Year B

John 6:1-21

The Rev. Denise Vaughn

The Miracle of the Unexpected

Have you ever had something totally unexpected happen? When the seemly impossible all of a sudden becomes possible? It happened to a group of us who traveled to the Dominican Republic about 18 years ago to build a playground for the children of Santisima Trinidad Episcopal Church.  This project turned out to be one of the hardest ones we had taken on so far. It was even harder than the 22 pews and the altar we built for them the previous year. Before we left for the Dominican Republic, we purchased the kit for the playground that included the nuts and bolts, the seats for the swings and the slide. We divided what we could among the group to take in our luggage, along with many of the tools that would be needed. The wood would be bought in the DR, by our Dominican friends at Santisima Trinidad and it would be at the site when we got there.

We planned on staying a week and because the climate is tropical, which means hot and humid, we knew we would need to work with many breaks, so we set off for the church the next day. One of the perks we looked forward to was the ladies of the church feeding us delicious Dominican food for lunch. The project started off well until, after few days into it, one of the team members, while working on the last section of the playground set, realized that one of the major bolts that secured that section was striped. We determined we could not finish the project without that bolt and unfortunately, the kit did not give us an extra one.  So the next two days were spent looking for a replacement bolt. Unlike here in the states where you can get on the phone and call around to find something, at that time in the DR you had travel to the hardware stores to look for something.

We looked in every hardware store we could find and could not find the bolt we needed and since we were going home in day, the situation seemed hopeless and after much prayer, we decided the only thing we could do was to come back as soon as we could and finish the project. We were discussing the plan, when the priest of the church, Rev. Ramon, came running to us all excited. He had found the very bolt we needed to finish the project in some old bolts he had laying around his house. It was a Holy Spirit moment and the hair on my arms still rise when I remember that moment when we all realized what had happened; the unexpected had happened; a miracle had happened. We hear of the unexpected in today’s gospel story. A story of two of Jesus’ great miracles back to back of which John has recorded for us.

 First, we hear the story of a hillside full of people, who have come to Jesus hungry for many things. Jesus showing compassion for the crowd, with his disciples try to come up with a plan to feed the masses. The disciples, particularly Philip, are pretty insistent that there is absolutely, positively, no way that all these people will be fed. It’s time to give up but Andrew recognizes the problem and has been among the people, taking inventory of their resources. The only food he has uncovered are a boy’s five barley loaves and two dried fish; the food of the poor. Andrew then asks the critical question, “What are they among so many?” Now you would think that by this point, the disciples would have figured out that Jesus does not do things in the way anyone expects and here again is another example.  With five loaves of bread and two fish, the unexpected happens Jesus feeds 5000 or more people that afternoon, with plenty left over.

Then, later that same day, the disciples are out in a boat. About three or four miles out, John tells us, all huddled together in the middle of a storm, the dead of night all around them, when Jesus appears unexpectedly walking on the water calming first the storm, then the disciples. What links these two stories together is that Jesus does the totally unexpected, and it changes the lives of those around him forever. Philip, nor Andrew, nor the little boy, or anyone else standing there, ever dreamed of what was going to happen when Jesus got hold of that bread and those fish. It was a Holy Communion moment, similar to that of the Last Supper, and not one of the disciples expected Jesus to walk up beside the boat on the water, some four miles out and greet them in the middle of the storm.

As we know from many of the gospel stories, Jesus, is constantly doing things that no one expects. Yet, like those surprised disciples so many years ago, this still seems to surprise us. Why…why should we be surprised? I mean, this savior, born in a manger, son of a carpenter. This man, born in the flesh, complete God in human form, this king, nailed to a cross, and resurrected into new life. We should know by now that with Jesus, anything is possible. No one was expecting the Messiah as he came the first time and we still have trouble expecting him now.  When we are confronted with a big problem, we still find ourselves counting our resources and at times declaring the situation hopeless. Yet, Jesus stepped in and immediately the boat reached the shore and insufficient resources of food were made sufficient…in fact more than sufficient.

Did you notice how Jesus did this? First, he had everyone sit down. Then, he gave thanks for, that is, he turned the food over to God asking God to make the bread and fish sufficient. Then, he took the resources that God had just blessed and he gave them away. Jesus’ response to God’s generosity was to see to it that nothing was wasted. This is how we continue to be fed to this very day. This is how we are fed every time we eat the bread and drink the wine. When we eat this bread and drink this cup, Christ enters our minds and hearts spiritually just as surely as the physical elements of bread and wine enter our bodies. We enjoy the same perfect union with God and the Holy Spirit that Jesus had and everyone is satisfied in Christ. There has been and always will be food enough and more through Christ to satisfy every hungry heart.

 What we learn from these miracle stories today is that our Messiah is with us, doing the unexpected, loving the unexpected, and gives us an example of how we are to witness to others about this Jesus in the world.  I can only image what it would look like if Christians everywhere worked together to show the world the unexpected Jesus?  Where everything we did in our worship and outreach would point to Christ’s abundance and compassion in response to human need and injustice. Paul’s prayer today in his letter to the Ephesians would be realized in our world. Beyond our small hopes, small lives and expectations, God is at work.

Today, John calls us to the faith of the boy who willingly shared his small lunch. It’s a faith that knows that self-interest never satisfies. It’s rooted in Jesus and gladly follows his way of life-giving sacrifice to the cross. Only this kind of authentic faith that seeks God’s face and hears God’s voice will realize and show the unexpected Jesus because it is rough in the midst of the storms, our own and others, and we need to show how little there is to fear when God is the strength of our lives.  That’s the day when everyone is satisfied in Christ both those inside and outside the church. To God be the glory.