gregory Dix, and Anglican monk, published a book called The Shape of the Liturgy in which he argues that it isn’t the specific words that we say that make a Eucharist valid, but rather the shape, or pattern, of the liturgy. Based on the example of Jesus in this feeding story, and the Last Supper, as well as some of the earliest celebrations of the Eucharist in the early Church, he said that the shape of the liturgy is a four-fold action. And you can see it in the Gospel reading- “taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke them, and gave the loaves to the disciples.” Take, bless, break, and give. That was the shape of that meal some 2,000 years ago in Galilee, and it is the shape of the Eucharist that we will celebrate today. And as I said earlier, it is a good shape for our lives as well.
The first action is to take the bread. What is interesting about this miracle is that Jesus doesn’t create the bread out of thin air. It was what the disciples had on hand. And it is only when they are willing to give it all to Jesus that the miracle happens. As we are moving towards the fall and an intentional focus on financial stewardship, this is something worth keeping in mind. We’ll get to the end of the story later, but there were 5,000 men gathered there that day, plus women and children, so likely close to 20,000 people. Though there were leftovers, there were only 12 baskets full, which to a crowd of 20,000 people, isn’t that much. What if they hadn’t been willing to part with all of the bread to start? What if they had only given Jesus four of the five loaves? Would there still have been enough to go around with such a slim margin?
Think back to the story in chapter 5 of Acts. Ananias sold some land, and instead of giving the full proceeds to the apostles, he kept some for himself. When Peter confronted him about it, he said “‘How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but to God!’ Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died.” Now, I’m not suggesting that if you don’t give all that you have that you will die, but it may very well be that some of the possibilities that God has in store for us might.
Jesus then looks up to heaven and blesses the bread and fish. He dedicates them to God. The word that is used in Scripture is often used to mean to praise or extol God. In offering a blessing, we give God thanks for the gifts that we have, even if they seem as insufficient as 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed a huge crowd. Last Sunday, you’ll recall that we heard a series of short parabolic sayings about the Kingdom of heaven, comparing it to a buried treasure, yeast, a mustard seed, and a pearl of great price. What Jesus was saying about the Kingdom through those sayings is that though it often is overlooked and disregarded as too small, the Kingdom of heaven is indeed something to treasure and will result in great richness if we can notice it. Those sayings are building towards this reading as a proof text. When asked if they had any food, the disciples essentially said “no, not really, just these five loaves and two fish. Nothing that could even come close to feeding this crowd.” But by blessing that meager offering and dedicating it to God, believe it or not, Jesus works with what we have and it becomes more than enough.
There is a story of a speaker at a stewardship conference who takes out a $100 bill and talks about money and what it can do in our lives. And he then talks about the importance of dedicating money to God in the practice of stewardship. So he takes out a lighter and burns the bill. The audience is shocked and said things like “that money could have done this or that,” reminding us of the disciple who chastised the woman who anointed Jesus feet with oil by saying “Why this waste? For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor.” The point is, when we dedicate something to God, it has already accomplished its purpose. When we bless something, it becomes God’s, and we relinquish control of it, letting go of our need dictate how it will be used. The lesson here for us is that in living the four-fold life, we will be called to bless things and give thanks for them, but then we need to step aside and let the Holy Spirit do its work.
Next, Jesus breaks the bread. But the sense of brokenness has a deeper meaning here. The lectionary did something today that I can’t stand- it left out half a verse, trying to tidy things up. But I made sure that we read the entirety of verse 13 which properly begins with “Jesus, hearing this.” Keeping those words in the reading makes us wonder “what things did Jesus hear?” Let’s back up a few verses and see; beginning with verse 11 “the head of John the Baptist was brought on a platter… John’s disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.” This is the reason why Jesus got into a boat and withdrew to a deserted place. He was mourning the brutal execution of his cousin and friend. He wanted to be alone and he needed to mourn. But there’s no rest for the Savior of the world.
Living a four-fold life doesn’t mean that everything will come up roses, or if they do, that thorns will accompany them. The breaking of the bread of course reminds us of the way in which Jesus’ body was broken. There is a Japanese word, kintsukuroi, which means “golden repair.” When a piece of pottery breaks, it is put back together with gold as the glue. The understanding is that the piece gains beauty through its brokenness. There is a great line from a prayer in our Prayer Book that says “We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.” Whether it is cracked pottery or our wounded lives, though the pains cannot be erased, brokenness can be redeemed. And in our brokenness, we are more deeply connected to the One who was broken on the Cross.
Consider our reading from Genesis this morning. Remember, Jacob has cheated his brother, Esau, out of his birthright and is now a fugitive. He knows that Esau is pursuing him and is fearful. Jacob wrestles with God or an angel, proclaiming afterwards “I have seen God face to face.” At the end of the struggle, Jacob is blessed, but in the process of his struggle, he injures his hip and limps away. Though he ends up being blessed, he will never walk the same again. When we are blessed, sometimes we are broken in the process. It is a fitting reminder that blessings change us. In living the four-fold life, we will experience the brokenness of this world. But it seems that it is only through being broken that we can give ourselves most fully to God’s Kingdom.
Which brings us to the last of the four actions- giving. This story answers the question proposed in Psalm 78:19 - “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?” - with a resounding “yes.” What is so profound about this story is that when it is getting late and people are getting hungry, Jesus says “they need not go away; you give them something to eat.” Notice that Jesus does not say “I will give them something to eat.” It is the disciples who do the giving, not Jesus. Sometimes people will, mistakenly, refer to this passage as “Jesus feeds the crowd.” Which is wrong because, in Jesus’ own words, it is the disciples who feed the crowd. We are reminded of Jesus words later in Matthew- “‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” It has been said that if you have plenty of food on your table that you shouldn’t pray for God to feed the hungry, but instead should get to work. The four-fold life is one of action.
And when we give what has been taken, blessed, and broken, there is always, always, enough. I really dislike our translation today of the phrase “they took up what was left over.” The Greek word doesn’t mean “left over,” but rather “abundance” or “overflowing.” Think of the imagery of Psalm 23, “my cup is running over.” When we give all of ourselves to be blessed and broken, there is not just enough, but a richness and abundance. The text notes that everyone that ate was filled. Which would have been quite the feast in Galilee. It was rare that you’d be able to eat until you didn’t want to eat anymore. As with many places under Roman occupation, food security was an issue. Jesus doesn’t provide for a light snack to hold them over until they get back home, he gives them a feast unlike anything they’ve ever experienced. If you take anything away from this sermon, take this: there is enough.
Despite what advertisers and politicians tells you, you are complete, you are worthy, you are loved. There actually is enough food to feed everyone. There is enough money for everyone to earn a living wage. There is enough room in our country for immigrants. There is enough space in our democracy for compromise. There is enough love to love all of our neighbors as ourselves. There is enough. And when we pattern our lives on the Eucharist by living a four-fold life, we will experience the abundant grace and love of God.
The Eucharist is central to our identity as Anglicans, as the four-fold pattern of taking, blessing, breaking, and giving was central to Jesus’ miracle of the loaves and fish. When we come together as the Body of Christ to celebrate and receive the Body and Blood of Christ, we get as close to heaven on earth as we ever will. And when we pattern our lives on the four-fold actions of Jesus and the Eucharist, our lives will be the most closely aligned with the Kingdom of God that they ever will be. Take. Bless. Break. Give.
