"From Pocket Lint to Plenty!"

Maybe it's the emotional roller coaster of being a companion to people who are navigating the peaks and valleys of life. Or maybe it's the bittersweet feeling of saying good-bye to our intern this past week - bitter because I'll miss her, yet also sweet because I trust God has important work for her to do. Or maybe it's my personal stress level, as I frantically try to round up all my runaway "ducks" and get them in a row, so that I can go on renewal leave August 11^th in good conscience, knowing I've done my part to put things in order...  Most likely, it's some combination of all of the above! And yet whatever the reason or reasons, when I sat down to compose this sermon, I found myself at a loss for words. Dried up. In the wilderness...  Which is NOT a good place for a preacher to be! Just sayin'!... Of course, it wasn't the first time I've found myself feeling that way, so I had some idea of how to cope! It's always good to start with prayer, so I did that: "Help me, God. I've got nothing.... I've got...pocket lint!. " I sat for a while in silence, listening, and I sensed the Spirit saying to me - not for the first time, mind you! - "Pocket lint?! I can work with that!... Don't forget: In the beginning I brought creation out of chaos. I'm the One who brings life where death seems to have won the day!..." And then the Spirit said to me, "So, you think you've got nothing? Start with where you are and what you've got, and then watch what I do with it!..." "Okay, Lord," I thought. "You've never let me down before! So, I offer my pocket lint up to you, trusting that you have the power to bring forth abundant blessing even from fluff and stuff!. "

So, I'm curious: How many of you can relate to that feeling of "all I've got is pocket lint?" [show of hands...] Yeah, you and I know how it feels to be running on empty, don't we? We know what it feels like to be dried up. We know what it feels like to be stuck in a wilderness place with very few resources to draw upon for ourselves, let alone share with others!... [Amen?!...]

Well, guess what: We're in good company, because in today's reading from Matthew's gospel, Jesus and his first disciples are feeling much the same!... When we meet up with them in verse 13, they're all still reeling from the news that Jesus's cousin, John the Baptist, has been beheaded at King Herod's gruesome birthday party. Matthew the Evangelist tells us that when Jesus hears the news of his cousin's tragic death, he doesn't say anything because, really, what's there to say?! Instead, he takes a boat and goes away to a deserted place by himself. That same evening, Jesus's disciples join him in that deserted place, no doubt longing for some time and space to grieve and pray with their teacher. But before they even settle in for the night, they suddenly find themselves surrounded by a great crowd of strangers who come to ask Jesus for healing. Now, Matthew doesn't actually do the math, but he does clue us in that there are likely more than 10,000 people- perhaps as many as 15, 000 -- in that crowd; he does this by telling us there were more than 5000 men PLUS women and children.... In any case, thousands of people show up, which points to Jesus already being so deep into his ministry of healing and teaching that his reputation precedes him. From here on out, no matter how he tries, it will literally be impossible for Jesus to escape notice.

To be sure, the disciples are astonished by the size of the crowd, and they're also amazed to see that in spite of all Jesus been through, he still manages to feel compassion and to summon the strength to heal thousands of sick people. Truth be told, at the end of the day, it makes them tired just watching Jesus!... And it's easy to imagine them thinking. "Okay! Jesus is finally done healing all those people, and now it's late. Let's get him to send them away, so we can eat in peace and have some down time by ourselves...." So, they go to Jesus and say, "Teacher, this place is a wilderness - it's literally 'food desert!' -- and it's getting late. Send the people away, so they can buy food for themselves in the villages...." They seem to expect Jesus to agree with them; after all, he's the one who set off to have some alone time after receiving the news of John's death. But to their surprise, Jesus seems totally fine with letting the people hang around. Not only that, he also seems to think his friends should help him take care of the crowd! This comes through when he responds, "They need not go away. You give them something to eat..." When his disciples point out that they only have five loaves and two fish - barely enough to feed themselves!-Jesus says simply, "Bring them here to me..." He then blesses and breaks the loaves and the fish, and gives the pieces to the disciples. They, in turn, distribute the broken pieces among the crowd, and amazingly there's more than enough to satisfy everyone's hunger - both their bodily and their spiritual hunger ..... And there's more!... Matthew tells us that at the end of the meal there are twelve baskets full of leftovers. Let's see, that makes...one basket for each disciple, which is a symbolic way of saying that God has more work for all the disciples to do when it comes to feeding God's flock!...

