2026-08-02 Pentecost 10

Scripture Readings

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen!

One of my kids’ favourite books when they were little was called “Pancakes, Pancakes!” It was written by Eric Carle. He’s the same guy who also wrote “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” His books always have this very distinctive illustration style too. It’s a hand painted tissue paper collage thing that gives the illustration a kind of weird styling. In the pancakes book, this little guy named Jack wants to make pancake. The book narrates the whole process from cutting the wheat from the field to milling it into flour, getting the egg from the chicken coop, milking the cow to get milk and making the butter. It’s this entire process of making a pancake completely from scratch. You kind of feel bad for poor Jack. I’m sure there’s a bag of Aunt Jemima premix in the back of the pantry somewhere! Just add water!

But it’s actually kind of funny when you think of it. Before the 1940s or so, almost all food was made from scratch. Processed stuff was quite minimal. The Baby Boomers were the first generation with modern convenience and packaged processed foods as every day staples. Frozen fish sticks. Processed Cheese. Mechanically separated chicken! So only like 70 or so years of human history. Before that, if you wanted a pancake, you were out at the grain mill walking in circles with Jack and the donkey! It’s really quite something to consider for people who have never known a time without grocery stores or restaurant take out and now skip the dishes delivery! It’s nearly miraculous. You just phone or click buttons on an app and someone brings you food, made to order! What a time to be alive.

Our Bible readings come from a time long before such things. We’ve got two readings today that center on food delivery and rather miraculous delivery at that. Elijah the prophet kicks things off. The weather channel announces “It’s a drought!” He’s prophesying that there won’t be rain or even dew unless he says so. The backstory here is Elijah’s battle with evil King Ahab and Jezebel. She was that no-good gal who promoted Baal worship. Baal was a Canaanite storm/fertility god who was believed to control the rain. So this drought is God showing everyone who is actually King Boss around here. Baal would be powerless to stop this drought. That said, hot and dry climates with no rain generally don’t line up with an abundance of food. So God sends Elijah to a place with some water, a nice little brook where he can drink. And to top it all off, God is going to provide food for him with a system better than Door Dash! “And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook” (1Ki 17:6).

This kind of miraculous food provision is reminiscent of the manna and quail that God provided for Israel during the wilderness wanderings. In rather unexpected ways, God graciously provides for His people. And this really is the point of all the readings. So often in life we are tempted to think it’s all up to us: our labours, our works, our efforts - everything rests on our shoulders. But the Scriptures always run contrary to this idea. Food, clothing, house, home, daily bread - it all comes to us by God’s gracious and Fatherly hand. This is actually a huge relief. As we seek God and His Kingdom above all else, He richly provides for all of our needs.

This is further driven home in our Gospel reading. St. Matthew tells us the situation is similar. A desolate place. A desert. A location that by nature lacks abundance. There’s the massive crowd of 5000 men, besides women and children. Quite easily 10,000 adults and another 50 gazillion kids. The disciples see this as a major problem. This capacity crowd is hungry. It’s evening. They’re in the middle of nowhere. Not even Martha Stewart could pull off this catering feat! “Send ’em away!” the disciples say. “But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat” (MT 14:16). Talk about Mission Impossible! The boys scramble and muster what they can. “We have only five loaves here and two fish” hardly a snack for such an enormous crowd.

They bring them to Jesus. And in very much a sacramental way, “He looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over” (MT 14:19-20). Voila! The Disciple Delivery service was born! Download our app and subscribe today! Jesus, the Bread of Life, provides - miraculously making much from little, in the most dire of circumstances.

No matter how we examine these Bible readings, God’s Word is clear that our One True God is the God of the impossible. It humbles us and teaches us to consider: what is impossible with God? All of these readings are a call to faith. Faith to trust that God has what’s best for us in mind. When we worry about life, about money, about daily bread, we doubt God and tell Him that He is unable to provide for us. Even though He has riches beyond belief in Heaven and on Earth, we believe that God is too stingy to share them with us. When we worry that no one understands us or what we are going through, we tell God that even though He has been with us since before we were formed in our mother’s womb, He doesn’t know us. When we doubt we will have enough food for our daily bread, we tell God that even though He fed His people in the wilderness and the desolate places, that we are the only ones He has forgotten. When we doubt and worry and refuse to hand over our problems to God, we tell Him that even though He made the universe, He can’t handle what is going on in our lives.

These Bible texts are incredible because they cut right through our sins of worry and doubt. It blows away the dark clouds that blind us to see God’s amazing love, forgiveness and provision for every need of body and soul! The Scriptures encourage us to see Jesus for who He truly is: the all compassionate Lord of all. Nothing is too much for God to handle. No sin, no doubt, no worry, nothing can overcome our Lord’s love and care for us. He showed it when He fed the Israelites in the desert and when He provided for Elijah. He showed it when He fed the multitudes and the crowds. He showed it when He died on the cross for our sins, our cares and our worries. And He continues to show us His love and salvation every time we gather around His table to eat and drink the cup of salvation.

You know when your wife forces you to go to farmer’s markets or craft shows, they actually have some pretty neat stuff for decor sometimes! I’ve seen a million of those crafty, decorative signs for your cottage and the like. Of course, I’m drawn to the ones that say “This House protected by Smith & Wesson.” But there are other ones of note too. Like “I’m outdoorsy…I drink wine on the porch!” Witty stuff like that. But there was another really good one that said “Love is basket with five loaves and two fishes … it’s never enough until you start to give it away.” Isn’t that nice!? When we think how amazing our God is to us, all the incredible things that He has given us and done for us, especially in the resurrected Christ, we can’t help but be joyful. We can’t help but be full of God’s love! We can’t help but to give it away! At first it may seem small and insignificant, like five loaves and two fishes, yet as God continues to work His good work among us, it changes us and helps us to help other people around us – not just because it’s the nice thing to do, but because the power of Christ compels us. Love is a basket with five loaves and two fishes … it’s never enough until you start to give it away. Amen!