I Dream of ______

June 19, 2022 • Second Sunday after Pentecost
Reading: John 6:1-14
Rev. Alexis Lillie preaching

[You can view the full worship video recording at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhRQw-qSRlo

Therapist: what if you look at it from a different angle? What are the opportunities? Where are the blessings? How can scarcity, or something I'm labeling "negative," become abundance, or something positive? What would it look like to dream that up? 

Jesus has some thoughts on this! In fact, in our passage today he is engineering just such a lesson. It says that he's "testing" his disciples, which sounds kind of conniving to me! I like to imagine it less vindictive - not to "test" as in exasperate - but with a little gleam in his eye. 

I imagine him playfully saying, “No food?? WhatEVER are we going to do?!" And inviting them into this imagining with him. And the disciples – true to form, at least in terms of how they're written in the Gospels – don't catch on! 

They respond in the realm of literalism, answer with all the things they assume they need for a meal, all the things they don’t have. It's a set-up, but perhaps one done to again test the boundaries of their imagination. The way the story plays out reminds the disciples, again, that they don't need to be restrained by the confines of life as they know it. They can open their hearts and minds to dream up things, beyond what they think is possible 

Jesus is showing his followers, “Hey! You have more options than the predetermined outcomes you're so familiar with.” More than going right to the obvious solutions of money and food. Yes, given the way we think of life working, when you're trying to feed a bunch of people, the things you need are food and / or money. 

That is the realm of literalism. Those are the predetermined facts. And ... That's not the only realm to function in. I imagine Jesus looking at them, going, "Okaaaayyyyy ...." waiting for them to catch on to the lesson. To put the pieces together based on the things they know about him already, the exceptional experiences they've had so far. But they're a little bit stuck, as the trope of the disciples in these stories often are. 

They're stuck on not having food or money. They're even stuck in labeling what they do have as not enough

And then I imagine Jesus again saying, "Okaaaaayyyyyy ...." Friends, get there! And when they still don't get it, he's like, "ok, lesson time!" To teach them we can meet people's needs with what we do have! And we can look at these things from a different perspective. 

This is where the lesson drags us out of our literalism, out of our predetermined ways of doing things. This is where the so-called miracle happens. Not in lightning bolts and thunder and earth-shaking magic ... except maybe it is, in its way. Because the miracle is that people share and there is enough. 

Jesus shifts the lens, widens the narrative, and removes the focus from what isn't there, to see what is there, and people's needs are met. Out of simple actions all are fed as much as they need

Jesus is not saying, be ok with lacking basic needs! Or, pretend to be ok with scarcity. Quite the opposite. Through this story, Jesus demonstrates his real concern for real people and their very real needs. Today’s gospel reading reminds us that Jesus is thoroughly of this world: he too is concerned about bread, about fulfilling needs.

The author of John is making it clear who Jesus is and what he is up to. He is bringing a new way of being into the world: inviting us to step out of literalism and dream about things we may never have thought possible. All through the lens of prioritizing the needs of the community. 

In the story, it's not just the disciples who are invited into this dream. Those gathered have their minds opened to dream big enough to share with one another. The food is passed around, it's shared and multiplied when people pay attention to their neighbor. After all, that is the miracle. They do this so well that there is food leftover!! 

There's another layer to the lesson. When we open our minds to dream outside of literalism and predetermined outcomes, what we come up with may just be a solution that engages one another, and ripples out with abundance for many.  

If Jesus is playfully testing us, with that gleam in his eye, what things might we need to look at from a different angle? What literalism or pre-determined outcomes have been trapping us in scarcity and lack? How can we approach these things differently, as opportunities, even as blessings? 

One thing that came up as we were planning this service, is from our communal life together. Most of you know we are facing the potential of having to pay a significant settlement for a lawsuit that dates back to things that happened decades ago. What we have is a relatively small endowment, and a relatively small congregation, and a building that often requires expensive upkeep. Is there a way to shift that lens? 

Not to deny our reality, but to look it square in the face and find the blessings in it? And then from that gratitude to dream beyond what we think our predetermined outcomes might be?

Perhaps we can turn to gratitude for the communities that came together to bless us with an endowment. Perhaps we can celebrate being in community where we mostly all know each other's names and stories. Perhaps we can imagine what is possible within these four walls that house us? 

On Juneteenth weekend, I’m reminded of the wisdom from my friends who are people of color, and how they point out that their communities are quite good at doing this. I have learned so much from these friends, from their commitment to looking honestly at life’s circumstances, and finding the blessing in them. Even when it is a few pieces of bread and fish, and you need to feed thousands of people

What literalism or linear thinking are you stuck in? It's probably the things that most frustrate you, or anger you, or just bum you out. How can we look at those things from a different angle? Can we hear Jesus' voice, beckoning us with playful testing? Hearing our concerns and saying, "Okaaaayyyy...." as an invitation to dream up what might be impossibly possible?

As we close this part of the service, I encourage you to complete the title of the sermon: 

I dream of _______

With a new perspective or the things that most bother you or have you stuck with blinders on ... 
what can you dream up??

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