All You Can Eat

*Read Matthew 14:13-21

I have some buffet jokes for you this morning. There was an 85-year-old couple, having been married almost 60 years, found themselves at the Pearly Gates together. They had been in good health the last ten years mainly due to the wife's interest in health food and exercise. So when they reached the gates, St. Peter took them to their mansion, which was decked out with a beautiful kitchen and bathroom suite, with a Jacuzzi. As they "oohed and aahed," the old man asked Peter how much all this was going to cost. "It's free," Peter replied, "this is Heaven."

Next they went out back to survey the championship golf course that the home backed up to. They would have golfing privileges every day, and each week the course transformed to a new one, representing the great golf courses on Earth. The old man asked, "What are the green fees?" Peter's reply, "This is Heaven, you play for free." Next they went to the clubhouse and saw the lavish buffet lunch, with the cuisines of the world laid out. "How much to eat?" asked the old man. "Don't you understand yet? This is Heaven, it is free!" Peter replied with some exasperation.

"Well, where are the low fat and low cholesterol tables?" the old man asked timidly. Peter lectured, "That's the best part; you can eat as much as you like of whatever you like, and you never get fat or sick. This is Heaven." With that, the old man went into a fit of anger, throwing down his hat and stomping on it, and shrieking wildly. Peter and his wife both tried to calm him down, asking him what was wrong. The old man looked at his wife and said, "This is all your fault. If it weren't for your bran muffins, I could have been here ten years ago!"

Or what about the conversation I overheard last Sunday. Chris was cautioning her son, MacKenzie at the carry in after worship. "Doesn't it embarrass you that people have seen you go up to the buffet table five times?" she asked. "Not a bit," MacKenzie replied. "I just tell them I'm filling up the plate for you!"

And we all might have our own interesting buffet experiences to share. While at the buffet of an Oriental restaurant I was dining in recently, everything was labeled with post-it notes. Everyone was having quite a time trying to figure a particular one out. Instead of the popular Hunan Beef, the sign said Human Beef. Needless to say the pan was still full...

Even in the midst of these laughable moments, the appeal of a buffet is rather obvious. In fact, "Buffet" is a French word that means "Eat until you explode!" It’s that notion of having no limits. No limits, unlimited, all you want—all you can eat. Human beings respond to the notion of no limits very positively.
Sometimes we go to buffets for those glamorous food delicacies we might not normally prepare for ourselves - the “all you can eat” shrimp, the “fresh crab legs”…the sushi bar.

So, what’s a good buffet, if there is such a thing? And secondly—do you really eat that much at a buffet? Food, any food, is the best at first tasting, the first mouthful. After that, only the most extraordinary food gets better. With buffet food, the first mouthful, or the first plateful, maybe okay. After that, it’s a matter of loosening the belt and going back to the lines with the idea that you have to get your money’s worth. At least, that’s what it seems like to me.

The very concept of the buffet seems very American to me somehow, even though the “all you can eat” smorgasbord originated in Scandinavia. Lining up at a stainless steel counter, staring at florescent-lit food; it’s a rather lonely feeling, devoid of the home-cooked experience you get after slaving over a hot stove—all for the benefit of your loved ones. Buffets are more about feeding, than dining. And real dining—I believe—takes a lot more than that. It is a lot of work.

One of the things we have learned in recent years is that it is important when reading the Bible to approach it from different angles. Various avenues lead to different insights. Questions arise that we might not have thought of otherwise. Sometimes it’s even possible to hear something new about a story we thought we understood so well. Take the story of Jesus’ feeding of the multitude in the wilderness, for example. For many years we have thought that this was a miracle story, a story about Jesus’ amazing ability in a difficult situation. Jesus and the disciples have gone off to a deserted place, but a large crowd of people has followed them. Matthew says, five thousand men were there, not counting all the women and children. Jesus feels sorry for them and spends the day curing their many illnesses. Then the sun begins to set, and the disciples begin to worry about how people are going to be fed. That’s the situation.