So, here's a funny thing, friends: Maybe you could even call it a small miracle.... Remember how I started out with pocket lint, which I gave to God? Well, in a very short time God somehow blessed my measly, insignificant offering and turned it into something more-something plentiful and nourishing for my soul: Bit by bit, God transformed my fluff and stuff into some nuggets of insight about our gospel reading, and I want to share three of those nuggets now, in the hope that they'll nourish you, too!... So, here are three insights I've gained:

1. First insight: When I was younger, I used to think it was important to try to explain the mechanics of the miracle of the feeding of the 10,000+: "How on earth did Jesus do that?!" Was it kind of like magic, or did his act of sharing inspire others to share the bits of food they'd hidden away in their cloaks?... " But now I don't think it matters so much "how" Jesus performed this miracle. After all, it's a miracle, so by definition it belongs to the mystery of God, which defies explanation!... As I've come to see it, the real miracle lies in the fact that God calls ordinary people like you and me to participate in God's extraordinary work of healing and feeding the world. In his commentary on Matthew's gospel, Eugene Boring writes, ""However the story is interpreted, Jesus' charge to his disciples stands: You give them something to eat.' The source of the feeding is God, but the resources are human. The work of the disciples, the 'bread' of human effort, is honored, used, and magnified by Jesus….” ¹

2. Second insight: I think one of the things Jesus teaches us here is that as disciples we should put ourselves at God's disposal, rather than asking God to bless our plans. That reminds me of a quote attributed to President Abraham Lincoln, who once said he tried never to presume that God was on his side, but instead prayed fervently for God to give him the wisdom to be on God's side....Turning back to our gospel story, you may recall that when the disciples ask Jesus for help in carrying out their plan to send the crowds away, Jesus turns the tables and commands them to carry out God's plan by welcoming and feeding the hungry. As we've seen, the disciples are skeptical when they look at the five loaves and two fish, but in the end, everything goes according to the divine plan, and there's more than enough food to go around!... Hmm, you know, it occurs to me that where we humans see other people as a "problem" to be rid of, Jesus, the compassionate One, sees neighbors to be welcomed and fed!...

3. The third insight I gleaned this week may seem kind of redundant, but I think it bears repeating: In Matthew 14, Jesus teaches that when God calls us to do something, God will also provide the resources we need to carry out the task - even when all you and I seem to have on hand is pocket Iint !...

I wonder: When have you experienced God taking your "pocket lint"-your nothing or next-to-nothing -- and using it for good? I'd like to invite all of us to ponder this in the coming days and maybe share a story to inspire someone else  And that brings me to the story of something that happened earlier this week. On Tuesday I was working through my rather lengthy to-do list, when I came to a task I'd labeled "call Sarah Rodriguez from Bridging Cultures." Sarah had texted me a few weeks ago, asking if there was a time we could chat on the phone, so that she could update me on some things. I had given her a time when I was available, and she had agreed, but then neither of us followed through on the phone call. Anyway, something nudged me to reach out to her this week, and I'm pretty sure it was the Holy Spirit!... See what you think when I tell you about our conversation! It went something like this:

