Notes for Reflection

July 26                         NOTES FOR REFLECTION

Texts:  2 Kings 4:42-44; Ephesians 3:14-21; John 6:1-21

Theme: I'm tempted to suggest "There is Such a Thing as a Free Lunch" – or perhaps a more adult sounding version would be "The Economy of God".  Other variants that suggest themselves are "With God there is Always More than Enough", or simply "The Extravagance of God".  St Paul offers a rich range of possibilities, my choice being "The Power at Work Within Us".   A slightly less obvious theme from the gospel passage may be "All in the Same Boat".  Incidentally, we should not that this week we begin 5 glorious weeks on John chapter 6, surely one of the finest sustained spiritual reflections in the whole of Scripture.

Introduction.  We begin this week with a brief curtain-raiser to the main event – or perhaps I should say, an entree to the main course.  In a terrible time of drought and widespread famine an offering of first-fruits is brought to the prophet Elisha: despite the commonsense objections of his servant it is found to be sufficient to feed 100 people with some left over.  We follow this with another rich helping from the glorious Letter to the Ephesians,  After that we probably need a long gradual hymn, or perhaps even two, before we are ready for this week's gospel passage, featuring the feeding of the five thousand and the walking on the water, and so much more!

Background.  I'm having issues with "Second Chance Education", at least as it appears in the otherwise excellent  "The Weekend Mix" which comes with the Saturday edition of the ODT.  As someone who had a reasonable go at "First Chance Education" I find it rather galling to discover, week after week, that it seems that I now know far less than I did over 50 years ago.  I may even be in urgent need of "Third Chance Education" just to make up lost ground.  My self-confidence is hardly boosted by the introductory lines under the main heading: Are you smarter than a 15-year-old?  Test yourself on these vintage School Certificate Examination questions.  Apart from anything else, I was 16 years old when I sat School Certificate.

It is slightly re-assuring that I can generally get the "English" questions right.  It is rather bizarre that I often get the French questions right, bearing in mind that I hated the subject, which only became interesting when young French female exchange teachers started to appear in our class-room, all of which looked and smelt remarkably like Brigitte Bardot (remember her?).   It pains me that I can rarely get the chemistry questions right as I did quite well in that subject at University Entrance level.  But this week I was reduced to spluttering fury with the Economics question.  This was "Why do most goods and services have a price?"  Of the 4 multiple choice answers offered, I chose the fourth – "It enables the opportunity cost to be measured" – even though I had only the vaguest idea what that meant.  It was the wrong choice.  The right answer was "Scarcity means there is not enough to meet all wants."

There is so much that annoys me in that simple "answer".  Leaving aside my pedantic objection to the word "wants", that word is also mischievous because it has been chosen to avoid the word "needs".  It implies that price differential only applies to things we want, rather than things we need to stay alive, like food, water, and shelter.  And that is not the only weasel word here.

Far more objectionable is the word "scarcity".  The answer implies some sort of objective shortage of the goods in question – as if everything we need is insufficient and has to be rationed.  In fact, of course, far from price recognising objective scarcity, scarcity is deliberately created to boost price.  I was still engaged in my First Chance Education when I heard of a 'grain mountain' in the United States; and not too long after that I came across equally bizarre images of a 'butter mountain', and even a 'wine lake'.  Whatever else they referred to it wasn't scarcity and unmet need, was it?  While large numbers of our fellow human beings were starving in various parts of the world, grain, butter and wine were being withheld from sale in various parts of the so-called 'developed world' in order to maintain higher prices.

Thirdly, there is the assumption that price is the only appropriate way of distributing scare goods.  In other words, if there is a genuine scarcity of any goods or services, the wealthy should have the right of first refusal and the poor should make do with anything left over, regardless of the goods and services in question.  We have seen a particularly outrageous example of how this works out in practice in respect of shelter.  Why has there been no outrage expressed at Christchurch landlords raising their rents post-earthquake, not to meet any actual increase in their costs, but simply to reflect "the market rate", a rare case where actual scarcity was related to price?  And then there's Fonterra: can anyone understand its argument that when international prices are high, the domestic price has to be high, but when the international price falls the domestic price does not fall with it?  How can there be a surplus of supply off-shore and a scarcity of supply in New Zealand?

There may be worse to come.  We are hearing increasingly scary stories about the shortage of potable water in various parts of the world, and even in parts of New Zealand.  What sort of economics are we going to follow in determining who shall have a drink and who shall remain thirsty?

Perhaps we need a Third Chance Education after all.  A chance to learn about God's economy, based on generosity and sharing.  A chance to learn that competition has brought us thus far in the evolutionary process, but that it is now time to transcend it and become co-operative.  A chance to learn about the physical limits of the earth.  A chance to heed the call of modern-day prophets, including Pope Francis.  A chance to learn about the wisdom of Christ's teaching in parables such as the man who built more and more barns to keep for himself his version of a grain mountain.  This week's readings would surely be included in the course curriculum of such a University of the Third (and quite possibly Last) Chance.

