Children’s Sermon:

The Bible tells a story about a time when a large crowd of people had gathered around Jesus to hear him teach.  They were so interested in what he had to say that they stayed ALL day!  Which is wonderful—except don’t you think everyone would start to get hungry eventually?  That’s exactly what happened. Jesus’ disciples wondered, where are we going to get enough food to feed all these people?  They did not have anything like Wawa in that time!

Thankfully, one boy in the crowd offered to share his five small loaves of bread and two fish.  That might have been enough to feed his family, but it certainly wasn’t enough to feed five thousand men plus women and children!

The disciples were very skeptical and didn’t see how this little bit of food could make any difference for such a hungry, large crowd.

But Jesus saw the situation differently.  He accepted the boy’s offering of bread and fish, said a prayer of thanks to God, and then shared the bread and fish with the crowd.  Somehow a miracle took place, and everyone had plenty to eat.  In fact, there was so much food that they were able to gather up twelve baskets of leftovers!

Can you imagine, one little donation leading to so much good?  This is one of my favorite Bible stories because it teaches us that you don’t have to be rich, or fancy, or even a grown-up to make a difference!  Everyone can help make things better, just by doing the bit that they can.

Let’s pray:  Dear God, thank you for giving us the opportunity to help made a difference for others.  Help us to give what we can, cheerfully and willingly, so we can be part of your miraculous caring for us and the world. Amen.

 

Sermon:

Have you ever heard the story of Stone Soup?  Once upon a time, there was a great famine and there wasn’t enough food to go around. The people in one small village didn’t have enough to eat, and definitely not enough to store away for the winter. People were afraid their families would go hungry, so they hid the small amounts of food they did have. They even hid their food from their friends and neighbors.

One day a wandering soldier came into the village. He asked the different

people he met about finding a place to eat and sleep for the night.  “There’s not a bite to eat in the whole county,” they told him. “You better keep moving on.”

“Oh, I have everything I need,” the soldier said. “In fact, I would like to make some stone soup to share with all of you.” He pulled a big black cooking pot from his wagon. He filled it with water and built a fire under it. Then, he reached slowly into his knapsack and, while several villagers watched, he pulled a plain gray stone from a cloth bag and dropped it into the water.

By now, hearing about the magic stone, most of the villagers were surrounding the soldier and his cooking pot. As the soldier sniffed the stone soup and licked his lips, the villagers began to overcome their lack of trust.

“Ahh,” the soldier said aloud to himself, “I do like a tasty stone soup. Of course, stone soup with cabbage is even better.”

Soon a villager ran from his house into the village square, holding a cabbage. “I have this cabbage from my garden.” he said as he held it out for the soldier.

“Fantastic!” cried the soldier. The soldier cut up the cabbage and added it to the pot. “You know, I once had stone soup with cabbage and a bit of beef, and it was delicious.”

The butcher said he thought he could find some beef scraps. As he ran back to his shop, other villagers offered bits of vegetables from their own gardens–potatoes, onions, carrots, celery. Soon the big black pot was bubbling and steaming. When the soup was ready, everyone in the village ate a bowl of soup, and it was delicious.

The villagers offered the soldier money and other treasures for the magic stone, but he refused to sell it. He had many offers for a cot to sleep on that night. The next day he traveled on his way.

(Adapted from the classic folktale from the Aarne-Thompson folktale system)

 

This story has been a favorite for generations because we love the lesson it teaches:  by working together, with everyone contributing what they can, a greater good is achieved.  What a great reminder!  None of us has the whole solution to any problem.  Each of us, though, can draw from our resources to make a positive difference.  What an encouraging thought!

But did you ever notice that the greater good that comes about in this story is based on a deception?  The stone isn’t magic!  It wasn’t that the stone made good tasting soup—it’s only that the soldier was able to cook up a story that softened the hearts of the villagers, and made them willing to share.  So this of course leads us to think more deeply about the story, and see if there is another lesson in there for us.  What would it take to soften our hearts and make us willing to share?

In our gospel lesson, we met a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fishes, and from his offering, the whole crowd was fed.  One person contributed what he could, and a greater good was achieved.  But don’t you wonder about everyone else?  Was this boy the ONLY person who brought food with them?  Didn’t anyone else think to pack some snacks?  Was the miracle in this story that Jesus turned the five loaves and two fishes into enough to feed thousands of people?  Or was the miracle in this story more along the lines of Stone Soup?  One boy sharing his food inspired the rest of the crowd to share theirs as well?