"Hey, Sarah!," I said. "Sorry we didn't connect sooner .... I seem to recall you wanted to tell me about some things that are happening at Bridging Cultures  " Sarah assumed I'd already heard that Bridging Cultures had been asked by the property owner to stop holding its food bank distribution at their current location. I told her, "No, I hadn't heard that." She then told me the story of how she'd searched and negotiated with other churches that have both adequate warehouse space and distribution space for the food bank. She thought she'd found a place, but then at the last minute - this past Monday evening- the church leadership changed their mind and said, "Sorry. We can't do it right now. We need more time to talk with our members and take a vote  " So, when I called Sarah on Tuesday, she was feeling pretty discouraged and rather panicky. She mentioned that the Oregon Food Bank had approved them to do a pop-up food bank in another location for four weeks, if they needed to. So, I said, "Well, it just so happens we have an Executive Council meeting tonight. Let me check and see what our leadership thinks, and I'll get back to you...." So, that evening I told our Exec team about how Bridging Cultures needed a place to hold their food bank for the next four weeks, in order to buy them some time to find a suitable, more permanent location. We voted unanimously to allow them to use Zoar's parking lot because they've become trusted ministry partners and because...Jesus wants us to help feed hungry people! ... And in case you didn't know, friends, a LOT of our neighbors are hungry!  Did you know that 1 in every 7 people and 1 in every 6 children in Oregon is currently facing food insecurity? Did you know that in the past two years visits to the Oregon Food Bank Network have risen 51%, reaching a record 2.9 million visits last year? Did you know that just within the past year our friends at Bridging Cultures have gone from hosting a food bank once a month to holding three food banks every week?! Did you know there is actually enough food for everyone, and that people go hungry because of policy choices, not scarcity? It's true!... It seems we humans have never been good at sharing the resources God has entrusted to our care.... You can find more information about hunger on the Oregon Food Bank's website, and I've printed their list of ten "hunger facts" for anyone who'd like to pick up a copy after worship....

Back  to my story: When I texted Sarah early Wednesday morning to let her know that Exec had voted to allow Bridging Cultures to do a pop-up food bank in our parking lot for the next four weeks, she was so grateful and happy. She said, "What a relief! Thank you. It is incredible that you were moved to call me yesterday out of the blue and this all worked out!" I replied, "Right?! The timing!..." Friends, as I texted back, I was grinning because I know it was the Spirit nudging me to call Sarah.... After all, Jesus wants us to feed hungry people!

So, today I'm grateful that our congregation is able to help our friends from Bridging Cultures, as they do the work of feeding hungry neighbors. Yet at the same time, I'm also worried, and I'm praying hard that God will help them find the right location for their food bank because if they don't, they will have to cease operating, and the neighbors Jesus wants us to feed will go hungry....

And there's something else that came when I offered my pocket lint to God  I can't speak for you, but lately, I have a strong sense that the Spirit of our Risen Lord is saying to our Zoar community, "Feed my sheep. Tend my lambs. Feed my lambs...." For example, a couple of weeks ago, a number of Zoar volunteers and Canby Kiwanis partners were recognized at a City Council meeting for their work at the Community Dinner, which has served more than 75,000 meals over the last 15 years. These meals have brought people together and nourished them in both body and spirit, fulfilling Jesus's command to feed and tend the lambs of his flock - the vulnerable ones whom he also calls "the least of these who are my siblings...." Also, there's a group of Zoar folks and people from the wider community who've been using grant money received from the Oregon Food Bank to build cross-cultural community in these challenging times. They've been doing this by holding cooking classes and gathering people around the table to share meals. They've dubbed their group "Cocinando el future juntas" - "Cooking the Future Together." Friends, I have no doubt Jesus is smiling to see this beautiful diversity of God's children gathered around the table to share food and fellowship!. .. Finally, as I've already share, just this week I've felt the Spirit nudging us to help our friends from Bridging Cultures feed hungry people with food and healing and love because it's what God calls and equips us to do.

As I think about Jesus's charge to his disciples - "You give them something to eat." -- I'm grateful that Zoar's Tuesday Night Community Dinner is still going strong, I'm grateful for the creative efforts of "Cocinando," and I'm grateful that our ' congregation is able to provide space for the pop-up food bank for the next four weeks. Beyond those things, I'm not yet sure how else God is calling us to feed our neighbors in body and soul. So, I want to ask you to do a quick share, friends: Where have you perceived the Holy Spirit nudging God's people here at Zoar? How do Y.Q\!_believe we are being called and equipped to join in Christ's compassionate mission of healing and feeding God's children?

[pass mic around...]

Let's close with a short, but powerful prayer from Latin America:

Lord,

to those who hunger, give bread.

And to those who have bread, give the hunger for justice.

Amen.

¹ M. Eugene Boring, Matmew, 1\New Interpreter's Bible, p. 326.

"From Pocket Lint to Plenty!"