Musings for Pentecost 9

Sunday, July 29, 2012
Lectionary 17
Proper 12
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Midweek Musings

Reflection by Susan Touhsaent

INTRODUCTION
Today is the first of five Sundays with gospel readings from John 6, the first four of which focus on Jesus as bread of life. Today Jesus feeds thousands of people with five loaves and two fish. What we have, what we bring to Jesus' table seems like it is not nearly enough to meet all the needs we see around us. But it is not the adequacy of our supplies or our skills that finally makes the difference: it is the power of Jesus working in the littlest and least to transform this world into the world God desires, a world where all the hungry are satisfied.

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus of Bethany
Friends of Jesus, Mary and Martha are remembered for the hospitality of their home that they offered him—Martha focused on serving their guest, and Mary on listening to him. Their brother Lazarus was raised from the dead as a sign of the greater resurrection to come.

Olaf, King of Norway, martyr, died 1030
Considered the patron saint of Norway, Olaf went from a life of piracy to becoming Christian and declaring himself king of Norway. He revised the laws and tried to administer them fairly. Driven from Norway in a rebellion, he was killed in battle trying to regain his kingdom.

Prayer of the Day (ELW)

Gracious God,
you have placed within the hearts of all your children
a longing for your word and a hunger for your truth.
Grant that we may know your Son to be the true bread of heaven
and share this bread with all the world,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

First Reading

2 Kings 4:42–44

Today’s reading is part of a larger section of 2 Kings that describes the miracles of Elisha, the successor to Elijah. Here the prophet gives food to a hungry crowd. Though there is not enough food to go around, Elisha trusts God, who provides enough and even more to satisfy the need.

⁴²A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, "Give it to the people and let them eat." ⁴³But his servant said, "How can I set this before a hundred people?" So he repeated, "Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD, 'They shall eat and have some left.'" ⁴⁴He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the LORD.

Psalm (ELW)

Psalm 145:10–18

You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. (Ps. 145:16)

¹⁰All your works shall praise ^| you, O LORD,

and your faithful ^| ones shall bless you.

¹¹They shall tell of the glory ^| of your kingdom

and speak ^| of your power,

¹²that all people may know ^| of your power

and the glorious splendor ^| of your kingdom.

¹³Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;

your dominion endures through- ^| out all ages.

You, LORD, are faithful in all your words,

and loving in ^| all your works. R

¹⁴The Lord upholds all ^| those who fall

and lifts up those who ^| are bowed down.

¹⁵The eyes of all wait upon ^| you, O LORD,

and you give them their food ^| in due season.

¹⁶You open ^| wide your hand

and satisfy the desire of every ^| living thing.

¹⁷You are righteous in ^| all your ways

and loving in ^| all your works.

¹⁸You are near to all who ^| call upon you,

to all who call up- ^| on you faithfully. R

Second Reading

Ephesians 3:14–21

We have been rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, which surpasses all human knowledge. Because Christ dwells in our hearts, our lives are continuously strengthened and empowered by the ongoing presence of the Spirit.

¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. ¹⁶I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, ¹⁷and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. ¹⁸I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
²⁰Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Gospel

John 6:1–21

In John’s gospel, the miracles of Jesus are called “signs,” because they reveal the true character of God. As such, they remain within the mystery of God and cannot be brought under human control.

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. ²A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. ³Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. ⁴Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. ⁵When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?" ⁶He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. ⁷Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." ⁸One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, ⁹There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people? ¹⁰Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. ¹¹Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹²When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost." ¹³So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. ¹⁴When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world."
¹⁵When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
¹⁶When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. ²⁰But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." ²¹Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

Reflection

We have just returned from our annual vacation at the Lutheran Summer Conference at Silver Bay, our 28th year. We had two major storms while we were there, losing power both times. Being without any fans when the temperature was in the 90s and the rain was coming sideways (a little cooling, but definitely scary) made for some chaotic times -- physically chaotic, but also mentally and emotionally chaotic. How long would we be without power? How cranky was our 21-month-year-old grandson going to get? I'm sure the disciples felt mentally and emotionally at sea, too. But was their chaos related to the wind storm - or to the fact that they were without Jesus? After Jesus said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid," the boat immediately reached solid ground, the solid ground of Jesus.

Please pray for:

• People suffering from storms, externally and internally
• People who are hungry in body and soul
• People looking for solid ground -- financially, emotionally, spiritually
• Children, parents, and grandparents
• People who are enjoying time with family and friends
• People who are feeling lonely

Quotation - Anyone who doesn't believe in miracles is not a realist - David Ben-Gurion