Never Enough

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
July 26th 2009
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Never Enough”
John 6:1:21

I worried all week long that as I read the scripture this morning that it might feel like Déjà vu. Last week we read in Mark’s Gospel where Jesus feeds the five thousand. This week we read in John’s Gospel where Jesus feeds the five thousand. It may seem less like Déjà vu and more like overkill. Putting these passages back-to-back may seem like I am trying to hammer home a particular point or that because it is summer I am making allowances for a drop in regular attendance. The good news is that neither of these two reasons is correct. The two accounts are about the same event. However, the authors make a point to emphasize enough differences in the stories to warrant a second week on the feeding of the five thousand. And though I support recycling please know that this sermon is not.
There are two major differences that I believe demand our attention. The first of these is the reference to the Sea of Tiberius and the second is the reference to Passover. Let us address these critical, yet passing references which hold so much promise for interpretation. The Sea around which Jesus and the disciples do their ministry is referred to in many different ways: The Sea of Galilee, Lake of Genneseret, and the Sea of Tiberius. Despite the different names it is the same body of water. It might seem strange to do this but it really is not all that odd. A good example of this is the stretch of Interstate/Highway that is currently under construction. When I refer to that road as I-64 people know that I am not a native St. Louisan. That road is, and always will be Highway 40. The choice of referring to that stretch of concrete and asphalt is, at its heart, an expression of history and value.
The same is true for the writer of John’s gospel. That body of water too carried many names. While each could convey a different meaning history and value, it is the choice of Tiberius which happens only twice in the gospel. Since both times John refers to this Sea as Tiberius involves feeding and an invitation by Jesus to trust, we must ask what this is all about.
To get to the heart of this issue we will need to look first at the “other” reference to the Sea of Tiberius. At the end of the Gospel, following the resurrection, the disciples have left Jerusalem to go back to their former lives. After fishing all night, on the Sea of Tiberius, the disciples have come up empty handed. When Jesus comes along and suggests a different course of action, the resist. Finally, they give in to Jesus’ request and learn another lesson about the abundance found in the faithful life. The disciples learn this as they haul in their overflowing nets, from the waters of the Sea of Tiberius. When they get to the shore and eat breakfast with the resurrected Jesus, they are reminded of the time on the mountain when five thousand ate and were satisfied. They are reminded that God can provide and that ministry can be done in what looks to be scarce places and times.
But beyond this connection, why the name Tiberius? Emperor Tiberius was the Roman Emperor at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. Tiberius was the sort of leader where people danced in the streets of Rome when he died. He was ruthless and the name Tiberius was a symbol of the excess of power and the underside of the Roman Empire. And I believe the use of this term for the Sea in John’s gospel is no accident. I believe that it is a deeper lesson about living faithfully in the midst of desperate times. We need not believe that even the leader of an Empire as great as Rome has the last word. Remaining faithful in the most desperate situations is at the heart of why these passages take place on the Sea of Tiberius. This brings us to the second difference in these two gospel stories: Passover.
In the Gospel of John some rather important things happen during Passover. The most significant is the crucifixion of Jesus. The entire event happens in the context of Passover. In fact, the Gospel repeats that fact so many times that there is no way we can miss that Jesus is to be seen as the sacrificial lamb. But this is not the only time significant events occur on Passover. However, outside of the final days of Jesus, there are only two references to Passover, both significant events. The first major event is when Jesus drives the money changers out of the temple and the second is our passage from this morning.
These events do not all happen in the setting of Passover in the other gospels. Again we must ask why. What is so important about Passover to the ministry of Jesus? At the heart of Passover is God’s action to release the slaves from the captivity of the Egyptian empire. Passover is about the struggle between the place of slavery and the freedom of Sinai. Passover is struggle for the hearts and minds. It is a struggle between a belief in scarcity and a trust in the abundance of God.
As the Hebrews travelled through the desert faced with a lack of Egyptian cuisine, many hungered to return to slavery. The journey to Sinai was a journey that required trust in the abundance of God. It was a journey which required a new way of seeing the world, one which could see the sustenance of God where others could only see desolation. Jesus’ ministry in John is part of this ongoing struggle. While Jesus becomes the new Passover lamb, the followers of Jesus must journey through the desert places of life seeking God’s abundance where others only see desolation. As disciples when we find ourselves in the desolated places or the places of Tiberius, we need not fear. God is still at work and calling us to step out, serve others, and trust that there will be enough. But there will never be enough if we trust only in ourselves.
I believe that the feeding of the five-thousand in Mark’s Gospel is not about Jesus doing something miraculous. In that version the miraculous action is the sharing of the gathered community. But in John’s version of the feeding of the five thousand there is no doubt the intent is to let us know that God has done something which human beings could not. It is a reminder and an offence to our modern sensibilities. When we believe we have it all figured out and know how the world works, along comes this crazy story about food that has nothing to do with human ingenuity. The truth is that if we rely solely on our human ingenuity there will never be enough. Our six weeks of wages will never be enough, our building project will never be enough, our endowment will never be enough, and our mission work will never be enough. If we do not tap into the deep well of our faith and make it the foundation of our work and ministry there will never be enough. But if we can imagine and believe that God can work beyond our capability, if we can imagine that God can use even us, if we can imagine that there is enough for all, then we will not only get a glimpse of the kingdom of God, we will be part of the kingdom work. And when that happens, look out because our captivity to the ways of scarcity is coming to an end. Amen.