Sustaining Miracles:
Blessing What is
Already Here

August 2, 2020
Reading: Matthew 14:13-21
(New Revised Standard Version)
Pastor Alexis Waggoner

Most of us are spending a LOT of time outside right now, so maybe we can better identify with the scene from today’s scripture reading. Certainly this is a different context — outside this morning, it's pretty calm but in our text for today there was a “great crowd.” And these crowds were in a deserted place, while for me today, I literally only had to cross the street to get here! Of course, obviously, there was no Uber, no Seamless, no Uber Eats! And this becomes important because there were a lot folks, and they were hungry, and there was nothing around. 

Well … not NOTHING. There WERE five loaves and two fish, but that’s almost WORSE than nothing! Who’s going to be the lucky person that gets the food? One person, maybe two or three people, will get to eat a little something. 

And here we are in the scarcity mindset which is counter to Jesus’ mindset, but actually quite in keeping with the cultural mindset of the day. The people who would’ve heard or read this story were familiar with those in power not standing up for them, not distributing what they had to make sure people were taken care of. They were familiar with imperial propaganda that claimed the gods supplied food through the emperor … so you get what you get and you don’t get upset! 

Into these grooves of habit and thought and questioning come five loaves and two fish. 

And … Jesus doesn’t appear to change this scenario — at least not overtly. He had moments of table-turning, and name calling, and justifiably pointing the finger. We don’t get that version of Jesus here. But he also doesn’t go for what the disciples propose (sending folks away to get their own food) which certainly made logical and cultural sense against their backdrop of scarcity of people fending for themselves. 

Rather, Jesus BLESSES what is THERE, he does NOT send the people away, and in doing so implicitly states his belief that what is THERE is ENOUGH.

Is this the so-called miracle?

Not in the way of magical thinking as miracle, of “I have a couple fish, there’s a lightning bolt from heaven, or something crazy happens, and BAM, now I’ve got THOUSANDS of fish!” Not in the end result of baskets of food left over as miracle. But rather: belief as miracle? A belief in God’s abundance that roots in and is so strong that others are compelled toward this belief — to not just believe but to act, and to share, to the point where the belief is brought to fruition, and is sort of self fulfilling!

Giving this text real meaning for real people — what some call an embodied reading or an embodied theology — requires us to reframe what is often meant by “miracle.” An embodied reading requires us not to spiritualize, not to relegate what is happening to the realm of the magical or otherworldly. Not that there aren’t pieces we can’t understand, or a spiritual presence at work — I would say there certainly is! But if we we ONLY go there, that becomes the focus.

It becomes easier to move away from the reality that there are real people in real need who are aching to have those needs met. A reading that honors the work of Jesus, prioritizes the physical. A reading that honors the work of Jesus stays with someone in their need, does not send them away, blesses what they have, and believes that “enough” is possible. THIS is the miracle. 

And yet, it is not just about “someone”… it is communal. We act in concert with God’s activity in the world. We act in concert with each other, each of us taking what we have, offering it to God, and sharing with those around us, believing in the power of us all coming together.

This sounds miraculous to me, right now. I have to confess, I have NOT been believing lately that it’s possible to bless what I have to the point of sharing it, and joining others, in a way that will make a measurable difference. My husband asked me the other day, half-joking but also half-not, "do you think anything good is going to happen ever again??” Well that made me pause! Of course I do believe that good things will happen again, and that good things are, in fact, happening right now! But often it feels like more of a mental exercise, a long-term belief  as in “ the moral arc of the universe is long” sense. But that’s hard to bring down into my day-to-day. 

In my day-to-day, if I think of blessing what we have … We have COVID. We have police murder and brutality. We have a childcare crisis, an economic crisis, a whole host of other crises. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to bless THOSE things.

So let me be clear on what this blessing-to-action, and belief as miracle is NOT. If we’re not careful I think we can venture into some of these territories. Miraculous belief is not a rosy, unfounded belief, blind to reality.  It’s not magical thinking - that if we only believe hard enough the “right” thing will happen. (And thus, if something “bad” happens, we must not have done or said or believed the “right” thing.) AND … It’s NOT a belief that our suffering is blessed by God. 

How then can we look into the suffering enough to SEE where the very real needs are? To see where we can act from this miraculous belief in a way that makes transformation possible? 

Honestly, I stalled out at this point. I did NOT know where to go with this next! Then, and this may seen a bit incongruous, but it helped me make a connection, I watched the launch of the Mars rover this past week. This was bittersweet for me. My dad works for NASA, I grew up going to launches, sitting in the control tower. And now Junia is intrigued by all things space, and we were supposed to be there this week. Obviously, we weren’t, and that was disappointing for a lot of reasons. But watching the launch I was so moved by the stories shared of so many people coming together to bring the Rover from conception to the launch pad and all during the middle of COVID 

I was moved by what it took to get it from belief … to action.

As I listened to the engineers and managers and scientists tell the story of this accomplishment, I started to feel the miracle of belief. The actions that our miracles of belief move us toward probably don’t involve a rover and a rocket and a launchpad! But as I thought about how to root my belief so strongly inside of me that it feels miraculous, I realized I DO have templates for this. Through inspiring stories like the Mars rover. Through watching people around me dig their heels in and change the world. Through seeing you all rise up and support each other, creating better days ahead by believing it is possible. 

So in closing, I want to say: if your belief does NOT feel miraculous, that’s ok! If it feels overwhelming to look through suffering to find transformative action, that’s ok. If you feel like you are hard pressed to think of stories right now that move from belief to action, that’s ok. 

Remember — Jesus blessed what was in front of him, miraculously believing it would lead to transformative action. Not believing he would go it alone, but believing others would come alongside him to share, and believe, and continue the miracle. The beautiful thing is, the crowd that followed Jesus WASN’T sent off to fend for themselves. They were able to draw strength from the miraculous belief-transformed-into-action as they witnessed and accompanied those around them. And that’s what we all are, what we can continue to be for each other. 

(c) 2020 Alexis Waggoner
All rights reserved.

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