Matthew 14:13-21
Galatians 5:22
The Grammy Awards were held last Sunday. And beyond the awards and the music and the fact that I stayed up too late watching it, one of the biggest highlights of the night was raising funds for LA Fire Relief—they raised over $7 million dollars during the broadcast.
And part of the fundraising effort involved different artists playing LA Tribute songs. (SLIDE) The night opened with the band Dawes singing “I Love LA.” Now you may or may not know this band as well as some of the other folks who were on stage with them at this moment, but here’s what is so powerful about the presence of the two brothers, Griffin and Taylor Goldsmith, who make up this band: they both experienced significant losses during the Eaton Fire. Griffin lost his house, just weeks after he and his wife welcomed their new baby, and the studio behind Taylor’s home burned, destroying nearly every instrument they owned, a collection that had taken a lifetime to curate.
These were two people who had lost so much, who had watched their neighborhoods be destroyed...and yet here they were. In front of the entire country, giving something back. 2
Practicing this week’s fruit of the spirit. Practicing generosity and goodness. Looking for ways to help people, even in the face of deep, life-changing loss and grief.
We’ve spent this whole first part of 2025 exploring the Fruit of the Spirit that Paul talks about in Galatians 5. And most of what we’ve looked at in this series, and we only have a couple of weeks left in it, has been the way that living out the fruit of the spirit causes us to often do things that are challenging and uncomfortable, but that also make our inner selves and the world we live in better.
And today we’re exploring a fruit of the spirit that is sometimes translated in a couple of different ways. We read it today, and I would say the most familiar translation of this is GOODNESS. But in some translations, this fruit of the spirit is translated as generosity. (SLIDE) And I think it works to interchange these words here, because in the Bible, this idea of "goodness" is kind of hard to separate from generosity. When we practice goodness, we choose to live in a way that is kind and giving and reflects who God is. It’s not something we do out of obligation, we’re not being “good” because we have to be...we’re bringing goodness to the world because we've experienced God’s goodness towards us and we want to be part of giving that goodness to others. 3
And sometimes we do that even when we’re facing loss, or our hearts are broken, or our grief feels very big.
This is the backdrop for the exceptionally familiar story that we heard read today. And when you saw that we were talking about goodness and generosity, it may have come as no surprise that we would use this story of Jesus feeding the 5000. Because this story is a goodness home run! And it’s a really important piece of Jesus’ life and ministry. In fact, this story is SO important, it shows up in all four Gospels. Besides Jesus’ resurrection, this is the ONLY miracle that shows up in every space that tells the story of Jesus’ life.
So it’s important, it matters, AND. I have a suspicion that for many of us, our understanding of this story and what was going on in Jesus’ life when this all happened...it might be a little incomplete. I know it was for me until just a couple of weeks ago. I’m currently doing one of those Bible in a Year plans—don't get too excited, I’m already behind—but I was reading Matthew, and I came to the story before the story we read today. And I was absolutely amazed as I read it. Because I realized—there was MORE to this story that I have been hearing since I was diapers. And this part of the story isn’t something we talk about a lot. It's actually kind of dark story. 4
The story that comes before this lovely miracle account...is the beheading of John the Baptist.
Now, you might know that John the Baptist was both one of Jesus’ family members AND he played an incredibly important role in Jesus’ life and ministry. He was the one who was sent to prepare the way for Jesus. He was the one that was out in the community preaching and teaching and saying there's someone so much more important than me coming next. John the Baptist was sort of the opener for the main act of Jesus. He was really getting people ready to receive all the things that Jesus would do.
And as John has done that work, part of what he’s been doing is he’s been speaking truth to power, in this case to King Herrod and his new wife, who had previously been his brother’s wife (John says, that’s not great)...and these powerful people are angry and they want revenge. And so through a series of really icky events at this party that Herrod throws, John the Baptist, who they’ve already thrown in jail, who is already being unjustly punished...he ends up being executed. In a really public, dishonoring way. 5
And similarly to Jesus, John had people who traveled and ministered with him. So they break the news to Jesus that this horrible thing has happened...and THAT is where we pick up with Jesus at the beginning of this miracle story. Vs. 13, which is where our reading began today, tells us that when Jesus heard this news, he got in a boat and took himself to a solitary, remote place.
