The gospel this week is from Matthew 14.  It’s the story of the feeding of the 5000 people.  This story follows directly from the feast of Herod Antipas at which Salome dances in exchange for the beheading of John the Baptist.  The two “banquets” are radically different for many reasons.  Herod’s feast belongs to the world of the flesh.  The food is rich and sumptuous.  The guests fawn on and flatter their host, hoping for power and preferment.  Salome’s dance is sexual, designed to make Herod’s body hum with the possibility of enjoying his beautiful step-daughter in a very inappropriate way.  And the final dish, borne in on a silver platter, is violent death, a  vengeance served hot and sickeningly real.

The second banquet belongs to the world of the spirit.  It is open to everyone; not just the rich, the powerful, the sycophants, and the panderers. The host is weary and grief-stricken, but he does not turn his guests away or neglect them; he cares for them, he heals them, he teaches them, and he feeds them.  The food is simple and plain.  The entertainment is friendly conversation with a neighbour, a friend, a fellow disciple.  And the final dish is a feeling of complete fulfillment, a tangible understanding of God’s love given to all, – more than enough for everyone.

The juxtaposition of the two feasts is not accidental.  Here is your choice, Matthew says.  Choose the flesh or choose the spirit.

It’s a choice we are facing more and more often in our world.  Herod is still around, though he has a few more modern names.  He still believes only in wealth and power; he still refuses to listen to the wise or to act upon their warnings; he still surrounds himself only with people he can control ; he still indulges his body with rich food, mindless sex, and gratuitous violence.  He still has no use for the laws of God or the laws of men.

Outside Herod’s strongholds, we still see the poor, the disenfranchised, the sick, the disillusioned, and those suffering from racial and gender violence, and we pray for something different, a world where these people are welcomed, accepted, helped, healed, and fed.  That is the world that we see in the miracle of the feeding of the 5 thousand.  Whether it really literally happened or not, this story helps us to imagine a different way to live, a way we can hope for in our world.

The usual explanation for the miracle is this:  the people saw the disciples (or the young boy) offer a few loaves and fishes, and broke out their own lunches to share with their neighbours. It’s a miracle, but it’s not magic, and that is what makes it so powerful.

This story may be about a miracle, but it also gives us some practical real-life lessons on how to create the world we want to live in out of the world we do live in.

The first lesson is that it is our job to look after our brothers and sisters.  When the disciples suggest to Jesus that they should begin to send the crowds away, he says, “You feed them.” The key point here is that it is not Jesus who fed the 5000. People fed the 5000. Jesus did not magically extend the loaves and fishes. People shared what they had with their neighbours. They fed each other. Jesus is the inspiration; they supply the food.  We feed each other, inspired by the gospel of Jesus of Nazareth, and  in doing that, we make the Kingdom of God a reality.

The second lesson is that it only takes one person to stand up and and take action to begin a miraculous chain reaction that can change the world.  In Matthew, the disciples offer up their poor lunch to the crowds; in John, it is a young boy.  The details don’t matter.  One person can change the world; one person can make a difference.

If we all share what we have, there will be more than enough for everyone.  That’s the third lesson, and it is a familiar one – even a little shop-worn.  We get the part about sharing.  What we don’t get is that what we have to share is enough.  We think we can’t do it.  We think we’re not good enough.  We think it will be embarrassing to bring our lousy little loaves and fishes to the Lord of the Universe.  We don’t speak up and we don’t step up because we don’t feel good enough.  Here’s the thing.  We are good enough.  Our gift is enough.  But it won’t be if we don’t share it.

Finally, the story shows us that something that seems small and insignificant, even unworthy, can create a huge change for everyone.  The numbers in the gospels are no doubt inflated.  Were there really 5000 men and another 5000 women and children in the crowd?  Were there really 12 baskets of crumbs gathered up after the meal?  Probably not.  But the small meal brought to Jesus by the disciples results in everyone being satisfied.  This is really the same story as the parable of the mustard seed. The 5 loaves and 2 fishes, like the mustard seed, are small and insignificant, but, inspired by the Holy Spirit, they grow into enough food for a huge crowd of more than 5000 people.

If we think of the story as a fable or a metaphor, rather than the history of a real event, then the loaves and fishes extend even further.  Like that small, ordinary meal, the good news that we hear in the gospels is enough for us.  It nourishes us completely, and there is always enough to feed many others.  The Eucharist is also a very small meal.  Like the loaves and the fishes, it is blessed and broken by Jesus, and like the loaves and fishes, it is sufficient spiritual food for us.  Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life,” and that, too is enough for us.

Like the crowds in this story, we also choose spiritual enlightenment and healing over the worldly banquet.  We also come to be healed, to be taught, and to be fed.  Like the 5000, we open our hearts and share with our neighbours here.  Even just one person who comes forward to share her gifts can inspire others to do the same thing.
We can feed each other now. We do feed each other now. Each of us may bring only one loaf of bread or one small fish to the table, but, when we share our understanding of the gospel and our commitment to it, everyone’s ideas are extended and everyone grows. And when we do that, there will be enough for everyone, enough even for the poor and oppressed of the world.