Sermons

“What Are They Among So Many?”

Ephesians 3:14-21; John 6:1-21 – Rev. Rebecca Littlejohn

Vista La Mesa Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), La Mesa, California – July 26, 2015

Holy God, bless the speaking and the hearing of these words, that our hearts might be filled with the Spirit of your Christ so we can share your love with the world. We pray in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Good morning, church! I bring you greetings from our brothers and sisters across the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, along with fellow Christians from all around the world. The General Assembly we just celebrated in Columbus, Ohio, was if smaller than hoped, mighty as usual. New church planters and members of faltering congregations alike were given hope and support. Weighty issues of international import were commented on. Children, youth, the hearing impaired, and non-native English speakers were effectively included. Free pens were distributed, mission projects were completed, and a new leadership team for the next biennium was installed.

For years now, people have sometimes described General Assembly as a big family reunion. This was certainly true for both Karen and me, as I was rooming with my mother and she was with her sister, Sandy. But that’s not really what the metaphor is trying to describe. Getting together every two years gives people a chance to see old friends, perhaps from other areas where they may have lived before, or people they went to seminary with, or in my case, former pastors of the congregation I now serve (Liz Woodward says hi!) and people who knew my grandfather back in Illinois. But as more and more people are attending who are new the Disciples, who arrive needing to make new friends, rather than catch up with old ones, this family reunion metaphor becomes less and less apt. Nobody should feel like the new in-law at the reunion at a Disciples event, not among the people who declare that “all means all”. And yet, I wonder if it’s not the reunion model that needs tweaking, but our definition of family.

When I was preparing the bulletin for this morning, two weeks ago before I left for Columbus, I was mostly assuming I wouldn’t necessarily be telling you stories about Assembly. It’s hard to predict what will be useful or how you’ll be able to integrate those stories. So I went with scriptures that are entirely preachable in pretty much any circumstance. But as it turned out, this very story we just heard from the gospel of John came up in rather dramatic fashion. One of the things I had the opportunity to do this week was have an extended, small group conversation with a woman named Wafa Goussous, who works with Syrian refugees through the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

As you have heard, more than three and half million people have fled their homes, seeking safety from the violence that has engulfed Syria since early 2011. Most of those people have ended up, for the moment, in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq. And almost half of them are children. You would think – I would think – that with such overwhelming numbers of people arriving with almost nothing, those assisting them would be focused on providing basic supplies for as many people as possible, even if it meant that the clothes were a little worn and the food was a little boring. That’s why it was so interesting to me to hear Wafa talk about her approach to her work. The word she used over and over again was dignity.

Yes, the people need to be fed and housed and schooled and clothed, but the thing she is most concerned about is maintaining their dignity. She talked about making sure the food they gave out was culturally appropriate and made allowances for families with allergy or health issues. She talked about the donations they rejected because they were someone else’s trash. And she told us about the boots. They knew winter was coming. And they knew the children would need boots. And she didn’t want to invest in cheap boots that wouldn’t last through the season. But how was she going to afford quality winter boots for so many kids? She told us about her Patriarch, back in Jerusalem, telling her over the phone, “Don’t worry, Wafa. Don’t worry, Wafa.” And then her loaves and fishes moment arrived, in the form of a check from Global Ministries, making it possible for her to purchase quality winter boots for the children in the refugee camp she was serving. She brought up the story we just heard, with an almost apology for the fact that she wasn’t a preacher, but the connection was so clear for her: God had provided what was needed to protect these children from the winter cold and their dignity from the often callous, bureaucratic approach much refugee assistance uses. She wanted to serve these people – to have us serve these people – as Christ would serve them, with a deep appreciation for their inherent worth as children of God and an insistence on respecting each of them as individuals worthy of personalized compassion. Did you hear that bit in the passage from John where it said everyone got “as much as they wanted”? It wasn’t “just take a little bit so that we can make sure there’s enough for everyone.” It was “take what you need to be satisfied.” That’s how God operates. And it was so heartening to see that even in the face of the largest refugee crisis in history, Wafa was able to hold onto that vision of how God calls us to serve our brothers and sisters.

On Tuesday morning, at the Week of Compassion breakfast, we heard from Constantine M. Triantafilou of International Orthodox Christian Charities. He also spoke to us about the Syrian refugee crisis. And here’s where the connection is made between the passage we heard from Ephesians and the story from John about the loaves and fishes. As he told us stories of desperation and of hope, the refrain he kept repeating was “These are our children. These are our children.” And that’s just it. “Five barley loaves and two fish,” said Andrew. “But what are they among so many?” Andrew didn’t realize yet that he was helping to prepare a family meal. He thought he was trying to feed a bunch of hungry strangers. He hadn’t yet experienced the “power at work within us” that is “able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.”

Once we open ourselves up to God’s love and connect as family, that power is unleashed and miraculous things happen. We experience it here at Vista La Mesa, as we gather as family to celebrate the life of a beloved friend like Ralph Tenison and then switch gears to join in dedicating ourselves to raising a young child in the light of Christ’s love. We see it in the bonds that are formed over the summer, as families from the community spend time here at our Summer Lunch Program and volunteers from half a dozen or more different congregations work together to serve them. But our definition of family cannot remain local. Those children in need of winter boots are our children too. When we go to General Assembly, it can’t just be about renewing old friendships; it must also be about welcoming in new Disciples, who bring fresh ideas and new energy for the mission of a church focused on our unity in Christ. It must also be about hearing the stories of our brothers and sisters in places like Syria and Mozambique and Korea – hearing those stories so that we can respond like family.

When we are connected as family – rather than reaching out to strangers – our motivation is deeper; we’re willing to take bigger risks, to try more creative things to get the job done. When we’re connected as family, the dignity of those we serve is just as important as their empty bellies. When we’re connected as family, we know that each of us has something to offer, rather than assuming we are the givers and others are the receivers. Who was that little boy who didn’t know any better than to offer up his lunch to feed 5000 people? How can we learn from him to assume that what we have to offer will make a difference? How can we learn from him to trust that when we offer our gifts in the context of family, the power of God’s love will multiply them until all the children have boots and all the babies are dedicated to God and all the widows are surrounded with comfort? May it be so. Alleluia and Amen!