You know, it would have absolutely made sense if THIS is where the account of this day in Jesus’ life wrapped up. He gets this terrible news, he goes off on his own, and he takes some time to recharge and figure out what it looks like to keep going. But...that’s not what happens. Instead, we see Jesus do these incredible, good and generous things, even in the face of heart that is so deeply sad.
And so I think we can really learn from the way these events connect to each other. Because I am sure I don’t have to tell you that there are a lot of reasons to feel brokenhearted and to not want to put goodness and generosity into the world right now. We might prefer to get our weighted blankets and our soothing tea and just check out. And even though those are the obvious temptations here...I can’t deny that there’s something really compelling about letting ourselves still be catalysts for 6
good in our world, even when it’s hard or it doesn’t make sense.
So as we walk through this story today, I want us to remember what Jesus is holding as he ministers to the people and I want us to look at a few of the questions that we can often hold as we try to be generous with our goodness. These questions are very real things that can get in the way of living this fruit of the spirit and I just want us to remember that we’re not alone in trying to navigate how to practice goodness when it’s really hard to do.
And here’s the truth: you and I, we’re not going to pull off a miracle like the one Jesus does here...but I feel so sure that what we CAN do is live our lives in a way that uses goodness and generosity to shape the world in a way that really matters.
And the first question we’ve got to wrestle with, it’s a big one. (SLIDE) Does what I do matter?
We can spiral down so quickly into defeat with this one. And as we read about Jesus and what he does, I think this question could have been really heavy on his mind as he gets bombarded with people and needs. Because there are ALL these needs coming at him. People who are sick, people who need healing. 7
But there’s also the big picture of what just happened to John. Of what that symbolizes in Jesus' larger world. It seems like a sure sign that power is being abused and empire is winning. And so, if that’s all happening, does it even make a difference if Jesus heals the sick person in front of him? When everything is falling apart and seems hopeless, will that one act of goodness actually change anything?
It’s an easy place to get stuck. It’s an understandable reason to disengage from the people in front of us. But the wisdom in this story is that despite the overwhelm, despite the very real problems in the world...these small, face-to-face acts of goodness absolutely do matter. Even in the face of deep sorrow and grief. Even if it seems so insignificant. Even THEN, engaging in goodness is worth it every time.
And here’s what I want us to understand—we're still talking about this story! We’re still talking about the healing and the miracles that Jesus did. Remember, it’s in all 4 Gospels! This was a story that HAS to be told! But what are we saying about Herrod? The one who, in that moment had all the power to do as many terrible things as he wanted, and he did. Well...he’s a supporting character in this story at best. We hold on to the GOODNESS in this story and we will hold on to the goodness in our world. Because the goodness that we practice, that’s 8
what’s lasts. And that lasting goodness starts with small acts of generosity that make an impact beyond what we can imagine.
And...even if we know this matters, that doesn’t make it easy. And that brings us to the second question we might find ourselves trying to sort through: (SLIDE) Is it worth the risk?
Because sometimes we show up to opportunities to give and do good and we show up to those places with wounds that are so deep. We’ve been hurt in the past, we’ve experienced disappointment. And because of those wounds we can find ourselves looking at chances to do good or be generous and we can say, nope! Not today!
I had an experience like this when we adopted out cat June. (SLIDE) Some of you have heard about her or even got to meet her. Some of you have even experienced the thrill of having a glass of water in her vicinity and watched her plop her whole face into when you looked away for just a moment. We had to say goodbye to June last year. She was 17 and she lived a pampered, lovely, long life. And I will never forget the day we met her. We adopted June as our first anniversary present to ourselves at one of those big pet foster organization adoption fairs at PetSmart. And honestly, June was not the first cat that caught our eye. There was this beautiful tabby cat named Roxy. 9
And she was so cute, the person fostering her told us how SWEET she was, that she would be the most PERFECT, CUDDLY, WONDERFUL cat.
So that sounded great. And as I reached in Roxy’s cage to pet her and say hello...Roxy contradicted every lovely thing that had just been said about her. She hissed and scratched and bit my hand SO HARD that it drew blood and to this day (14 years later) I have a faint scar on my right hand!
And so I extracted myself from Roxy’s attack and took a lap around the store to calm down. And then I had an existential crisis in a PetSmart, which is pretty on brand. So I’m walking around PetSmart, crying, with a bleeding hand, and I’m saying to Zack, “There’s no way I am qualified to be a pet owner! Look at this. This cat hated me. ALL CATS HATE ME. All PETS hate me!”
