Food For Thought

Acts 8:14-25
John 6:1-15
The reading from John this morning relates the story of the feeding of the five thousand (one of the accounts that appears in all four gospels). According to this passage the disciple Andrew comes to Jesus with a boy who is offering to share his bread and fish with the crowd. “But what is this among so many?” Andrew wonders aloud (John 6:8-9). For Jesus, of course, it is more than enough, and the crowd is fed with plenty to spare. As a result of this sign there are those in the crowd who would make Jesus their king (v. 15), so Jesus leaves them before they can act because this is not God’s will nor God’s plan.

In the Acts passage we read of the visit of Peter and John to Samaria. They have heard that Samaritans have come to believe in Jesus Christ, and though they have been baptized have not yet received the Holy Spirit. This may seem like a strange distinction to our modern ears. To us baptism has come to represent the engrafting of the individual into the community of faith. To be baptized is to be marked as one of God’s own. Perhaps it would help if we thought of Peter and John leading a confirmation class for those who were baptized as infants and now wish to be active members of the church. At any rate, with the actions of the disciples the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the Samaritan faithful. When Simon, the former magician who has become a believer himself, offers money for the power to grant the Holy Spirit Peter sets him straight. Simon’s understanding, like that of the crowd who would have made Jesus king, is based entirely on human ideas of power and success. The Holy Spirit is not a commodity to be sold or traded, and not a resource to be hoarded or controlled. Jesus’ true kingship is not based on ordinary politics, but derived from his faithful obedience to God’s will.

How often do we misunderstand what God is about? How often do we see things in human terms: fearing that there’s not enough to go around, looking for a ruler who will meet our needs the way we perceive them, seeking the power to invoke God’s presence? These are dangerous assumptions and desires that Jesus calls us to let go of. He wants us to accept that the truth lies in human weakness. He wants us to understand that the truth lies in trusting God.

Prayer: Lord, help us to seek your will and not our own and to let go of our feeble attempts to control you. Instead lead us to accept your grace and your presence as good gifts which lead to true joy. In Jesus’ name. Amen.