Sermon by Herman Kauffman
Camp Creek Church of the Brethren
September 15, 2002

What Shall We Do With the Leftovers?
Matthew 14:13-21

I've always wondered what Jesus did with the twelve baskets of leftovers ...
and I suspect Jesus is wondering today what we will do with our leftovers.

A group of salesmen from Milwaukee went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They assured their wives that they would be home in time for supper but now they were running late. They were racing through the train terminal, tickets in hand ... when one man inadvertently kicked over a table supporting a basket of apples. Without stopping, they raced for the train and boarded it with a sigh of relief. All but one. He paused, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the boy whose apple stand had been overturned. He waved goodbye to his companions and returned to the terminal. He was glad he did. The 10-year-old boy was blind.

The salesman gathered up the apples and noticed that several of them were bruised. He reached into his wallet and said to the boy, "Here, please take this ten dollars for the damage we did. I hope it didn't spoil your day." As he started to walk away the blind, bewildered boy called after him, "Are you Jesus?"

And the man stopped in his tracks, and he wondered.

As he retells the story later, he rethinks his life and what is really of value. Somehow ... he dimly perceives this incident as a summary of his life. He is running, running all the time until the incident of the blind boy and his apples has an impact on him. And he wonders if the blind boy with two bad eyes sees more than he with two good ones. There is in this story repentance and restitution and the blind boy sees him as Jesus. The story is told because it bothers him. It is making a demand on him and he knows that sooner or later he must respond to it. He wasn't Jesus, of course, but shouldn't he be? [William Bausch, Storytelling: Imagination and Faith, pp. 177-178]

We aren't Jesus either, are we? But shouldn't we be?
How are we to respond to demands for our time and resources?

My mind flashes back to an incident from twelve years ago at a congregation I served in Ohio. There was a knock on my office door and there stood a man who, I guessed in one quick observation, had come for help. Sure enough, he told me his hard-luck story ... but now he had found a job but needed gas money to get to his new place of employment. If I could supply him with some gas money, he would certainly appreciate it and would gladly repay me from his first paycheck next Friday.

In 15+ years as a pastor, I had heard his story many times before; and in those years not a single person had ever returned with the money I had given them. So here is the dilemma, church, ... should I send him away empty-handed or should I give him something?

As I reached for my billfold, I said that I could understand his dilemma. And as he left, he thanked me again for my generosity and said he would return next Friday to repay me.

The disciples came to Jesus saying, "It is late. Send the
people away so that they can go and buy food for themselves."

But Jesus objected, "You give them something...."

Does that apply to us as well? Are we supposed to give to meet the needs of society's leftovers who come asking us for help? Are we supposed to be Jesus, to be Christ-like, in our own community?

Like the disciples we protest, "We have nothing to give - only 5 loaves and two fish." Our resources are limited - or at least the "leftover resources" after we have eaten and met our own needs and desires.
Our "leftover resources" - those we are willing to share with others in Jesus' name -- are limited.

"It's been a long day, Jesus.
It's been a week filled with unexpected expenses.
All we've got leftover is five loaves and two fish."

"Bring them to me!" Jesus says.

And so we bring our leftover offerings and lay them on the table before him. He receives our leftovers and gives thanks to God for them! How about that - Jesus gives thanks to God even for the leftovers we bring to him!

And what is the witness of the early church? What did Jesus do with the leftovers? He fed the crowd that numbered more than 5,000, didn't he? Didn't he? But look again at what Matthew tells us in our scripture lesson this morning: After giving thanks to God ... "Jesus broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples...."

Can you hear me now ... Jesus broke the bread and gave it back to the disciples! "...and the disciples shared the bread with the people." And they all ate until they were satisfied!

Do you understand that Jesus still receives our leftover offerings, he gives thanks to God for them and blesses them, and gives them back to us ... to distribute to those who have need of them.

Each year we have to decide what to do with our leftover offerings which Jesus has received and blessed and given back to us to distribute. And so we develop a church budget to help us determine how to distribute these blessed leftovers. How much do we give to others - we call this outreach - and how much do we keep for ourselves?

And I wonder how many times we hear the whispered question coming from those we have helped: "Camp Creek Church of the Brethren, are you Jesus?" And we would be quick to confess that "No, we are not Jesus; but we are continuing the work of Jesus."

