The story comes from the United States. An old man living rough had become ill and was taken to hospital. The doctors soon surmised that he would not live long. In vain they sought to find the old man’s name but all the man would say was “Son! Son!”. In looking through his clothing for identification, they came across a news clipping about a marine stationed in Korea. The Red Cross were contacted and they managed to locate the marine and to fly him back to the United States and to take him to the hospital.

As the young marine walked into the hospital room, the old man smiled and called out, “Son! Son!” For several hours, the marine held the old man’s hand until he died peacefully.

After the old man’s death, one of the nurses approached the marine and gently said, “We need to know your father’s full name.” To her great surprise, the marine answered, “He wasn’t my father. I never saw the man before in my life.”

Amazed, the nurse asked, “Then why did you stay?”

The marine simply replied, “Because he needed me.”


A story of compassion. And just so the story of the feeding of the 5,000 is a story of compassion. Too often, people look at this story and become obsessed with such matters as to whether Jesus produced food from nowhere or inspired a miracle of generosity amongst the crowd that followed him. But surely, what really matters and what causes this event to be one of the few events in the life of Jesus, are what it reveals about Jesus, the All Compassionate One and that it draws us nearer to him.

This story shows that the compassion of Jesus is not something that we earn but it is a matter of his generous care for us. The crowd on that day was not a particularly worthy crowd. John is clear that they were coming after Jesus because they had seen him do great healings. He was where the action was. But their understanding was clearly lacking. Later when we see them trying to take him by force to be made King, we see just how far away from him they really were. And yet, Jesus has compassion for this mixed up gathering. And it is worth our taking time to appreciate that Jesus’ compassion is for all of us, however messed up we might be. For in Jesus, we encounter not what we earn or deserve, but we encounter gift upon gift.

Still a part of the charm of this story, is the unnamed boy about whose packed lunch, Andrew tells Jesus. The five barley loaves and two fish would according to scholars, have been meagre morsels indeed. A boy's packed lunch - maybe! But enough for a crowd of that size - no way! And it is surely the use of so little to such great affect, that is the charm of this story. Surely, it is a story that gives hope to all of us, that when we feel we are unable to make a difference, with God’s help we can make all the difference.

Let me for a moment tell you the story of a Mr and Mrs Sharma, a Hindu couple, who moved from India to the city of New York. After some rather menial jobs, Mr Sharma, got a job as a taxi driver. Eventually he earned enough money to buy his own cab and so he no longer had to give away half of his fare money to use someone else’s cab. With their fortunes looking good from his income as well as that of his wife as an oncology nurse, they decided to share their good fortune with their village of Doobher Hishanpur where Mr Sharma had grown up. So with 3,000 dollars, they paid for the first girls’ school in the village to be opened in the brick house where Mr Sharma had been raised. In no time, there were 200 girls attending the school. Now back in New York, the Sharmas are seen as struggling immigrants but back in India it is very different. As Mr Sharma puts it, “ I’m worthless in New York but in India I am everything.”

Yes, what might be seen to be little, becomes the stuff that changes lives!

Too often, we fall into the trap of being overwhelmed by the shadow side of our world. We see life’s tragedies unfold before us on our televisions as well as at times meeting it in our conversations on the street. Like Philip in our Gospel Reading, we feel powerless as we look to the need. And yet, the story reminds us that we are not powerless. We might not solve all the problems of the world but we can make our own contribution to making the world a better place. And our means of doing so, is through compassion in action. The Dalai Lama, exiled from his native Tibet, was once asked what the answer was to our present day problems. His answer was “Compassion!” And in a world in which so many die from want, a world in which so many are deprived of meaningful aspiration, a world in which resources are often in short supply for the life saving and life enhancing, yet readily available for the demonic instruments of war, is not the Dalai Lama right? For our limited offerings can make a difference. They may be the spending of time with the sick, bringing hope to the depressed, encouraging those who have fallen to start again, giving to a good cause or even texting 87099 with the word CEASEFIRE to encourage our leaders to use their power to get a pause in the current Middle east fighting. You can make a difference. We can make a difference.

But back to our story of the feeding of the 5,000, we find it made quite an effect. The crowd wanted to make Jesus, a King. It is so easy to see things in worldly ways and Jesus was the hero of the moment. But Jesus wants nothing to do with it. You see, Jesus is not the sort of King that we read about in our history books and even see around the world. He is not interested in wealth or pomp for instead we find him amongst the poor and outcasts. He is not interested in dominating others for instead he is the One who came to serve rather than to be served. He is not interested in ruling by force for instead he is the One who shows us the way of non violence and talks of loving enemies rather than of killing them. Do you get it? Jesus is not to be squeezed into the perverse ways of power that act to destroy. He is the One who has no need of climbing any greasy pole for he turns the accepted norms of this world upside down.

But let us never see what he offers as inadequate. In the story we have heard, there was enough food left over to fill up a dozen baskets. And so it is with Jesus. His love and his grace are never used up. There is always more to come. So it is that we need not be hemmed in by the inadequacies of what we have to offer but to see the great potential for good when we with all our shortcomings join in the work of the God who can use our little to such great effect.

