2020.06.14 - Summer Potluck Worship Week 2

Scripture - Mark 6:31 - 44

31 He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 35 When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; 36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.” 37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” When they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And all ate and were filled; 43 and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

Sermon/Ignatian Exercise

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about our Food Pantry - the way that we have stepped forward in this season to assist in feeding our community - keeping each other nourished not only in body, but in spirit - I heard someone this past week stop over to the Parish House and she said “I needed to lay eyes on another human being.”

In contemplating this ministry - a ministry that has impacted 35 - 40 families on Chebeague - this scripture passage that we just heard came to mind about Jesus feeding the five thousand -- probably more, because it says five thousand men, and there were bound to have been women and children in the mix.

I want us for worship this morning to reflect together on this passage using a method called Ignatian Imagination. It was developed hundreds of years ago by a man named Ignatius of Loyola who believed that God can speak to us through our imaginations in addition to our thoughts and memories, and he developed a set of spiritual exercises designed to do just that. He called this kind of prayer “contemplation” - an active form of prayer that engages the heart and mind and stirs up thoughts and emotions.

He developed this method of experiencing the scriptures by placing ourselves fully within the narrative. The idea is that we become onlookers or participants in the story and give full rein to our imaginations -- there’s no worry about letting your imagination run wild because for Ignatius, the Holy Spirit is the one guiding our perceptions as we enter the story.

And so when we place ourselves in the story, we not only see Jesus as he speaks to a blind man, we feel the heat of the sun on our faces, we see the dust kicked up by the road or the smell of fish by the sea. We see the emotions on the faces of those around us - hope, desperation, curiosity. We may even be the one Jesus interacts with. But above all, we watch Jesus in the way he walks, his gestures, the expression on his face, the look in his eyes, the sound of his voice. We not only hear the words he speaks, but imagine the words he might have spoken, the miracles he may have accomplished, the other lives he might have changed.

In his spiritual exercises, Ignatius selects some passages that might be fruitful for imaginative exploration. These passages are scenes of Jesus acting - interacting with others, making decisions, ministering, healing, and moving. In this, we aren’t supposed to think about Jesus, but experience him as he encountered others. In this way, we can meet him for ourselves, see him in action, and draw closer to him.

So we’ll hear this passage read again, and I’ll break from time to time to ask questions that are meant to prompt your imagination, and we’ll have a couple of moments of silent reflection to let your creative juices flow. Notice what arises...and notice the thoughts and feelings that are sparked by this.

31 He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.

Take a moment to enter the scene. What is the setting? What are the sounds, sights, and aromas? 

Imagine that you are one of the disciples, coming back to Jesus after he had sent you out into the countryside, so busy you had no time to eat. How does your body feel after a day of speaking with people, walking from town to town, healing, and teaching? What expression is on Jesus’s face as he speaks? 

 32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

What do you feel upon arriving to this deserted place? What do you feel watching the crowds approach? What’s going on in your mind as you watch Jesus interact with the crowd? Do you speak to anyone? If so - who are you talking with and what do you say? 

 35 When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; 36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.” 37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” 

What do you feel in this moment? How does Jesus react to these words and how do you respond? What is the crowd doing right now? What do you hear around you?

38 And he said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” When they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all.

What is going through your mind as you are watching Jesus perform this act? Are you still one of the 12 - or do you find yourself in a different location - a bystander, one of the crowd, or someone else? What are you feeling as you see this scene unfold?

42 And all ate and were filled; 43 and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

How do you imagine everyone receiving the food? Eating the meal? What expressions are on the faces around you? What does the atmosphere feel like? How do you envision the leftovers being collected? How does this experience leave you feeling?

As we come our of our time of contemplating this story - what struck out to you? What did you notice or feel in the story that you hadn’t given consideration to before?

What did this experience leave you with? An invitation? A challenge? 

What might you be feeling led to offer that God might bless and multiply?

I offer this poem as we start to move into prayer:

"Just a housewife"
By Cordelia Baker-Pearce.
 
I packed five cakes of bread and two small fishes,
Sent him off, my youngest lad,
To take his father's dinner to the field.
 
Came back alone he did, all goggle-eyed.
 
My fresh-baked bread that varmint gave away
To some young travelling preacher out of Galilee.
It fed five thousand people.
What a tale!
 
It can't be true... but if it is.
What kind of dough did these hands knead
This morning?