The Miracle of Love and Compassion

July 22, 2012

GOSPEL LESSON:　　Mark 6:30–44
30The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.
　
35And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 38And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42And they all ate and were satisfied. 43And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.
P: This is the Gospel of our Lord.
C: Praise to you, O Christ.

The Feeding of the Five Thousand is one of the greatest miracles that Jesus performed. From only five loaves of bread and only two fish, he fed the whole crowd of people. I have read and heard this story so many times in my life, that I do not get as amazed as I used to about this miracle. I feel that if Jesus is God, then of course he can do miracles. If Jesus is almighty God who daily feeds the whole world, then this miracle is easy for him to perform. But what still amazes me is why Jesus fed the people. It was because of love. When he saw that great crowd of people, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. The people seemed lost and bewildered. And Jesus had compassion on them. This compassion, I think, is the greatest miracle of the Bible. It is compassion, pity, and love. This love is the greatest miracle of the Bible.

A miracle is a great, powerful act of God. At the same time, a miracle is something that we do not expect to happen, it surprises us. It is like the expression, “It is a miracle he did not die in that horrible car crash.” “It is a miracle that I won the lottery.” The miracles of God are always surprising. We do not expect them in our daily lives. We do not expect God to work in our daily lives. And so, when something really wonderful happens, we call it a miracle and we Christians thank God for protection, for salvation, for safety, for deliverance, for unexpected grace and joy.

I think the greatest miracle is the miracle of God’s love. For God to hate this world and to want to destroy it seems the natural thing to happen. Because of sin and greed and violence, God has promised to destroy this world someday. And so, I think it is very surprising that God should love this world, this world of sin and hate. He should love the angels; he should love the innocent animals like bunnies and sheep. But why should he love sinful people? And I ask myself, why should he love me? Why should God care about me out of the billions of people on earth? I’m not such a great person, I’m not a saint, I do not deserve his kindness and salvation. Why should God choose me to love and bless? That is the mystery; that is the miracle of love.

On the day when Jesus fed the 5000 at the seashore, he first tested the disciples. He tested their compassion. The disciples did have compassion, but they lacked resources. All they had were 5 loaves and 2 fish. Jesus saw the dilemma of the disciples. He saw that they cared for the people, and he saw that the disciples needed help. Then came the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. Jesus stepped in when the disciples needed his help.

I think that Jesus tests us, too. He tests our compassion toward others. He tests our love. Jesus told the disciples to feed the crowd of people. I think Jesus tells us also to feed the crowd. Of course, with our limited recourses, we can not do that. How much bread do you have? How much compassion do you have? People are starving in this world. People need food. Africa is suffering from wars and a big drought and people are dying from hunger and flocking to refugee camps. Not only in Africa, there are other places in the world that are in similar straits. But we need not look to other countries. There are people on this island that do not have enough to eat because of poverty and unemployment. Our refrigerators and pantries might be full, we might have lots of money like the disciples’ two hundred denarii, but what is that in the face of such great need? It is like having only 5 loaves and 2 fish. We feel the frustration of the disciples. We feel our powerlessness, our inability to match our resources to our compassion. And so we have to rely on Jesus to multiply the loaves and the fish. Before breaking the bread, first of all, Jesus prayed. The first thing we must do also is to pray.

Jesus fed the crowd twice that day. Before feeding them bread and fish, he fed them with the Word of God. The people did not come out that day for a picnic. They had come to hear Jesus speak the Word of God. They were hungry for the Word. Without the Word of God, they were confused and lost like sheep without a shepherd. They were like refugees pouring into refugee camps. They were confused, scared, hungry, and yet, there was hope. Refugees hope to find safety. People come to Jesus with hope. Hope for a better life, hope for peace and healing, hope for eternal salvation, and sometimes, hope for a good, hot meal. Jesus taught the people many things about God. He talked about God’s love and compassion. He encouraged people to give that same love and compassion to other people. That is the same as the work of the church, the work of all believers, today, too.

I think the greatest miracle is the miracle of love and compassion. We see that miracle in Jesus on the cross. That was compassion that wanted to heal our sin. That was love that was willing to die for us in order to give eternal life. On the cross, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” Perhaps he was hungry too. But in his death and resurrection, he gave us spiritual food to feed our souls and to give us spiritual strength. This is the food of God’s word and promise. It forgives our sins. It gives us eternal life. That is the miracle of God’s love.

Whenever we have Holy Communion in church, we can remember the Feeding of the Five Thousand. We can remember that we were like lost sheep, but our Good Shepherd has guided us to his altar to receive his precious body and blood with the bread and wine. We are no longer lost. We are no longer hungry. Our Lord has had compassion on us. We see his love.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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