A story is told of Franklin Roosevelt who was President of the USA from 1933 until his death in 1945. One of the things which he found tiresome about holding his office, was having to greet lines of people at receptions. He was utterly convinced that no one really listened to what he said. So one day he decided upon an experiment. To each person who passed down the line and shook his hand, he would murmur, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” The result was totally in line with his expectations as guests responded with phrases such as, “Marvellous! Keep up the good work. We are proud of you. God bless you, sir.” Well it was like this until at the end of the line when the ambassador from Bolivia actually heard what Roosevelt had said. Totally unfazed by what he had heard, the ambassador leaned forward and whispered back to the President, “I’m sure she had it coming.”

Just as Roosevelt and his guests were short on expectancy, so too were the gathering in Nazareth as they awaited the words of the local boy. In part, this can be put down to a tendency that we know all too well today, to be suspicious of greatness within our own midst. After all, the people in that synagogue had known Jesus for some time. They knew his family and were all too well aware of the whiff of scandal that surrounded his birth. The mention of him being the son of Mary without mention of Joseph, would seem to indicate a dig as to his background. Now they saw him as one who looked elsewhere and was leaving his family behind to fend for themselves. Truly a case of no honour in his home town!

But the true reason for hostility, probably lay in their growing awareness that Jesus was a threat to the status quo. Already the stories of Jesus’ power were circulating. Already he was being associated with might deeds. But in his use of power there was something that many found unsettling. For Jesus was using his power, not to reinforce the social structure of his time, but to liberate those who were living on the margins of society. The people, whose diseases or social standing shut them out of community life, found in Jesus one who set them free, one who affirmed them as people of worth who could be a part of community life.

Ever since the conversion of the Roman Emperor, Constantine in the year 312 AD, there has been a temptation in the church to seek a warm relationship with the centres of power. That temptation has all too often led the church in to compromises that have dulled its witness. How different from the path of Jesus. For Jesus passed every bit of honour and power that he had to those who existed on the margins. And in so doing, he opened up an understanding of responsibilities to others that goes well beyond our traditional understandings of kinship and the nuclear family.

And of course now as well as then, the path of radical inclusiveness had its enemies. For it is a demanding path and a path that threatens the places of privilege and status. But, we do well to notice that where radical inclusiveness is opposed, so to is the way of Christ. In Nazareth, mark tells us, Jesus could do no deeds of power.

Today, we live with the reality of being excluded due to social background, mistakes in their pasts, sexuality, religious beliefs and race to name but a few of the reasons for exclusion. Surely, we need to appreciate that the path of exclusion is a path that involves putting up a wall against Christ. If we wish the Church of Christ to be taken seriously, then surely we need to practice radical inclusion as Christ himself did. For if we fail to follow the way of Christ, then we forfeit the right to claim the blessings of Christ.

Our Gospel reading does not end with Nazareth’s rejection of Christ. From that rejection, we see the beginnings of Christian mission. At Nazareth, Jesus’ followers have seen the possibilities of rejection. It is a reality with which they are going to have to live. In what might seem to be a pertinent word to our success obsessed culture, Jesus makes clear to them that faithfully following Jesus is no guarantee of success. The twelve disciples are sent on a journey to the nearby villages to be the signs of the Kingdom of God. They are sent out to be dependent on the hospitality of those whom they visit. Where they are offered hospitality, they are to graciously accept it. Where they are not offered hospitality, they are to shake the dust off their feet. For the Gospel is something to be offered to people rather than something to be rammed down their throats. Too often in the history of Christendom, we find stories of forced conversion of peoples whether they be those without a recognised faith or those who have followed other monotheistic faiths such as Judaism or Islam. Too often, Christianity has been exported at the point of a gun. Yet, in the marching orders that the disciples are given, they are to go into the mission field in a state of dependence rather than power and the ethos of their mission is to be that of a respectful non violence that treats even those who would be enemies with the utmost respect. Retaliation and force can never be Christian options. They occur at the points where we depart from the Gospel.

Today’s reading draws us to the beginnings of God’s mission in Christ. In human terms, success is certainly not guaranteed. And yet, in God’s mission we are certainly not alone. The Spirit whom Jesus sent to empower us, goes with us and reminds us of what mission is all about. In God’s mission, we do not just accept the unpalatable realities around us without question. Instead, like God’s followers down through the ages, we are led to dream dreams and to see visions. Our vision is of God’s Kingdom where justice, liberation and joy are for all. Our calling is to be means by which Jesus’ imperative of life with abundance for all, can be a reality. In a world of media cynicism, a world in which people are casually and judgementally thrown away, the Gospel of Christ shouts a loud NO to all that destroys the humanity of others. Instead we are called to follow the radical inclusiveness and all embracing love that is found in Jesus’ life and self giving because as Charles Wesley once penned it;

For all. For All my saviour died.
For all my Lord was crucified.!

May Christ’s radical inclusiveness go on surprising us and the world in which we are privileged to live.