"Low Fat for the Soul" - Mark 6:30-44 - July 16, 2000

I started dieting about six months ago and I have been fortunate to lose some weight. In the process I have developed a few changes in my life. For example; ;whenever I purchase a snack item I now read the "Fat Gram" content on the package. I never realized that such small bits of food could contain so much fat. I now try to buy the lowest amount possible. I still cheat now and then but I have learned to be more careful about what I eat.

Consequently I feel better, not only physically, but mentally and spiritually. I’m not on anyone’s special diet, nor am I taking any pills. For me, its been mostly "fasting" in addition to keeping the fat content at the lowest possible level, without starving. Losing some weight has also been a spiritual awakening for me. This low-fat approach to eating has actually been good for my soul.

On the one hand I am more disciplined. I find it easier to say "NO." As a result I have more energy to do things. On the other hand, I am less likely to overindulge in others things, be they recreation, work, etc. Notice that Jesus included discipline for the disciples. First, they were invited to rest from their discipleship, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest for awhile," he told them. Their lives need retreat and relaxation. They needed time away, time for refreshment. Jesus was intentional about finding time to escape into the hills, in a garden, or out on a lake for rest. Respite is good for the soul.

I believe you could say Jesus was advocating a "low fat" religious life. Even our faith requires times for solace and reflection. No one can work, care, comfort or help without a break now and then. It wasn’t possible for Jesus, so why should it be possible for us?

There is a second lesson in this section of Mark which I find very profound. Stated simply, our hunger can be satisfied with existing resources. Just as we tend to worry about our stomachs we also worry about other things as well; our security, our finances, our families, our things.

I was complaining to my wife this past week that the refrigerator and the cupboards seemed to be bare. I was looking for cereal one morning, (low fat, nutritional brand), but there was none. I forgot that she had purchased some breakfast bars which were in a different cupboard. That episode reminded me that the resources we need to satisfy us are always at hand but we sometimes fail to see them.

This is what happened that day with the feeding of the 5,000. When challenged by Jesus to feed the mass of people that had assembled, the disciples argued that there wasn’t enough food on hand to feed such a large crowd. They said, "Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?" But instead of going to the nearest grocery store they were to take inventory and find out what was available. They could only find five loaves of bread and two fish, but Jesus blessed the food they had and as a result everyone was fed.

There was plenty enough to feed the crowd, in fact there were leftovers. What the disciples needed wasn’t a food bank but a little inspiration. This illustrates what we need most in life is not material resources but inspiration, food for the soul.

Have any of us truly been in a situation where we were literally starving? My guess is that there are times when we are all hungry. But, it isn’t food or stuff or even money that will satisfy us. What will satisfy us is what Jesus refers to as the "Living Bread." Remember when Jesus said, "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you... for he who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never go thirsty." (John 6:27 & 35) Food for the soul.

When you think you are deficient think of Jesus. He fully intended to give the disciples time off. Unfortunately it was interrupted. Jesus was so popular the crowds sought him out and there was no quiet place for which to escape. And this brings us to a third lesson in this story. A tired, worn out, Jesus, who needed rest still had it within himself to be compassionate toward others who needed God in the worst of ways.

Jesus needed rest, but seeing the masses of people, who appeared hungry, he had compassion on them and ordered the disciples to feed them. In reality they weren’t starving. Instead they were lost and desperately in need of inspiration. What seemed to be an impossible task took only some resourcefulness and words of thanksgiving. And the disciples, badly in need of a break, are blessed with the opportunity to witness 5,000 satisfied, hungry, lonely, helpless people. Food for the soul.

God designed life in such away that we need to take breaks and find solitude to give nourishment to our souls. God knows that there will be times when it appears that we lack the resources we need to satisfy our needs and desires. They are there for certain, but we lack inspiration which enables us to discover them. And, just when we think we can’t do anymore, it is helping others which will give us the motivation and endurance to go on.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio