The Church Season of Lent
The Fourth Sunday in Lent - Laetare (March 18, 2012)
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI
Psalm 132
OT Exodus 2:-21
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen
The text for today’s message is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 6th chapter of St. John.
John 6:11-14 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost." So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!"
What a miraculous feeding! 5000 men + women and children. But should we really be surprised? The very Incarnate Word by which the grain for the loaves and the fish themselves were created holds them in His hands and multiplies them. Is what we experience every day of our lives any less miraculous? A miracle is an unexpected event attributed to divine intervention.
Well, look around you. Look in the mirror. Just what about your life isn't miraculous? The miracle that that person sitting next to you would have anything to do with you, let alone marry you and stay married to you, or have you as a child and not kick you out or take you out somewhere along the line.
The miracle of life—we talk about the point when life becomes viable out of the womb. I.e., when one can live without the aid of the mother. But think about it, when does life really become viable without the aid of a mother, or at least other people that God has also miraculously created? Is any life possible without outside intervention and aid? The miracle of 6.8 Billion living souls today—"Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. . ."(Gen 1:28)
The miracle of your life—7 lbs. of the same chemical compounds you find in your backyard garden growing to be 100, 150, 200+ lbs. of the same dirt. The miracle of the everyday sustenance of that life. The miracle of one seed bearing countless fruit, all from one tree created in the first garden. The miracle of the very same water that flowed from the rivers in Eden, flooded the earth, rescued the Israelites, baptized our Lord, turned into wine, and quenched the thirst of the Son of God at Jacob's well is the very same water we have today —the very same water that quenches our thirst, is turned into our wine, baptizes our children, rescues people from buildings set ablaze , floods our reservoirs, and flows in our rivers.
There is nothing about life in this world that is anything less than miraculous. That is why we confess in The First Article of the Creed--I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, which means:
"I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my limbs, my reason, and all my senses, and still preserves them; in addition thereto, clothing and shoes, meat and drink, house and homestead, wife and children, fields, cattle, and all my goods; that He provides me richly and daily with all that I need to support this body and life, protects me from all danger, and guards me and preserves me from all evil; and all this out of pure, fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me; for all which I owe it to Him to thank, praise, serve, and obey Him. This is most certainly true. "
That there is nothing about life in this world that is anything less than miraculous is also why we pray The Fourth Petition of the Lord's Prayer--Give us this day our daily bread, which means:
"God gives daily bread, even without our prayer, to all wicked men; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to know it, and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.
What is meant by daily bread?-- Everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as meat, drink, clothing, shoes, house, homestead, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful magistrates, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like."
The truth of the matter is that there is nothing about life, about your life, that is not miraculous, that is not an act of the divine intervention of God the Father spoken through the Word of God the Son, by the power of God the Holy Spirit.
And what is true of your physical existence, this thing called life, is even more true of your eternal existence, your forever life in heaven. This eternal life begins with your being born again from above, by the Holy Spirit in the miracle that is Baptism—Divine intervention by water and the Word. And that eternal life that is not viable before Baptism, is no more viable for those of us who are born again without the aid of a mother and the others that make up the body of Christ on earth, His holy Christian Church, your heavenly mother on earth. Is your eternal life possible without outside intervention and aid?
Is what we have here set before us any less a miracle of the Word? All the saints are gathered with Christ and you and I today around the altar that is the very table of God the Father, from which we receive the very body and blood of Christ in the most miraculous feeding of all. The table set before you is a miraculous feeding of not just 5000 men with their women and children, but of countless souls from all nations, throughout time. It is a miraculous feeding at which the saints in heaven who have preceded us are present with us, out of sight, but rejoicing that we who were lost and wandering about trying to fend for ourselves are now gathered here with them before God's heavenly throne.
So as we continue our Lenten journey with Christ to be crucified, buried, and raised with Him to heavenly life, repent of any of your sinful ideas or feelings or doubts that anything about this world, that anything about life in this world, that anything about your daily life, that anything about your Baptismal life is anything less than miraculous. And pray God you never forget or take for granted the greatest miracle, that you and I are here today to be given life and remain viable by the nurture of the church by which we are born into heaven . That the Holy Spirit has penetrated our hard heads; softened our hearts of stone; and drawn us here to feast on the Bread of Life, partake of the cup of the New Testament in His blood, receive the forgiveness of our sins, and have eternal life. That is truly a miraculous feeding.
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
+SDG+
