Sermon: Thy Strong Word
God does not always show up in the ways we expect. Elijah encounters him not in wind, earthquake, or fire, but in sheer silence; the disciples encounter him walking across a raging sea. Yet in both stories, the decisive reality is the same: the trustworthy Word of the living God. The Word who tells Elijah to go and Peter to come still speaks to us, calling forth the same response from God’s people: trust and worship.
Sermon: Tell and Show
This sermon considers the feeding of the five thousand as an instance of God’s characteristic pattern of “telling and showing.” Jesus has already described the hidden, abundant economy of the kingdom through parables; now, in a deserted place among a hungry crowd, he makes that kingdom visible through compassion, healing, bread, and the gathered fragments. Read alongside Isaiah 55 and Psalm 145, the miracle reveals God’s provision as the tangible expression of his steadfast love and the fulfillment of his covenant promises. The Eucharistic pattern of taking, blessing, breaking, and giving then becomes not only a sign of Christ’s self-offering but also a pattern for Christian witness: having heard and seen the goodness of God in Christ, the Church is sent to tell that good news and embody it before a hungry world.