Proper 13A’26
2 August 2026
Matt 13.14-21
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
North Little Rock, Arkansas
The Rev. Carey Stone <+>
Taken – Blessed – Broken – Given; O Lord, make us to be your hands and feet in the world to which you have called us. Amen.
• In 1962 an obscure British band had their first demo rejected by Decca Records and they were told that guitar groups were on their way out” -that group were the Beatles.
• In 1954 a young singer was kicked off the Grand Ole Opry and told to stick to his day job driving trucks, the singer’s name – Elvis Presley.
• Back in the 1970s a young woman sang in a group called the “Breakfast Club” and worked in a Dunkin’ Donuts for her day job. In a fit of anger, she squirted a customer in the face with chocolate sauce and was fired and the band folded, but she never gave up, today we know her as “Madonna.”
• In 1967 a young musician was booed off the stage because the crowd wanted to hear the headliners – the Monkees, that young musician – Jimi Hendrix.1
There was more than met the eye about these musicians who went on to later greatness. Most would have quit and “kept their day jobs.” They didn’t have it all together they weren’t polished, and there were many musicians out there that was better than they were. But they were willing to do what one of my college music professors would have said “share your mediocrity with boldness!” The critics, and the crowds thought all of them were mediocre, and according to some of their biographies they thought they were mediocre. They followed the advice of Winston Churchill who defined success as “Success consists of going form failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
{They kept showing up with the little they had to offer, and it was enough – more than enough!}
Jesus’ disciples often doubted themselves, and if they were honest, probably doubted Jesus just like Thomas, they just didn’t talk about like he did. Jesus helped them to realize that it wasn’t all up to them and their abilities, talents, and meager resources. This was tiring for the human Jesus and he was ready for a break from the healing, the preaching, and teaching. So, he jumped in a boat and rowed to the opposite side of the Sea of Galilee – but the crowd was wise to where he was heading and when he got to the northwest shore there they all were waiting for him. There were many who were sick and Jesus probably ‘tired to the bone’ had compassion on them and healed them. By now it was supper time and they were out in the middle of nowhere – what to do with 10,000 hungry people (I say 10K because the scripture tells us there were 5K men but additionally there were also women and children – so it was really the feeding of the 10,000!)
The disciples were worried to say the least – what to do – what to do? The idea they suggested was to send the crowd to a neighboring town on the map which was Capernaum (about an hour’s walk).
Jesus the Master and Teacher saw this crisis as the perfect teaching moment for his disciples; and calmly says, “They need not go away, you give them something to eat.” What might have been some of the thoughts going through the disciples’ heads: “Ok has Jesus lost it – maybe he did need the vacation rather than staying behind to heal the sick! We only have five loaves and two fish, basically a lunch that might feed two people, not thousands. But Jesus had asked them to feed all the people, and this is all they had. What an embarrassing moment of powerlessness. What will this do to the attendance at church next week? These people will never forget the night they almost died of heatstroke and starvation, following this obscure rabbi.”
{But they kept showing up with the little they had to offer, and it was enough – more than enough!}
Jesus then said, “Bring them to me.” The first disciples were about to witness, and we later day disciples are about to recall, the famous pattern of Jesus summed up in the Eucharist where the elements are taken – blessed – broken – and given.
This becomes the template that foreshadows our salvation, as Jesus offers his body to be blessed, broken, and given for the world. This is the pattern that feeds the souls of the world and it is shape of our discipleship as his followers. We are invited to offer ourselves to God, with all of our brokenness where he then blesses us as God’s beloved, and then sends us out into the world to whom we are given as bearers of his light and messengers of the good news! Invited to as members of the Body of Christ to become the hands and feet, and sometimes even the mouthpiece of God.
But, we, like those first disciples are susceptible to our fears, worries, and insecurities. We tend to minimize our gifts, and talents, and are too humble when it comes to sharing them. The great miracle when we realize it doesn’t all depend on us – we are invited to join with God in the wonderful journey friends and partners in the ongoing work of reconciling love, where estrangement is healed, and friendship with God becomes possible.
When Jesus joined the partnership, they didn’t just have enough, they had more than enough with 12 baskets full of leftovers. Pretty cool – takeout provided by Jesus!
{But they kept showing up with the little they had to offer, and it was enough – more than enough!}
Ok, I started with music and I’ll end with music. In fact, you’ll get a free sample: {Play excerpt from the Andy Griffith Show theme…}
Earle Hagen, a struggling Hollywood musician, got up one morning with a tune in his head. He started whistling the tune, it only took about 10 minutes to write the musical notes down. The little ditty he wrote became the theme for 1960s tv series The Andy Griffith Show. This week, I was standing in the hallway on the 6th floor of Baptist hospital waiting to go in and see Ruby Wortham when I heard someone whistling, I walked around the corner and saw that it was a custodian whistling the theme the Andy Griffith Show as he mopped.
Let us never underestimate all of our small gifts, and abilities when we dare to offer them up to him. When we do, we will experience God’s math of multiplication and there will be enough, more than enough! Amen.
1 https://www.mymusicmasterclass.com/famous-musicians-who-came-back-from-failure-or-adversity/