“THE LORD FEEDS YOU HIMSELF”
Saint Mark 8: 1-9
7th Sunday After Trinity: 10 July Anno Domini 2016
Father Jay Watson SSP
You are not pagans. You do not need the Holy Ghost to re-birth you from thralldom and slavery to Satan as if you were still dead in sin and a mortal enemy of God.
You are Christians. And you DO need the Holy Ghost to daily drown your “old man” self-destructive nature. You need the Holy Ghost’s constant protection and perseverance. He guards you by constraining you to bathe, hear, and eat the Word so that you and The Word endure forever.
And you fight that; your back-sliding still sinful heart resists and still rebels much. So, while being a Christian you remain a sinful Christian. You need more Christ, more Jesus.
No preaching is ever about you as solution, potential, or giver. All Scripture, All Jesus is about Jesus doing and giving. He is the food and He serves and sustains.
It isn’t the “multitude” that didn’t have anything to eat…it’s everyone…it’s you. Oh you snack, graze, binge, and daily consume stuff; but what stuff? Where does your heart really lay? What do you put into your mouth, i.e. your heart, mind, and soul on a regular basis? Is it foul, is it perverse, is it poisonous, is it deadly? And even if you think it’s benign…sort of a “diet-cola” version of lukewarm neutrality consumption. You consume things that are neither healthy nor helpful. And we are not talking about tobacco or alcohol, both of which, depending on the person and other circumstances, can actually be aides at times for self-reflection and repentance diagnosis. No, you eat things of this world. You are gluttons for mammon. The hunger you feel is in reality a hunger for love—Godly love and acceptance by your heavenly Father. Satan twists and perverts this longing for peace and restoration…for home, into cravings for apparent fullness, business, and stimulation. You “eat” sports, teen-activities, television, cablevision, CDs, DVDs, books, vacations, cars, popularity, and, and…well the list may mean nothing if whatever it is that you spend most of your time daily ingesting isn’t on the list. You hypocrites! How much Jesus to you consume every day? Is He or is He not your Daily Bread? Repent. The Holy Spirit has repented you by bringing you here this morning to a feeding of 4,000…or so.
Jesus has compassion on you. His compassion is that of a loving Father, loving Brother, and loving Spouse—your everlasting Groom. You did not give him a dowry for your wedding rather He gave His own life and death to claim you as His pearl of great price. You mean so much to Him, not because you are worth anything of yourself, but because He chose to love you with Action—Creation—Re-creation—Perseverance and finality. You are Holy because He is Holy and makes you Holy by giving you Himself, wrapping you in bloody and punctured arms of mercy and forgiveness. Since your Baptismal + regeneration you have been with Him, or rather, He has been with you and in you…for “three days” Father, Son, and + Holy Spirit. His compassion made Him delight to leave inter-Trinitarian mystery to take the fallen flesh of Adam by taking His human nature, His flesh and blood from The Virgin. His compassion moved Him, not as an external force acting upon Him, but as an inner quality of God of God, Light of Light, that flowed from Him in obediently keeping the Law of God and placing that merit on/in you by faith in His Work; by allowing you to hold fast to the Promise.
You have nothing to eat. He gives you everything to eat in Himself. Eat His Word. Sing the Psalms. Be where His Evangels are preached. The Paraclete draws you to His hand of absolution. A Lutheran pastor said “all nature points to the Mass” and he is correct. Everything that is, will be restored and recapitulated at the Second Coming. There will be new heavens and a new earth. Till then, the old creation groans with your sighs and cries of pain, loss, dislocation, and sadness. At the heart and center of the universe stands the Crucified One on The Tree of Life. The Lamb upon His throne as John’s vision speaks in the Apocalypse. The tree in the heart of the Garden—was the Altar of The Lord. Calvary is gone but the Eucharist—the Body and Blood of Jesus remains…all nature points to the Mass in either rejecting it, or in being carried to it by Christ’s Apostles and the Apostolic Word.
“And He asked His pastors, how many loaves have ye?” And one said, “we have nothing but thin wafers from I. J. Donnelly’s and some inexpensive Chardonnay.” No one can be satisfied with such smallness, such apparent insignificance. The Word! The Christ. The Living Bread from Heaven. He takes the bread and chalice. He gives thanks to His Father for you and for the joy of having suffered and died for your redemption. He gives you to eat and you are filled. The broken meat of His bruised and riven Body was took up first by Joseph and Nicodemus, cradled again by The Virgin, and was placed in burial cloths which were then set aside on the 3rd Day as He became the eternal Seventh Day rest for His own sanctified multitude. Hear the Good News. Your sins are forgiven and you are to eat and drink He Who was given and shed for your peace. You are in your own house this day, and you will never faint when He feeds you.
In the Name of The Father and of + The Son and of The Holy Ghost
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