The other thing to notice about this story is what happens in it. Many people think of this story as a miracle story; but Matthew never uses that word. Somehow we have gotten the idea over the years that Jesus performed some kind of magician’s trick that day, that when he took the loaves and fishes and blessed them that they were multiplied. A supernatural feat, something like rabbits that keep coming out of a hat.

The thing is: that is not what Matthew says. All he says is that everyone had enough to eat and that there was some left over. Furthermore, the emphasis of the whole story is not so much on the people eating but on what happens just before that. The disciples come to Jesus in a panic, apparently concerned about the welfare of the crowd.

. . . 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.” This exchange between Jesus and his disciples, in other words, seems to be the crux of the story. The disciples think the answer is to send the crowd away so that they might feed themselves. But Jesus’ solution has nothing to do with participating in the dominating mentality of both that era and ours. You’ve heard the popular saying, “God helps those who helps themselves.” But this doesn’t seem to be the gospel message of Jesus.

Instead Jesus determines the available resources, organizes the consumers into groups, pronounces the blessing, and distributes what is at hand. Well, almost. Jesus does not distribute the loaves in this story. He took the loaves. . . gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

What is important to notice in this story is who does feed the crowds. It is not Jesus. It is the disciples. From the diagnosis of the problem to the gathering up of leftovers, the disciples did all the work. The disciples are the ones who symbolize what it means to be like Jesus in the world. They learn how to be that way by doing what they are told. No briefing on how they are to arrange it. No estimate on how it will all turn out. They simply act on orders and discover one whose compassion reaches beyond their wildest dreams.

This was an extremely important story for Matthew’s church. It was not a church the way most of us still think of church; a building to keep up, bazaars to hold, a place where people come to perform rituals and a central authority somewhere downtown. This was a house church, an informal gathering of families in a safe place far from spying eyes. Rich and poor people huddled together in the name of Jesus, attempting to understand and embody the way of Jesus in the world the best way they knew how. They needed each other to survive. None of this modern-day individualism and competitive spirit we worship nowadays both in and out of church. Compassion was required of people in these tiny communities and households. Mercy. You were expected to show it in the face of someone else’s needs. Not an option, but a command of the One they all loved. It’s a matter of following orders.

In fact, that was what the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper came to mean for these people. It was an opportunity to come together and bless what they had, divide it up and distribute it in memory of him who was the compassion of God, making sure that everything was passed around until all had enough. Indeed, it was said of those people in those first churches that people would sell what they didn’t need and give it to others so that no one was in need (Acts 2.45). Just imagine!

That’s why this story from Matthew was so important. It was a reminder of what can happen when we obey Jesus’ order to give away what we have. And those first Christians took it as an order, for they truly believed that.

Heaven starts here, my friends. It starts when we discover the amazing goodness and delight of opening our hearts to anyone who is in need; for love is indeed its own reward. Of course, hell starts here too. For if it is eternal life to love the way Jesus loved anyone in need, it is hell to think that the only person who matters in this world is you.(Excerpts from Barry J. Robinson’s sermon “Just Following Orders” for July 31, 2005 – www.fernstone.org)

Meditation Prayer: Imagine yourself sitting before an amazing spread of food—all of your favorite things are there; juicy steaks, hot buttered baked potatoes, creamy macaroni and cheese, cool pasta salads, fresh slices of chilled watermelon, sweet banana cream pies. Now picture some of your favorite things.

Now, imagine in place of that delicious cooking you see the amazing good deeds accomplished by this faith community; caring for the homeless, preparing relief kits for disaster victims, walking in marches for social causes in the community, feeding the community, collecting clothes and groceries for needy families, giving your financial support that contributes to the work of ministry. These things are on God’s buffet. These gifts of time, talent and treasure are the means by which the hurting will be healed, the lonely will be loved, and the hungry will be fed. This is our mandate as followers of the Christ, and when we engage in this kind of service our souls will be satisfied with “all that we can eat.” And that is our gospel truth for today. Amen!