Not Enough
The texts for Sunday July 26, 2015 (9th Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary 17): 2 Kings 4: 42-44; Psalm 145: 10-18; Ephesians 3: 14-21; and John 6: 1-21
We just don’t have enough
There isn’t enough
I think this might well be one of the oldest excuses in the book
next to maybe, “not me”
“not my fault”
“not my responsibility”
Of course, “We don’t have enough”
or “I don’t have enough”
or even “I’m not enough — not big enough, not rich enough, not powerful enough”
leads directly to the:
then it’s not my responsibility
not me
We don’t have enough
leads to governments that don’t work
to change systems that trample the poor
We don’t have enough
leads to individuals lost in this stingy world
unable to give and unable to hope.
We don’t have enough
leads to towns and cities that refuse
to help their youth and the elderly.
We don’t have enough
leads to churches that don’t reach out
to make a difference and close their doors
unnoticed, unseen, and hardly missed.
We don’t have enough
leads to some being in and some being out
some who have and some who have not
the supremacy and entitlement of some
at the loss and abuse of others
We don’t have enough
leads to the cries for reform
of prison systems and law enforcement
falling silent.
Because we don’t have enough.
We don’t have enough time.
We don’t have enough creativity.
We don’t have enough compassion.
We don’t have enough money.
We don’t have enough … courage.
You see, I think that “We don’t have enough” is a product of fear.
It’s a product of looking at a crowd of 5000 people
and being overwhelmed by need.
It’s a product of sitting in a small boat in the middle of a storm
and feeling very, very small
and very, very not enough.
We don’t have enough.
We aren’t enough.
It’s a result of hearing again and again and again… about
another mass shooting
another corrupt police officer hurting or killing another human being
another war
another economic crash
another extrajudicial killing
another ISIS attack
And curling up inside ourselves, overwhelmed.
We just don’t have enough.
Jesus, we are too small.
But, Jesus doesn’t let us off the hook.
Jesus reminds us the reign of God is like
mustard seeds
and yeast
— weedy and small.
The reign of God is like
a tiny pearl
a found coin.
The reign of God is like the innocence of a child
sharing his meal with 5000 people.
You see, the reign of God is made real in you
— in you who are not enough.
You who are tiny and overwhelmed and small
You who are exhausted and strapped and afraid
You who have no idea what to do or where to turn —
God takes what you have —
given in innocence and hope
given with open, trembling hands
given to share
given in honest desire to make a difference
God takes it — and blesses it
— and can feed the world
so that nothing — not one thing — not one human being — may be lost.
And so, you are not off the hook.
Not because you can fix the world
or that all can be made right in this life.
But because God is at work transforming the world and making all things new
— a work that will be completed when time and eternity become one
And that is a work worth participating in
it is a work worth living in
it is a work worth being lost in.
And so in the words of a hymn,
When pain of the world surrounds us
with darkness and despair,
When searching just confounds us
with false hope everywhere
When lives are starved for meaning
and destiny is bare,
We are called to follow Jesus
and let God’s healing flow through us.We see with fear and trembling
our aching world in need,
Confessing to each other
our wastefulness and greed.
May we with steadfast courage
the hungry children feed.
We are called to follow Jesus
and let God’s justice flow through us.
Let it be.
Amen.
***
Featured Image: Five Loaves and Two Fish found on PicsAnt, who apparently collected it from Changing Church Change World. It was evidently painted by an F. Cheong in 2010, but I cannot find any more information.
2 comments on “Not Enough”
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Jabbok Dawn 
wow. a little bird told me that this sermon was great. the bird was right.
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Thanks Henry! Glad that little bird passed this along 🙂
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