Introduction
We are called to be the Body of Christ, God’s continuing incarnate presence, alive and active in our homes, our communities and our world. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus uses the resources he has available to satisfy the physical hunger of the crowd. In recording this episode, as well as in his many accounts of Jesus’ healing ministry, Matthew shows us that following Jesus is not only about meeting people’s spiritual needs, but about meeting their immediate earthly needs too. As the Christian Aid slogan puts it, ‘We believe in life before death.’
Context
In March 2017, Stephen O’Brien, UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, outlined the ‘the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the United Nations.’ Four simultaneous famines are threatening more than 18 million of our sisters and brothers in Yemen, more than 7.5 million in South Sudan, 6.2 million in north-eastern Nigeria and 2.7 million in Somalia. Mr O’Brien concluded, however, that ‘It is possible to avert this crisis, to avert these famines, to avert these looming human catastrophes. It is all preventable.’
Although these global figures are sobering in the extreme, we should also recognise the growing issue of hunger here in the UK. The Trussell Trust, which manages only about half the foodbanks in Britain, gave out 1,182,954 emergency three-day food parcels in the year to April 2017 – 436,000 of these to children – with individuals helped in this way having an average of two referrals to their local foodbanks in the year
Reflection
The Jesus of Matthew’s Gospel is no less concerned with people’s immediate physical need of food and health, than for their spiritual need of forgiveness for their sins. This is in accordance with the doctrine of the incarnation, which teaches that God came among us to live a fully human life, so showing that no area of human experience is beyond the embrace of divine love. By becoming a physical human being, God breaks down the notional barrier between the spiritual and the physical, the sacred and the secular. By bringing divine love to bear on a situation of hunger, God in Christ was able to use the seemingly scant resources available to meet the physical needs of the crowd. Matthew’s Gospel emphasises to us, his readers, that we are called to be Christ-like in the ways we use our resources to meet the physical needs of all those whose lives we can affect, whether directly or indirectly. In case any of his readers miss this point, Matthew concludes his whole account of Jesus’ ministry with the ‘Parable of the Sheep and Goats’, which summarises our vocation in the clearest possible terms (Matthew 25.31–46). Our response to people in physical need, therefore, reflects how closely we are following the example set by Jesus.
Prayer
This prayer may be used at the end of a talk, sermon or discussion, or at the end of a service about feeding hungry people.
Generous God, you made us to enjoy food together, and you have opened our eyes to the needs of those who are hungry. Grant that we may never be so content in our own enjoyment of your good gifts, that we fail to be respond to the needs of others. Give us grace to share what we have, and to work together for a world in which all are fed and no one goes hungry; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who himself fed the hungry.
Amen.
Questions
- This is a big question, but try listing at least some of the reasons why people are going hungry, and even dying of starvation, in a world so rich in resources.
- WRAP, the food and recycling advisory body, reported in January 2017 that UK households throw away 7.3 million tonnes of edible food in 2015, worth £13 billion. Why is so much food wasted when it could be used to feed hungry people?
- When we declare that ‘We are the Body of Christ?’ (1 Corinthians 12.12-13), what do we mean?
Action
- Find out from your nearest foodbank what items they need most, and then support them by collecting food and other items, volunteering, encouraging donations of money (by GiftAid where possible), or holding one-off or regular fundraising events.
- Educate your Church about the causes of food poverty in the UK and/or the wider world. You might start with some ‘myth-busting’ about food and low incomes in the UK or more generally round the world.
- Host a community meal, perhaps in partnership with other local faith based and/or non-faith based community organisations.
Young people
Ask yourselves, and then ask people in your Church, school or college, why they think people are going hungry in the UK or abroad. Then do some fact checking, see which reasons stand up to scrutiny and think about how Jesus would respond.
The Revd Robert Beard is Pastoral Adviser with St Andrew’s United Reformed Church, Sheffield, and a freelance writer.
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