It is as plain as the nose on your
face.
Sometimes the solutions to the
problems and issues we all face are as plain as the nose on our faces. Or so it should seem.
We have heard the story of Jesus
feeding the five thousand . . . or even quite a few more thousand as the writer
does not make any reference to the fact that there were probably women and
children with the five thousand men; but, any case, we have all heard the story
about how Jesus fed the five thousand.
Being faced with a huge . . . and hungry . . . crowd, Jesus raises the
question to Philip, “Where shall we buy
bread for these people to eat?”
Philip was no dummy and he tells Jesus
that it would take months of wages to have enough money to buy food for all
these hungry people . . . money they did not have. It was an impossible task.
Andrew, another of Jesus’ disciples,
pointed out a boy who happened to have five loaves of bread and two fish . . .
but, like Philip he realizes that it is an impossible task and that five loaves
of bread and two fish wouldn’t even come close to feeding the crowd, much less
feed the disciples and Jesus. It is an
impossible task!
Even though the writer of Mark’s
gospel doesn’t say it, I sometimes imagine that Jesus must have rolled his eyes
at the immaturity and ignorance of his disciples. As far as Jesus is concerned, the solution .
. . the answer . . . to the question and task at hand is as plain as the nose
on their faces.
Jesus tells the disciples to have
everyone sit down. Then he took the five
loaves of bread, blessed them, and passed them out to the crowd. In a like manner he also did the fish. The people ate to their hearts’ content . . .
as much as they wanted . . . and, there was plenty to eat. In the end, when they gathered up the
leftovers, there were twelve full baskets of food. Those gathered, including the disciples; saw
this whole incident as a sign of the miraculous. They declared: “Surely this is the Prophet who
is to come into the world.”
Most often, when we think of miracles,
we think of an act that is beyond our understanding or comprehension . . .
something spectacular . . . something brought on by the supernatural. Theologically a miracle is described as the
revelation of the presence of the Holy . . . a revelation of the presence of
God. In the case of the feeding of the
five thousand, I would say that what happened fits into the understanding of
both realms’ of describing a miracle.
What happened seems difficult to explain . . . feeding over five
thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish . . . and, as the people
recognize, the Holy is exposed . . . they know that they are in the presence of
the Holy. What takes place in our
reading this morning is a miracle—plain and simple.
Whatever the case, biblical scholars
and theologians have explained it over and over for generations. It is a supernatural miracle . . . in the
blessing of the bread and fish to God by Jesus the cosmic tumblers clicked into
place and the food magically multiplied to point that there were even twelve
baskets of leftovers. It has been
explained as a movement of the Spirit through the people . . . seeing the
compassionate act of sharing by the boy, the people are moved to share from the
resources that they have; thus, enough food is gathered from the crowd to
easily feed everyone. Either way, argue
the scholars and theologians, the Holy is revealed. The Holy is revealed and the people see it.
How you see this I will let you decide
for yourselves.
In the meantime, I want you to go back
to that statement . . . “As plain as the nose on your face.” One of the purposes of these stories is to
get the listener to open up his or her eyes, hearts and minds to see the hidden
truth that is in plain sight. The story
is attempting to train us to see that which is present in our own sight . . .
as plain as the nose on our faces. The
Holy surrounds us like the air that we breathe . . . and, because the Holy is
around us, always present, we have the ability to welcome it into our lives.
Jesus asked: “Where shall we buy bread for
these people to eat?” Jesus
asked the question knowing good and well that the answer and solution was right
before them all. The answer and solution
was there among those who had gathered.
It was in the wholeness and holiness of those present.
Bread . . . a symbol and
metaphor. Bread represents the basic
need for nourishment to feed our bodies.
Bread, in the hearts of the faithful, represents the basic need for
nourishing our souls. Bread is a symbol
of our basic needs. It is both practical
and sacramental. Thus it should come as
no surprise that bread is central to this story. Jesus acknowledges this understanding in
stating that the people must be fed.
Jesus then models the means of delivering of the bread to the people to
meet their needs. It is in through and
within the presence of the Holy that surrounds them . . . always surrounds them
. . . that the people are fed. With full
tummies, they acknowledge the presence of the Holy.
So it can be for us as the followers
of Jesus.
One of the tools that community
planners use when they come into a community to assist the community in dealing
with problems and issues is called “mapping”.
Mapping is simply taking the time to carefully take a look at a
community, tally up its resources, and then to attach those resources to the
issues and problems being dealt with.
Mapping is built on the belief that each and every community has the
resources—within their presence—to handle the problems and issues that they are
facing. In other words, the solutions to
many of their issues and problems are right there in front of them . . . as
plain as the noses on their faces.
And, I believe that.
Too often communities and groups
gather together to lament and complain about the issues and problems that they
face. They moan and groan and perpetuate
the problems . . . allow them to fester . . . and, they think that the only
solution to these problems is to bring in the experts—those people who live
more than 45 miles away—to solve the problems for them. Often it is expensive and the problems do not
get solved. Especially when they
probably have all the keys to the solutions that they really need already
within the community. The problem is
that they have not opened up their eyes to see.
How is this done? Simply by having everyone participate . . .
by having everyone putting his or her talents and gifts on the table . . . by
sharing and caring. Is it possible that
the “miracle” occurs in the story because the people are moved by the boy’s
compassion to place on the table the food that they had? Who knows for sure . . . but what we do know
is that the people were fed and the Holy was exposed.
Too often in our lives we waste a lot
of time looking around for the big supernatural occurrences or miracles to come
sweeping out of the heavens to save us from whatever is ailing us or creating
havoc in our lives when the answers to all our prayers are right there in plain
sight like the noses on our faces. Jesus
stated that whenever two or three are gathered in his name . . . he is
there. Jesus believed in the Holy . . .
trusted the Holy . . . and, modeled that belief by taking a couple of loaves of
bread and a few fish, blessing them, and allowing the Holy to take over. Out of what seemed to be fragments and
scattered groups of people came the bread necessary to feed them all.
It can be the same for us all. If we open our eyes, our hearts, and our
hands . . . if we learn to share from that which we have and have been blessed
with . . . if we acknowledge the presence of the Holy . . . we, too, can know
the power of the God who loves us . . . who cares for us. We, too, can experience miracles. Jesus tells us that this is as plain as the
noses on our faces. Believe. Amen.
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