In recent years many books have been printed that focus on baking vast assortments of breads—from rye to pumpernickel, French to Italian. Today, however, we encounter a bread that points to both a deeper longing, physically and spiritually, and an even more fulfilling outcome than the tastiest assortment of baked bread. This abundance of bread satisfies hunger, transforms lives, and ushers in a new vision of the holy in community. Recognizing the power of action, John calls to mind the ways prophets fed and nourished the people, and then he multiplies this in the person and action of Jesus. Jesus uses earthly gifts to provide for the gathered community—the gospel’s vision of Jesus’ life and God’s abundance in creation. Second Kings and John allow our congregations to wonder with the faithful servants and disciples how God will provide. We are invited into a conversation that might start by reflecting on a sentence written by the late United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold: “Each morning we must hold out the chalice of our being to receive, to carry, and give back.” The scriptures today open a door for us to think about how individuals and communities are nourished and sustained by God, and also imagine how we become vessels of the holy who are now opened to the call of service. How might ordinary gifts (and ordinary people) become the ways God’s love and mercy are multiplied in sustenance for neighbor, community, and world? Through our questions, our acts of giving, and our proclamation of the works of God in Christ Jesus, we are invited to experience what it means to be rooted in God’s sustaining love and to proclaim this God who invites us into the unimaginable vision of abundance.

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