Sunday 22nd June 2008
PARTY IN THE PARK
Today, as a Parish, we did something different. We held a joint service in Milkwood Community Space. There was lots of great music and singing. And, although the wind heartily blew, the day remained rain-free and was quite sunny in parts.
The service was followed by a fabulous lunch and then a variety of activities including: face painting, a bouncy castle, juggling lessons, relay races for the children, a quiz, a game of rounders and a tug-of-war.
One of our Lay Readers, Adrian Parkhouse, spoke at the service, based on the reading from Matthew 15: 32-39 Jesus feeds 4000.
1. What a story! What a miracle! And what a good story for us to read today as we are gathered “on the hillside” ready to hear the words of Jesus – just as that big crowd was in Jesus’ time.
Start with a question: how many people were slightly surprised to hear the number of people who were fed by Jesus: “The number of men who ate was 4000, not counting the women and children”. Did some of expect the number to be 5000? Because usually we talk about “the feeding of the 5000”, don’t we? Well Geraldine did not get it wrong: this is another miracle – a different miracle. In Matthew’s gospel, just 1 chapter earlier, he tells us about the events of the feeding of the 5000: and the two stories mirror each other very, very closely. But not so closely that we might imagine Matthew made a mistake and included the same story twice! The 4000 were fed in a different place, at a different time and were different people.
2. But numbers are difficult. Counting isn’t easy is it? Particularly when you are counting people? It’s funny that when there has been a demonstration or a march, the estimates of numbers attending by the police on the one hand and the organisers on the other are so very different.
Look: here’s picture a lot of us will be familiar with – the group photo from last year’s Parish Weekend. Have a quick look, then answer these questions:
· How many people are in the photo? (139?)
· How many men are in the photo? (40?)
Difficult isn’t it? Matthew tells us there were 4000 men. If the proportions were the same as at the Parish weekend, how many people would have been on then hillside? (c.14,000 people!!)
Difficult to imagine - and probably wrong anyway – but we get the idea of the size of the crowd that had come out in the hills, leaving their towns and villages, walking for hours, perhaps days, just to see Jesus. Many had come because they wanted healing; and had heard that Jesus could heal them; others would have brought loved ones to be healed; others just came to hear his teaching.
One last way of getting to grips with the numbers on that hill: each page here has 200 smiling men on it. How many of these do we need to get the 4000? (20) Good, that’s how many I have got. Now while the rest of listen a bit more, can some of the little folk colour the faces in and make them nice and bright?
3. And so this great crowd had been there listening and learning for 3 days. And the food had begun to run out and - because this is what the disciples were like, even though they might have learned their lesson only a chapter earlier! – the disciples began to worry and to fret: “How are we going to feed them? All we have is 7 loaves and a few small fish.”
Time for a little light acting: get the disciples up; you are crowd. We have all got parts to play: the disciples are fretting; the crowd are hungry. Can you imagine that? Now what were the alternatives available?
· In the first scenario: I want the disciples to do what they had suggested Jesus should have done before he fed the 5000: ie to send the crowed away; make them go back to the villages and buy their own food.
How did that feel?
· In the second scenario: now that we have established that we have a few loaves and a few fishes, I want the disciples to make a grown-up decision, to weigh up the alternatives, to think about what is possible and what is not possible and to decide to make the most of what is available and to eat the available food themselves: after all they came prepared, they brought the pack-lunch!
How did that feel?
· And last, let’s play it as Matthew tells us Jesus did it: He gave thanks to God for the food, he broke the bread, gave it (the Greek says “kept giving it”) to his disciples who in turn kept giving it to the crowd. And all ate and had enough; and 7 baskets were taken up at the end.
How did that feel?
4. At the start of the reading this morning there is phrase which is the key to what went on that day: “Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I feel sorry for these people…”. Other translations say: “I feel compassion…/My heart goes out to these people….”. What we see is an expression of the love of Jesus for people: the miracle is a response to need and an example of the deep, deep love that God has for his Creation: compassion means that He suffers when we suffer. This is just one example of a massive number in the Bible, where God is expressing His love. And of course it leaves lots of questions like: do I recognise this love in my life? Do I see that God is not wanting to send me away; that he does not intend His love to be kept for a special few? Can I see that He wants to perform miracles equivalent to this great feast in the amount of love poured out in me and us every day?
Let’s end by looking at our crowd and saying a prayer.
