All Are Welcome, All Are Blessed

My wife Beth's devotion for our church for this past Sunday. 

All are welcome. All are blessed.

By Beth Stroble

Did you realize that the description of Jesus’ feeding of the Five Thousand is the only miracle that appears in all four Gospels? The elements of the story are generally well-known, although the context for the story likely less so. Memory brings to mind an image of Jesus and his disciples taking time to refresh and regroup in a relatively remote location. Masses of people found them, and as Jesus took time then to teach them, all grew hungry. When the disciples suggested sending the crowd away to get food, Jesus instead instructs the disciples to gather what is available. They produced a meager assortment of five loaves and two fish, Jesus blesses the food, all are fed abundantly, and twelve baskets of leftovers remain. A miracle.

The miracle is at least two-fold as we recall Jesus’ words to the devil after being tempted for forty days. Luke tells us that Jesus had eaten nothing in those forty days and was starving. The devil tempted him to use his power to command a stone to become a loaf of bread. “Jesus replied, ‘It’s written, People won’t live only by bread’” (Luke 4:4). He refuses the dare, but we do not doubt his power to do such a thing. From Jesus’ words and actions, we begin to understand that the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand is about more than a transformation of a few items of food to the bounty capable of feeding so many.

With Rev. Lemoine’s sermon, we begin a series of sermons that will take us on the journey of Jesus and the disciples as told by Luke. In this journey, we learn more about the lessons Jesus gave the Twelve and gives us for our own discipleship journeys.

One of these is startling to someone who, admittedly, struggles with packing for a trip. Because of wanting to make sure I have items for any eventuality, I over-pack. Jesus’ advice to the disciples as he charged them to go out in a ministry of teaching and healing was to take nothing and instead to rely upon the hospitality of strangers. This is hard advice to hear and to act on, even though my experiences of arriving in China and Uzbekistan without luggage, and the helpfulness I encountered from my hosts should give me more faith in others and the wisdom of traveling light. Instead, I cram more into a carry-on. How hard to let go of even the least productive habits!

I think of the five thousand. They came with very little yet left with abundance—food for the spirit and food for the body. All were fed. Generosity prevailed. All were welcome. All were blessed, and all received the gift of grace.

I think of the Twelve. After a long journey that created the need for a time of rest and retreat, their expectations to get what they needed instead turned to a time to give to others’ needs.

As they saw themselves lacking the resources to meet the crowd’s and their own needs, faith made a miracle, to use Rev. Lemoine’s words. Jesus blessed the food, and they had plenty.

I think of ourselves and the times we gather in worship to refresh our spirits, to gain the strength we need for the coming week. I think of our coming together at the Lord’s Table, participating in the same communal meal foreshadowed by the Feeding of the Five Thousand and the Last Supper. All are welcome. All are blessed. We live by more than bread. We come with nothing and leave with everything, through the redeeming grace and power of our risen Lord. And we are all charged to go forward, serving others with all that we have and are.

Dear God, we praise you for the blessings you shower upon us. We thank you for providing abundantly for our need, not because of our worth, but because of your love for us. Help us have faith in your miraculous generosity and your power to equip us for your service. Fuel our love of you and our fellow travelers on this earthly journey. Bless us to live with a spirit of abundance and generosity. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.