Today is Harvest Sunday at Camp Creek. I don't claim to know the history of Harvest Sunday at Camp Creek ... but I would guess it is similar to that of many other rural congregations which in years past consisted mainly of farm families. Harvest Sunday was a time to thank God for the blessing of the harvest and to offer a portion of that Harvest to God to be used for the ministry of the church in the coming year.

Today our rural congregations have fewer farm families and most families have a more regular source of income. Each week or each month is like a Harvest Sunday as we bring our offerings (even our leftovers) to Jesus who receives them, gives thanks to God for them, blessing them before giving them back to the church for distribution. This is not the end of the story, however, but the beginning.

Matthew adds a postscript to the story in verse 20, telling us that after everyone had ate and were filled, the disciples gathered up what was left over of the broken pieces. How much was leftover? Twelve baskets of leftovers! One basket for each disciple.

I've always wondered what they did with the baskets of leftovers? John's Gospel is a bit more revealing than Matthew's for in John's Gospel we read that it was Jesus who instructed the disciples to gather up the leftovers, saying: "Gather the pieces left over; let us not waste a bit."

When Connie and I were first married I told her, according to her recollection, that I didn't like leftovers. She continues to remind me of that, with a smile on her face, when we have the leftovers for the third time.

We live in a "disposable age" where we have become accustomed to purchasing items in disposable containers. For years we have just thrown away what we could not use, until in more recent days we have been confronted with the growing lack of landfill space and the need to "recycle." We can no longer afford, as responsible inhabitants of the planet earth or as good Christian stewards to simply throw away our leftovers. As Jesus reminds us, we need to gather up the pieces so that nothing is wasted.

So what are we to learn from this story? I find it interesting that this story of the Feeding of the 5,000 is one of the very few stories that is included in each of the four gospels. It must have made a powerful impact upon the early church. But equally interesting is the response in each gospel - that is, what follows next.

In Luke's Gospel, this story is followed by Peter's declaration of faith. Jesus asks the disciples, "Who do the crowds say that I am? ... Who do you say that I am?" And Peter answers, "The Messiah of God." Can we see the Messiah - the Christ - in this One who receives what we give (even our leftovers), gives thanks and blesses them, and returns them to us so that they become more than we need or can ever give away? Does Jesus still turn our leftovers into abundance?

Mark's story comes in the midst of describing the Mission of the Disciples, and is followed by a journey across the sea where Jesus heals the sick of a foreign land and brings wholeness to a broken people. Can we understand that our baskets of leftovers are needed in distant, and not-so-distant, places to bring healing and wholeness to those who are themselves broken?

Matthew also tells us this story of healing in a foreign land, but first includes the story of Peter invited by Jesus to come to him by walking across the stormy water. Peter becomes frightened by the strong wind and began to sink, crying out, "Lord, save me!" And Jesus reaches out his hand and caught him, saying, "Why did you doubt?" Can we understand that even as we are on our way to share what we have with those in need, Jesus saves us from our doubts and faithlessness?

John's Gospel tells us that Jesus withdrew to the mountain to be alone while the disciples left by boat. Only John's Gospel, however, tells us that the crowd stayed put all night, until the next day, when they went in search of Jesus. There follows the teaching where Jesus proclaims that he is the bread of life and invites the crowd to become a part of his broken body. Can we also understand that the one who feeds the hungry crowd with bread is also the One who is the bread of life broken to feed our souls?

"He took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks,
he broke it and gave it to them, saying,
This is my body which is given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me."

We have offered ourselves and the leftovers of our abundance to Jesus who has received what we have offered, has given thanks to God and blessed and broke it and returned it to us to share with the hungry crowds around us. And as we share our leftovers, there returns to us an abundance that leaves us with even more leftovers to offer to Jesus for blessing and to share with others.

In this story we find both the mystery and the heart of the Gospel: that in giving we receive. Jesus tells to "give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Luke 6:30-31)

So ... did the man in my story return the next Friday with the gas money I offered him? No. Was I blessed as a result of the leftovers I offered to him? You bet I was! I believe Jesus accepted my gift and blessed it and returned it to me abundantly ... to be shared again and again.

Brothers and sisters, I've always wondered what Jesus did with the 12 baskets of leftovers; but now I know ... he just blessed them ... and gave them to us to use for his glory.

What shall we do with the leftovers?