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Good morning. We are very honored to be here with you this morning. I bring you greetings from the session and congregation of the Myers Park Presbyterian Church.
Our thanks to Reverend Vad and to all of you for your warm hospitality and gracious friendship. We do indeed consider you to be our sister church and we look forward to many years together in ministry.
I would also like to express our love and sympathy to Isabella Gaal and Sandor Csabina and their family as they grieve the loss of Isabella's son. We also extend our love and sympathy to Margit Balog in her grief of recently losing both of her parents. Our church has continually kept you in our thoughts and prayers.
On behalf of our church we are pleased to present this check for the Great Church's Homeless Ministry. Unfortunately, homelessness is something we all have in our communities. We pray for the day when everyone enjoys the comfort and blessing of a home and give this as a way of participating with you in this ministry.
4Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, ?Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?? 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7Philip answered him, ?Six months? wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.? 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter?s brother, said to him, 9?There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people??
10Jesus said, ?Make the people sit down.? Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. 11Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ?Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.? 13So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ?This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.
The story of the feeding of the 5,000 reveals the needs of the multitude and the disciple's lack of resources to meet those overwhelming needs. They don't have enough bread. It's not a matter of them being more intelligent. It's not a matter of them working harder. It is a matter of human limitations.
Although we share two separate histories and languages, it strikes me that we have more in common than we have differences. Our Reformed theology tells us that we all have limitations. The world, like that multitude, is still in need of God's grace. We have that in common.
When you analyze the world today, it doesn't feel like the Church has enough bread to meet the needs of this world. How do we, as the Church, make a difference in a world that looks like ours. In America, some people will send a letter to their Congressman expressing their disapproval of the war in Iraq or in the Middle East. But that feels like a crumb compared to the bread that is needed.
What is the role of the Church in a world that seems to be so volatile; a world that seems to have bought into violence as a way of solving problems. Do we simply stand on a street corner and scream out, "Love thy neighbor as thyself?" That feels like a crumb compared to the bread that is needed.
I think the disciples must have felt this way when they faced the hungry multitude and then looked at their meager resources. "We don?t have enough bread, Jesus. What are we supposed to do?"
It was precisely at that point that God stepped into the story and did something that they were not capable of doing. We call it "Divine intervention." God adds something to the story that wouldn't be there otherwise. The world today needs such a Divine intervention.
The skeptic wants proof as to how God intervenes. How does Jesus take a small amount of loaves and fish and feed a multitude with leftovers. It seems impossible, therefore it must not have happened. The skeptic won't believe unless there are explanations. But the Church thinks the more interesting question to ask is why? Why does God intervene in human life? Why are we given the resources that we need when we need them?
It is because of God's great love for the world; a love that not only created us but refuses to be detached from us, regardless of our sinfulness. God still loves the world so much that the reconciling love of Christ is continually offered to the multitudes so that no one should perish. That is the message of any church in any country. We have that hope in common.
From the perspective of the Church, it strikes me that the world today has an opportunity for Divine intervention. The multitudes are hungry, not only physically but spiritually. We have seen that politics cannot save the world. Education alone will not save the world. Intelligent people still do immoral things. War will not save the world, nor will our technology. Like that hungry multitude, the world is in a place of opportunity to experience the power of God's love through Jesus Christ.
So the last word in this story is not what we lack but what we have. The last word is hope in a God who comes to us in spite of our deficiencies and empowers us for the task. The last word is that God still loves the world enough to intervene on our behalf.
We have this in common, our dependency upon God to empower the Church to administer God's love and grace to a world in need. We celebrate that hope and the privilege of that ministry with you.
Let us pray.
Gracious God, in your mercy, see this world that is in need, and continue to use the Church, in spite of our deficiencies, to distribute your love and grace to those in need.? In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit we pray. Amen | 
