Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When 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?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.  John 6:1-6

This Sunday, we begin a five-week exploration of the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, in which Jesus announces he is the bread of life.  And what better way to begin this series than with one of Jesus’ greatest miracles, the feeding of 5,000 people with a few loaves of bread and fish (though, to be fair, in John, we’re just told that it is a huge crowd that is fed)?  The importance of this miracle is underscored by the fact that it is the only miracle repeated in all four gospels (actually repeated six times as two of our gospels add a feeding of 4,000 people).

What I find striking in John’s version of the feeding is the straightforward statement of Jesus, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”  I find it interesting that Jesus doesn’t ask if the people should be fed but, rather, how they should be fed.

I am reminded of what happened in 1982 when then senior pastor Harold Skillrud noticed the numbers of food insecure and unsheltered neighbors wandering the streets of Midtown and asked a similar question: “How could Lutheran Church of the Redeemer feed our neighbors.”  Not a question if they should be fed, but how.

Thus was born Lutheran Community Food Ministry which has served over two million meals to the food insecure of our city.  So far this year, close to 20,000 meals have been served and 43,000 pounds of food, which otherwise would have been wasted, has been redistributed to our guests, residents of Lutheran Towers, students at Georgia and Tech, as well as a number of other feeding sites around our region.

Of course, we are not just fed physically but also spiritually.  Our guests receive a radical welcome when they come through our doors and they are invited to take part in our other ministries and programs.  Some of our Food Ministry guests take part in our weekly Bible studies, stay for dinner on Wednesday, and join us for worship on Sunday.  A growing number of individuals whom we have met through the Food Ministry have taken our new member class and have become official members of Lutheran Church of the Redeemer.

Such welcoming, or hospitality, needs to be manifest in all we do: the smile, eye contact, a verbal greeting. In a culture that encourages us to fear our neighbor, we all need to work on these skills. Looking at what happens on a hillside 2,000 years ago, or in our basement five days a week, it becomes obvious that if the welcome is good, the teaching has already begun and the healing will soon follow.

So why spend five weeks on one chapter of John?  I think that it means that being fed is a hallmark of the presence of God and can never be overlooked or taken for granted.  That where people are fed, literally, is where you can expect to experience grace — see it, taste it, smell it, feel it.