My dear husband talked me down, reminded me that some cats are just rude, and we went back to the pet adoption area. And that’s when we found June. The tiniest little cat, 3 years old but only 5 pounds, who would end up being our faithful sidekick for 13 years. And as I think back to that day, I think about how we almost missed out. How the pain of being hurt 10
almost kept us from saying no to 13 years of loving this silly, cranky, weird little cat.
But it’s just so risky to show up with goodness and generosity when you’ve been hurt. It just is. And what’s hard is that we can’t really mitigate that risk. We can’t guarantee that people and systems and institutions won’t disappoint us. Even when we look at this story, I can see the risk for Jesus here. He could have performed this miracle of feeding so many people and he still could have ended up disappointed. They could have met his generosity with complaints—maybe they didn’t want to eat fish that day. They could have been suspicious, like who’s this guy and where did he get all this food? They could have taken the stance that the pharisees so often did when it came to Jesus and declared him to be offensive or blasphemous or being in the wrong when he was simply trying to do something good.
All of that could have happened here. But Jesus still takes the risk. He does the good and generous thing. And, again, it was worth it.
There’s one more question we might find ourselves facing when we want to do something good and generous, and it is a question that we see the disciples very clearly holding in this story: (SLIDE) Will I have enough to make a difference? 11
And this one is really tricky. Because sometimes, at first glance, we might not. Sometimes we are exhausted, sometimes we don’t have the margin to do what we think needs done. Sometimes we’re not sure if we have the resources to give all that needs given.
When the disciples saw that all they had was 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish they were sure that they were going to be no help to the situation in front of them. There was no way that this small amount of resources could possibly be enough. The only thing that seemed to make sense was to send people away.
I know that we focus on the actual feeding and multiplication of resources in this story as the miracle that happens here, and yes. For sure. But I wonder if maybe we miss the miracle of just being brave enough to show up with exactly what we have and as we are and letting Jesus do something with it. The miracle of moving through our lives with the deep conviction that our being here matters and that when we look for ways to give goodness, that God is going to deliver.
The other day, I was listening to (SLIDE) Nora McInerny's podcast "Thanks For Asking". She had an episode called The Kindness of Strangers - Feelings & Co. by Nora McInerny. And 12
this episode is basically 35 minutes of listeners sharing stories of when strangers were generous with their acts of goodness and kindness, with whatever little bit they had. This person shared:
The nicest thing a stranger has ever done for me is this. When I was 22, a huge pickup truck hit my tiny car as I made a left turn and I spun across a busy intersection. I was okay and so were the people in the truck, but it was really scary. I'd never been in an accident before and my car was clearly totaled. Alone and paralyzed with shock, a crowd of cars on all sides of me and the smell of burnt rubber creeping in, I began to wheeze and cry and panic. A man about my parents' age got out of his car and stood next to my driver's side door, checked on me, and began directing traffic away.
He asked if I was okay and I don't remember if I answered him. I tried to call my parents who weren't picking up. I called my brother trying to reach them. I called my boyfriend crying. This man stood next to me the whole time, even as I basically ignored him and just kept telling me it was going to be okay. I remember saying that my car was ruined and I didn't know what I was going to do. He said, I know, but one day I promise this moment will not be a blip on your radar. 13
Having someone there with me, a real grown-up, was a life raft. I don't even remember what he looked like. In my haze of shock and fear, I don't remember when he left, and I don't think I thanked him, which I am sad about. But I will always remember him as a stranger who just stood next to me for a while, so I wasn't alone.
“All” this person did was stand there. And say a something really simple and comforting. He didn’t show up with medical skills or car knowledge. He was just present. And sometimes that’s ALL we can do and all we NEED to do. Sometimes the best thing we can do is to break free of the lie that if we can’t do everything then we can’t do anything.
Because whatever you can contribute, whatever you can do. That is good. And that is enough. And my guess is that when you find yourself in a place with something to give, no matter what that is or how small it seems (SLIDE)...I think that’s exactly how God works and how God gets goodness out into the world.
And even when you find yourself in a dark day, or a moment of grief, and you just don’t know how the world is going to keep 14
going...my prayer is that you will. That you’ll keep showing up. That you’ll act in goodness like it’s actually going to make a difference. That you’ll be brave enough to take whatever risks you need to take. And that you’ll believe with your whole heart that God has given you exactly what you need to do the good that needs to be done.
Let’s pray.