The Gospel for the 12th Sunday After Pentecost
August 3, 2008

Matthew 14:13-21
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. ¹⁵When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ ¹⁶Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ ¹⁷They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ ¹⁸And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ ¹⁹Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. ²¹And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat."

Like many other episodes in the Gospels, I see myself in the disciples in this reading. You might say that is a good thing - to see oneself as a disciple. To be someone who attempts to follow Jesus. Isn't that what we're all doing, really?

Once again, however, imagining myself as a disciple means recognizing the limits of my imagination and belief. It means recognizing that God asks us to sometimes do what seems impossible. And, then that impossibility isn't wholly up to us to accomplish. We gather the fish and the loaves and let God work. But, first we need to gather the fish and the loaves.

What amazing things has God done, that you've been part of?
What feels impossible right now? How might God use you to start to accomplish the impossible?