Today, as a Parish, we did something different. We held a joint service in Milkwood Community Space. There was lots of great music and singing. And, although the wind heartily blew, the day remained rain-free and was quite sunny in parts.
The service was followed by a fabulous lunch and then a variety of activities including: face painting, a bouncy castle, juggling lessons, relay races for the children, a quiz, a game of rounders and a tug-of-war.
One of our Lay Readers, Adrian Parkhouse, spoke at the service, based on the reading from Matthew 15: 32-39 Jesus feeds 4000.
1. What a story! What a miracle! And what a good story for us to read today as we are gathered “on the hillside” ready to hear the words of Jesus – just as that big crowd was in Jesus’ time.
Start with a question: how many people were slightly surprised to hear the number of people who were fed by Jesus: “The number of men who ate was 4000, not counting the women and children”. Did some of expect the number to be 5000? Because usually we talk about “the feeding of the 5000”, don’t we? Well Geraldine did not get it wrong: this is another miracle – a different miracle. In Matthew’s gospel, just 1 chapter earlier, he tells us about the events of the feeding of the 5000: and the two stories mirror each other very, very closely. But not so closely that we might imagine Matthew made a mistake and included the same story twice! The 4000 were fed in a different place, at a different time and were different people.
2. But numbers are difficult. Counting isn’t easy is it? Particularly when you are counting people? It’s funny that when there has been a demonstration or a march, the estimates of numbers attending by the police on the one hand and the organisers on the other are so very different.
Look: here’s picture a lot of us will be familiar with – the group photo from last year’s Parish Weekend. Have a quick look, then answer these questions:
· How many people are in the photo? (139?)
· How many men are in the photo? (40?)
Difficult isn’t it? Matthew tells us there were 4000 men. If the proportions were the same as at the Parish weekend, how many people would have been on then hillside? (c.14,000 people!!)
Difficult to imagine - and probably wrong anyway – but we get the idea of the size of the crowd that had come out in the hills, leaving their towns and villages, walking for hours, perhaps days, just to see Jesus. Many had come because they wanted healing; and had heard that Jesus could heal them; others would have brought loved ones to be healed; others just came to hear his teaching.
One last way of getting to grips with the numbers on that hill: each page here has 200 smiling men on it. How many of these do we need to get the 4000? (20) Good, that’s how many I have got. Now while the rest of listen a bit more, can some of the little folk colour the faces in and make them nice and bright?
3. And so this great crowd had been there listening and learning for 3 days. And the food had begun to run out and - because this is what the disciples were like, even though they might have learned their lesson only a chapter earlier! – the disciples began to worry and to fret: “How are we going to feed them? All we have is 7 loaves and a few small fish.”
Time for a little light acting: get the disciples up; you are crowd. We have all got parts to play: the disciples are fretting; the crowd are hungry. Can you imagine that? Now what were the alternatives available?
· In the first scenario: I want the disciples to do what they had suggested Jesus should have done before he fed the 5000: ie to send the crowed away; make them go back to the villages and buy their own food.
How did that feel?
· In the second scenario: now that we have established that we have a few loaves and a few fishes, I want the disciples to make a grown-up decision, to weigh up the alternatives, to think about what is possible and what is not possible and to decide to make the most of what is available and to eat the available food themselves: after all they came prepared, they brought the pack-lunch!
How did that feel?
· And last, let’s play it as Matthew tells us Jesus did it: He gave thanks to God for the food, he broke the bread, gave it (the Greek says “kept giving it”) to his disciples who in turn kept giving it to the crowd. And all ate and had enough; and 7 baskets were taken up at the end.
How did that feel?
4. At the start of the reading this morning there is phrase which is the key to what went on that day: “Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I feel sorry for these people…”. Other translations say: “I feel compassion…/My heart goes out to these people….”. What we see is an expression of the love of Jesus for people: the miracle is a response to need and an example of the deep, deep love that God has for his Creation: compassion means that He suffers when we suffer. This is just one example of a massive number in the Bible, where God is expressing His love. And of course it leaves lots of questions like: do I recognise this love in my life? Do I see that God is not wanting to send me away; that he does not intend His love to be kept for a special few? Can I see that He wants to perform miracles equivalent to this great feast in the amount of love poured out in me and us every day?
Let’s end by looking at our crowd and saying a prayer.
posted by Parish Administrator at 1:14 pm
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