There are two stories in our Gospel reading — the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus walking on water In the story of the feeding of the 5,000, the multiplication formula doesn’t make sense: Five loaves of bread, two small fish = feeding 5000 with 12 baskets of leftovers. What is the difference? Jesus. The one who is in control, “Jesus took the loaves” We have the same conundrum as Christians. I piece of bread – one sip of wine – that’s the answer to life’s problems. It doesn’t add up. The difference? Jesus. “On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread – took the cup”
Jesus can miraculously make much more than any of us can imagine as Paul says in our 2nd reading.. This happens when we have faith that Jesus is in control. In control – not controlling which can seem an oppressive behaviour. When the storms of life threaten us, we turn to the one who is stronger than we are and stronger than the storms themselves. As the disciples discovered recently – who is this that even the wind and the waves must obey him. It didn’t add up. We can’t avoid the storms. God doesn’t promise to eliminate storms from our lives. But God does promise – I am with you always till the end of the age.
And that’s how the 2nd story connects. The disciples again find themselves at sea – in a storm. The difference this time is that Jesus is not in the boat with them. And interestingly they don’t cry out in fear. Maybe they learnt something from the previous occasion. The message of both stories is facing what appears to be an unsolvable problem until Jesus takes control. “Where do we buy bread for all these people to eat?” A boy has five barley loaves and two fish.” But instead of looking at the meagre supplies – looking at what we have – it’s about faith. Who is in control?
By faith we can turn control of our lives over to God. Let God be God. And we don’t have to wait until we realise that our strength is too weak to handle the storm we face and only then turn to Jesus. It’s a matter of allowing the Lord to guide our lives always. Sadly it’s often only when we realise our own strength is inadequate that we realise the need to turn control of our lives over to God. But we fight that idea of trusting someone other than ourselves. Just look at David today. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and she becomes pregnant. He knew he did wrong. But instead of going to God for mercy he deals with the matter himself and makes a complete mess of it. Now, David is an adulterer AND a murderer. It gets worse when he remains in control. If only he had sought God’s mercy which he discovers later and writes Psalm 32:
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long
Like the boy and the apostles in our gospel reading, we have only small amounts of resources to meet big needs. We have some water splashed on us in our Baptism – we have a wafer of bread – a sip of wine to meet all the storms in life. But as we see with he disciples who are battling a storm – Jesus comes to them – walking on the water and says – It is I; do not be afraid. Which in fact, literally, Jesus says – Don’t be afraid – I AM. I AM – the name given by God to Moses to face his battles against Pharoah and his army. The name given to us that is above all names. The name that not only the storms and wind and waves must obey but every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The five loaves and two small fish are small indeed. But, as Jesus says, faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains – and feed 5000 and calm storms. Our resources are inadequate for many of the tasks we face today. Jesus can and does multiply our small resources. In spite of our lack of confidence in OUR resources, this story urges us to bring those resources to Jesus. he can and does expand them. It’s a matter of faith to use what God has given us.
God can and does work wonders with our insufficient resources, just like Jesus used the
boy and his lunch for great and glorious purposes — feeding 5,000 people. And not only did Jesus feed 5,000 people but there were twelve baskets full of leftovers! When we turn our gifts over to God, and trust that “my grace is all you need” we discover an abundance of gifts – as Paul discovered: Jesus is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine,.
Our problem in life is that we think we need to stay in control, like David. When the storms of life overwhelm us, we need to remember that when we are weak then we are strong because God takes control – as he did in both our stories today. And that can be frightening too – to let go and hand it over to God. The disciples were afraid of the rough waves and the violent wind. But they were more afraid when they saw a shadowy figure coming toward them, walking on top of the water. They were terrified.
Handing over control can also terrify us. Jesus is aware of what is going on in our lives too. When we are caught in life’s storms Jesus may come to us in ways we don’t expect. The story of Jesus walking on water is about Jesus coming to where we are. He comes with meagre supplies – water, bread, wine. That’s the real miracle.
He knows where we are and cares about what is happening. God is in control, not me. God acts in his way, not mine. God is stronger than the storms of life and God cares about us as his children. Faith means trusting, depending on Jesus, not ourselves. Jesus comes to us in the storms of life and sometimes, like the disciples, we don’t recognize him right away.
Sometimes it is only after an event or a tragedy or a storm that we can’t handle, we see that Jesus has come to where we are. Sometimes it is only later, when we really think about what happened that we realize God was there all the time, working his will even though we thought all was lost. Sometimes God’s timing is different than ours. Jesus didn’t get into the boat with his disciples as they left. After they had left, Jesus could see that his friends were in trouble. They had rowed 3 or 4 miles by themselves. That’s not the timing they expected. But Jesus saves them when the storm came and he will save us.
He may not save us when we want him to do so and he may not save us in the way we expect, but God answers the prayers of his people. It is in waiting that we really get to know God. Waiting is the test of real faith, because when we wait, we recognize that we are not in control. God is in control. As Isaiah says, “Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up on wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
When we wait for the Lord, renewal comes through faith. Waiting teaches us to know God which is difficult because we like to be in control. That’s why everything has remote controls: We hold the remote control for the TV, the garage, the gate, the CD player, or the DVD player, the car and we think, “I’m in control.” Today’s Gospel reveals the secret that God is in control. And that with our limited human resources God can steer us through the storms of life Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will not be afraid for you are with me. Jesus comes to where you are, despite obstacles that we think would keep him away.
