Scripture/Sermon of the Day.  October 2, 2022

Scripture Reading: Mark 6:30-44

30-31 The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him all they had done and taught. Jesus said, “Let’s find a quiet place where we can take a break and get some rest.”32-34 So they got in a boat and went to a remote place. But someone saw them and the word got out. From the surrounding towns people went running and got there ahead of them. When Jesus arrived, he saw a huge crowd. At the sight of them, his heart broke because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them.
35-36 When the disciples thought this had gone on long enough, they said:  “It’s late for heaven’s sake! And we are way out in the country!  Send these people away so they can buy something to eat.”
37 Jesus said, “You do it.  You give them something to eat.”
They said, “Are you serious? Do you know what it cost to buy dinner for all these people!”
38 Jesus said, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
“Five,” they said, “and two fish.”
39-44 Jesus told everyone to sit down on the grass! He took the five loaves and two fish, and he thanked God for the food. He divided the bread and told his followers to give it to the people. Then he divided the two fish among them all. 42 All the people ate and were satisfied. The disciples gathered twelve baskets of leftovers. More than five thousand people were at that dinner.

Reflection/Sermon:

 I have a study Bible that has maps in it.  When we read the Gospel of Mark, we see that Jesus’ ministry was mostly in Galilee and the surrounding areas of Syria, Phoenicia (later Lebanon), Samaria, and Jordan.  Galilee was a huge trading crossroads.

To the WEST was the Mediterranean Sea, in the NORTH was what is today Turkey and the Black Sea, and to the east were trade routes to Asia.  Jerusalem is much further SOUTH, more isolated from other cultures.  EAST of Jerusalem the Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea.

Jerusalem was the religious and cultural center of the Jewish people; Galilee was the center of the world.  That’s why Jesus chose it as the base of his ministry.

II.     When God came here as a human being,  God wanted to reach-out to everyone, Romans, Greeks, Africans, Asians, Arabs, Jews, Gentiles, Pagans, Idol-worshippers, devil-worshippers, and people who believed in nothing.  Galilee was the New York/Tokyo/Paris of the world in Jesus’ time: cosmopolitan, multi-racial, multi-cultural.

III.    And in the beginning of the Gospel of Mark, we are told that the whole of Jesus' message, his first sermon, was just one sentence:
  “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”  Everything in the Gospels is contained in that sentence.  Especially OUR READING TODAY — which you could say was THE FIRST COMMUNION SERVICE.

IV.     It was late and people — five thousand — were hungry and tired.  The disciples were hungry and tired too — and it seems irritated — and they told Jesus:  “Enough teaching!  We are exhausted — these people have taken enough from us!  Tell them to go home and buy their dinners before the shops close!”  Jesus said:
        “YOU FEED THEM.”

V.      Peter yelled, “ARE YOU SERIOUS! That’s welfare! That’s socialism!”

Another disciple walked up to Jesus and said, “Look —many of these people aren’t Jewish like us. They’re Syrians, Africans, Romans — they’re our enemies!  You give them a free meal they’re going to think...

VI.     “That God loves them,” Jesus said.  “Yes — that’s why I call it good news.”

VII.    “But” — said another disciple,  “People will think they don’t have to do anything for God to love them.

Good people, bad people, Jews, non-believers — everyone will think heaven is free.

People will think they don’t have to accept you as Lord and savior.

People will think they don’t have to go to confession — or even worship or — do anything to be saved!...
Jesus —This isn’t good news — this is outrageous!”

“Yes,” Jesus said, “Isn’t God’s love amazing.”