My whole life I’ve been taught that the feeding of the five thousand story is a miracle recorded in the Bible to show Jesus’ power.  Jesus is so powerful that he can take barely enough food for one family and use it to feed thousands of families.  Which for sure, Jesus has the power to do that.  But I have never personally witnessed a miracle like that.  I have, however, had a front row seat to seeing many times when a whole community was stirred to generosity, with amazing results.  All it took was one or two people to get it started.

Our gospel lesson was suggested by the Generosity worship series we are using right now.  But I had a hard time deciding on an epistle lesson for today.  As we are working our way through the New Testament, we’re getting to these smaller letters that are jam-packed with powerful verses.  Do you remember a few years ago when we took six weeks to study the entire book of James, which is only five chapters?  So many words of wisdom in that book.  One passage that comes to mind is James 2:14-17, “What good is it, my brothers, if a person claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save him?  Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

James is not the only writer to call Christians to add deeds to their beliefs.  Peter wrote, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action.”!  One critical issue for every believer is moving from a passive to an active faith.  It would be so wonderful if we could sit back and wait for the one boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish to present his offering to Jesus, and have Jesus work a miracle that sets us all up for abundance.  But that is not the ordinary way faith works.  Most of the time we are ALL called upon to offer our loaves and fish, and God adds a gracious blessing to our giving, and together we can do wonderfully more than we had ever imagined.

But someone has to be the start of the stone soup.  That’s why every year we ask for members of the Lima family to make a financial pledge to the church.  But we are also working to think more comprehensively and broadly about our giving.  What kind of bread do you have to give?  What kind of fish can you bring?  Maybe you can help with Sunday school.  Maybe you can help with yard work.  Maybe you can be an advocate for justice and mercy.  Maybe you can invite your friends to worship.  What can you add to the stone soup to make a difference for the kingdom of God?  What can you add to make Lima Church as zesty, meaty, fragrant, and nourishing as possible?

As we think about adding action to our faith, it’s important to think for a minute about how our beliefs impact our ability to do good.  There is an adage that I’ve mentioned before, and it’s easy to remember because it’s based on our ABC’s.  Adversity triggers Beliefs, and Beliefs have Consequences.  ABC.  Adversity leads to beliefs, and beliefs have consequences.  And often, adversity triggers negative beliefs.  When my printer won’t work, it is very frustrating, and the first thing I often think is, “I am just no good at technology!”  Which is a) not true, b) not helpful, and c) makes me feel worse!  When adversity triggers negative beliefs, it leads to negative consequences.  We get depressed, angry, anxious and apathetic.  Thankfully, we can learn to Dispute these beliefs.  Basically, we have to talk to ourselves.  We have to broaden our perspective and bring to mind other thoughts, such as, “Yes, this printer is frustrating, but I have solved this problem before.  I have people I can ask for help.  I have other options.  I can manage this situation with grace.”  When I remind myself of those truths, then I get to the letter E, for energization.  Disputing the negative beliefs allows me to bring positive beliefs to mind, and that leads to feeling more energized and equipped to deal with the issues at hand.

I don’t know what was going on with all the people gathered to listen to Jesus teach.  But one possibility is that they were starting to feel hungry, and this adversity led to beliefs that may have been part of their life experience—beliefs about not having enough food, not having religious authorities that cared about them, not living in a community that cared deeply about each other.  Beliefs like, “No matter what I do, it won’t make a difference.”  Or, “I don’t have enough for myself let alone anyone else.”  Or, “this is not my problem.”  As long as the people persisted in those negative beliefs, very few of them would be able to enjoy a good meal.

But one little boy was courageous enough to dispute those old beliefs.  He didn’t have enough life experience yet to be skeptical.  Instead, he trusted.  The boy believed Jesus was loving and could help everyone.  The boy believed that even though he was young, he mattered and could make a difference.  The boy believed his community members were generous people at heart and just needed some inspiration.  He disputed the negative beliefs, and look what happened:  energization!  Generosity!  Abundance!  There was so much food they were able to gather up twelve baskets of leftovers.

As we collect our pledge cards today, I hope you will think for a few minutes about the adversity you have experienced lately, and how it has impacted you.  Has it made you feel like you don’t have enough to share?  That your gift won’t make a difference?  That the church’s mission is not your problem to solve?  That you cannot afford to help?  If so, I hope you will think about the soldier and his stone soup.  I hope you will think about the boy and his willingness to share what he had.  I hope you will think about Jesus, and how much he loves you, and all the ways you have seen grace multiply in your life.

Adversity often leads to negative beliefs, which have negative consequences.  That is why Peter told us to set our hope firmly on God’s grace!  We can dispute those negative beliefs with the truth of God’s love.  What can you add to the pot of soup?  What can you contribute to the feast?  Today is a great chance to get excited and energized to add what you can to make Lima Church as zesty, meaty, fragrant and nourishing as possible.  Amen.