August: The Greatest Fry Cook
I have a confession - I didn’t start liking fish until several years ago. It didn’t matter whether it was from a lake, creek, or the ocean. I could barely stomach any of it. I know. Probably not the best confession from the pastor of a church, which is about to have its fish fry! The good news? I love fish these days! It has gone from one of my least favorite foods, to something I try and eat once a week.
But really, fish is the perfect food to have at a church event. Pretty soon we will have plenty of faithful, fabulous, fantastic fish fryers of our own, whipping up some delicious soul food for the weary sojourner. Non-ironically, this is exactly what happened in Matthew 14:13-21 and again in Mark 15:29-39, as Jesus fed the 5,000 and 4,000 respectively. Here is the Matthean account of the feeding of 5,000.
Matthew 14:13-21
13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Jesus feeding the 5,000 (not counting women and children) is holistic ministry at its finest. There is a flow to it, a rhythm of healing, it’s God’s provision in motion. One of the finest moments of Christs’ ministry followed one of the most tragic events of Jesus’s life - the death of John the Baptist. In this account Jesus has compassion, he heals the sick, he feeds them, and they are completely satisfied. In short, Jesus would have put on a fish fry for the ages. Even in his grief, Jesus sought to serve the people he had been called to. He didn’t leave their sick hurting. He didn’t send the crowds away hungry.
Jesus took five loaves of bread and two fish, blessed them, and the blessings multiplied. I’m not sure how the math works out, but the blessings were such that everyone who ate was completely satisfied. Can you imagine if we only had two fish to serve an entire crowd? Thankfully, we don’t have to test that ancient miracle. However, daily we are reminded of how little it takes to be satisfied in the Lord. We pursue him. We call out to him. He blesses us immeasurably. We see the blessings multiply before our very eyes. We give thanks. Repeat. It’s an incredible cycle which we see time and time again in the Scriptures. Now of course, it’s our turn to take what we’ve been given and go out to bless others. If it’s through a morning conversation. A group Bible study. A text or letter, reminding a friend we are thinking of them. Or in Mt. Sharon’s case - a fish fry.
Peace to you,
Rev. Taylor Kibler
