Feeding the Multitude

Feeding the Multitude 

Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21; Luke 9:10-17 

Installation of Rev. Ted Englesdorfer at Union Congregational UCC in Somonauk 

The pastor teaches and advises the folks of the congregation. The Latin roots of the word suggest that a pastor is a person who feeds. This interpretation has been exaggerated to the point of absurdity in many situations. 

Each of the four gospels uses the story of Jesus feeding the multitude, so it is clearly an important part of the story of Jesus; preacher, teacher and wonder worker. We read the story from early in Luke’s gospel. I want to highlight several things here this afternoon. 

The disciples recognize that there is a problem. It is dinner time and they are not prepared to feed this crowd. They tell Jesus to make an announcement, (people always want to have the pastor make their announcement) “tell them to go away and find their own dinner.”  

What does Jesus tell the disciples? You good church folks, you who are disciples of Jesus, what does Jesus tell us to do? Jesus says, “You give them something to eat.” The natural reaction is, that’s foolishness. We do not have enough to feed this big crowd. We cannot do it by ourselves. 

I get more than a little saddened when some good church member who has decided to either leave a congregation, or raise up a committee to remove the pastor, complains that, “They are just not being fed.”  It is times like these when I wish that preachers like me had done a better job of helping folks see the big picture. 

I visited a church not long ago, where the youth ministry program was growing. They also had a nice outreach ministry that was especially helpful to young and often single mothers. One of the women complained that their pastor did not “provide for her” the way she felt was appropriate for the pastor of a church on the main square of town. 

I asked her if the church was doing useful ministry. She agreed that it was. I asked if the pastor was providing useful leadership to those ministry teams. She supposed that “those people” doing “that stuff” seemed satisfied. 

I asked her where her own ministry field was at this point in her life. She said that she had done her fair share when she was younger. So I pushed the issue a little bit. So you don’t actively participate in the mission of the church? “No,” she said, “I told you, that is for younger people.” 

I asked if the pastor was giving time to the local retirement and nursing homes. And she replied, “I have no idea, I am not ready for a nursing home.” 

I tried to suggest that perhaps God was giving her a nudge to become more active. It is true that as we age, we cannot do what we used to do. The leaves on the tree are a rich green color in the summer. As the air turns to Autumn, they may be an even more glorious color. And often, there are even more useful roles that we can apply our gifts to as we age. She was not impressed with my colorful analogy. She had no interest in doing any kind of ministry for others. Sometimes when we do not feel as if we are being fed - it is a suggestion that it is time to take off the bib, and put on an apron.  

The pastor is here to equip the ministry of the church. Because of his gifts, and training, and the useful experience Pastor Ted has acquired on his way to this place and time, he has a backpack full of ideas to challenge you and build your spiritual approach to life. 

Be clear to yourself though, the pastor is not here to do ministry for you. The pastor’s primary role is to equip you for the good that you do. The greatest way you can respect his leadership is to involve him as you wrestle over the projects and needs in the community around you. 

Talk with him over the troubles and difficulties you face at home. Here you have an available resource, a sounding board, a confidant in an age where confidentiality is hard to come by. 

Pray for your pastor and his family. Pray over the wisdom he shares. If some part of his sermon troubles you, ask him to explain. Let yourself grow in awareness of the power of the gospel and the room you have to grow in your own relationship with God. 

We are living in the most difficult of times. In the past week alone dozens of people died in a tragic earthquake in Mexico, another in a long procession of massive hurricanes swept through the Caribbean, protests in St. Louis highlighted how even our own justice system has been structured to preserve a racial bias, and the President of our beloved country, used the United Nations as a stage to threaten nuclear war. The wisdom of the ages, the God of love and reconciliation, is having a hard time being heard today. 

Your pastor becomes wise when you look to him for wisdom. Your ministry grows in power and in reach, when you accept the opportunities that arise, even when those opportunities are clearly more than you can do by yourself. We grow in faith and ministry when we seek to express our faith in both our lives as public citizens and in the privacy of our prayer life and our checkbooks. 

We need our faith communities to nurture and give birth to ministries that reach the hurts of the world. We need to hear first the need, before we decide that we do not have enough to feed others. God provides what is needed. We respond in faith. Trust your pastor to encourage and support your important ministry. 

May Union Congregational UCC move into the future that God is calling you to have. It will not always be easy. You will sometimes bump heads with each other, and even more often, feel like God is stretching you more than you have the resources for. 

Know that God loves you. Know that God is with you. Know that calling a pastor is an act of commitment to do ministry. You are blessed, in order to be a blessing to others. Amen.