The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead

– Isaiah 55: 1 – 5; Matt 14: 13 – 21; Romans 9: 1 – 5
“Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters”.  This isn’t perhaps the best translation of what Isaiah says.   A better one might be something like “Listen up”, or even “Roll up, roll up”, because this is the language of the street hawker, of the seller, of advertising.  Isaiah is trying to get his hearers’ attention with an offer that seems too good to be true.  Free food and drink.  And real food and drink, not junk which fills you up for a short time but doesn’t nourish your body properly.  This is the food God offers to His people.  And then in our Gospel passage we have Jesus providing a picnic out of thin air – for 5,000 men – never mind the women and children they would have had in tow.  This is not a banquet, the kind of food rich people might eat, but good, simple, peasant food. Just what they needed to keep them going when they were caught out in a desolate spot. 
So, what do we learn from these two very different pictures, firstly about what God is like and, secondly about the response He seeks from us?
The reading from Isaiah speaks of the abundance of God.  He’s hawking not water, but wine and milk.  People are invited to ‘eat what is good’ and to delight themselves in rich food (Isaiah 55: 2).  This passage was written at the time when the elite of the people of Israel were in exile in Babylon.  Jerusalem and the Temple were in ruins, but there had been a shocking and completely unexpected turn of events.  Babylon had fallen to the Persian king Cyrus whose policy, contrary to that of the rulers of Babylon, was to allow the exiles from conquered countries to go home and to rebuild their own cities and cultures. For the people of Israel in exile, suddenly there was the real possibility of return, but after two generations in Babylon many Jews were probably free, prosperous and comfortable.  The joyful hope of return prophesied by Isaiah was perhaps rather more unsettling when it became a reality.  God’s abundance may not be an easy abundance.  It may require leaving something behind, giving up comfort and moving into the unknown. 
However, God’s invitation is for everyone who will respond.  The only qualification is thirst, in other words, not being satisfied with things as they are.    The Gospel of Luke (Luke 14: 16 – 24) records Jesus telling a story about a banquet when the invited guests all felt that they had something better to do.  One had bought a field and needed to go and look at it; another had bought five yoke of oxen and needed to try them out straight away.  A third had just got married – perhaps a slightly better excuse! The point of the story, however, is that the only thing which can exclude anyone from this banquet is if they insist that they would rather be somewhere else.
Our Gospel story also centres on feeding. The miracle of the feeding of a large crowd of people with resources which are very clearly insufficient.  The story must have been regarded as very important by the early church as it’s the only miracle which is recorded in all four Gospels.  It’s still well-known, but we may, nonetheless, find that it stretches our credibility.  We wonder whether it really happened.  If this is so we might perhaps ask ourselves why we have this difficulty with the miraculous.  If God really created everything that exists ex nihilo, from nothing (- and I’m not suggesting that he did this in a week) and raised Jesus from the dead, surely other miracles are equally possible?  The subject of miracles is perhaps one which we might address further in the future. However, if we are able to put aside for the moment any questions about whether it really happened we shall still be able to think about the meaning of the story.  
The account of the feeding of the 5,000 portrays Jesus as the compassionate host.  He acts out the loving provision of God for His people as He spontaneously offers not a banquet, but a simple meal to a huge crowd of men, women and children.  Like the manna in the desert, this is food which will keep people going.  Understandably, the disciples do not foresee the miracle, thinking that the sensible solution would be to send the crowd away.  But Jesus says to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’  I imagine the disciples shifting from foot to foot rather uneasily at this point, under His steady gaze.  How did they feel, I wonder?  How would we feel?  Put on the spot, with a huge problem and completely inadequate resources. 
Last week I heard something on the radio about the story behind the musical drama Glasgow Girls.  It’s the story of a group of ordinary teenagers.  They started out with a petition to save their school friend from deportation but inspired a powerful human rights movement which would eventually change immigration practices in Scotland.  Sometimes big things can be achieved from small beginnings and by unexpected people.
How often, I wonder, do we find when we are drawn to pray for someone or for a world situation, that we might also be called to action?  Perhaps to show our personal concern by a visit or a phone call.  Perhaps to write a letter or make a charitable donation.  Are we sometimes also, at least in part, the answer to our own prayers for others?
Both Isaiah and Matthew remind us of the abundance and of God and His provision for His people.  We’re all invited both to share in this abundance and to participate with Christ in offering it to others. 
“Come, buy and eat….”
“you give them something to eat”
The disciples had five loaves and two fish, and we know the rest……..
Amen