2 Kings 4:42-44.  This whole chapter is a collection of "hero-stories" designed to emphasise that a man-of-God – a prophet – has the power of God.  In fact, from the moment Elisha succeeded Elijah one miracle has followed another, perhaps to establish that he is his own man and that even Elijah was not indispensable.  Begin reading from chapter 2:13 to get a picture of this man in action, starting with a Moses-like parting of the waters.  In chapter 4 he discovers his feminine side and becomes a lot more compassionate and less of a show-off.  By the time we get to this week's short story we see him acting on the word of the Lord.  His servant plays the role later made famous by Andrew.  Notice that the food brought to Elisha – twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain – are a religious offering.

Taking It Personally.

·        How does this story strike you?  What is it "really" about?

·        Does your local church collect items for a food-bank?  Do you think of the humble can of baked beans as an offering to God, a means through which God's blessing reaches others?  Or do you just pop it in the basket without really thinking about it?

 

Ephesians 3:14-21.  We can now see the development of this wonderful letter.  In chapter 1, in some of the most sublime writing in all of Scripture, St Paul outlined his understanding of the universal, cosmic, purpose of God, his eternal plan of salvation, conceived before the beginning of time, and in the process of being worked out ever since.  In chapter 2 St Paul focused on the transformation of the historic relationship between Jew and Gentile – one of enmity and exclusion – which has now been completely transformed in Christ who has broken down that barrier and made the two people into one.  He began chapter 3 with a sort of summary of the story so far, emphasising his special call to take the gospel to the Gentiles; and this week he builds on that at a more individual or personal level.  In large part this reading is a profound and loving prayer for the believers at Ephesus, centred on his desire for them to come to understand that Christ now dwells within them. 

 

Taking It Personally.

 

• Another passage in which to soak yourself.  Meditate on it, do not try to analyse it.
• Pray with St Paul as he prays for you.  Simply add your own "Amen" to each of his petitions on your behalf.
• Finish with a prayer along these lines: "O Lord, in your great love and mercy, grant to me the insight, understanding and vision for which your servant Paul has asked on my behalf, that I may come to know you more fully, love you more dearly and serve you more fruitfully; to your great glory.  Amen.

 

John 6:1-21.  If last Sunday you used the readings set for National Bible Sunday, you will know what "after this" at the beginning of this week's passage is referring to.  Jesus was in dispute with his critics who had objected to him healing the man at the pool on the Sabbath.  He now quite literally puts all that behind him as he crosses over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  We should take time to ponder the opening few verses of this passage.  John has put this whole narrative (chapter 6) together in a way that seems to be a profound meditation on the person and mission of Christ in terms of the Exodus narrative.  The crossing of the water may itself be a hint of what the author is up to.  In verse 3 Jesus goes up the mountain, just as Moses did. In verse 4 there is the explicit reference to the festival of Passover.  And in the second half of the chapter we find the theme of the bread from heaven, leading into the only reference in this gospel to the Eucharist.  The subtext, then, is the spiritual journey, involving hearing, seeing, understanding, doing, receiving and growing.  He picks on Philip to be the spokesman for worldly wisdom, who obliges by giving a short economic discourse on price and scarcity.  Andrew, equally unwittingly, becomes the counterfoil, drawing attention to the small boy's free offering.  The detail about the abundance of grass is interesting, perhaps another example of the plenitude of God's creative provision.  The rest of the story is well-known, but another question arises.  What was done with the twelve baskets of leftovers?  Perhaps the point is that the extravagance of God is not to be wasted, but shared with still others.  The crowd is impressed, but misinterprets the divine sign.  Verse 16 suggests that his disciples decided to go home, leaving Jesus behind.  This seems so unlikely at the literal level that it must have a deeper meaning.  Perhaps the disciples felt that the main event was over and they could now go back to the real world.  In which case the episode that follows is a clear lesson not to get ahead of Christ.  We stop when he stops and we set off again only when he sets off.  (Wilderness experience motif once more.)  In the crisis, he comes to them (they do not call for him), and, blinded by fear, they do not recognise him at first.  When they do they welcome him into the boat and immediately they are "home".

 

Taking It Personally.

 

·        Journey slowly through this whole passage, with the Exodus narrative at the back of your mind.  How many points of contact can you find?

·        Think especially about the Passover.  Why does John include a reference to it in this early stage of this narrative?

·        Notice that Jesus' question to Philip is about their buying food for the multitude, not about sending the multitude away to shop for themselves.  What do you make of that?

·        Notice the little 'offertory liturgy' in verses 9 and 11. An offering is brought up to Jesus who takes, gives thanks, and then distributes.  Reflect on that.

·        After the excitement of the 'high mass', the disciples leave in darkness and encounter rough weather.  Ponder that.

·        Whereabouts are you at the moment – all at sea, in the boat, or safe on dry land?