July 26th, 2026: Feeding the 5000, Fr. Theodor Svane

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the

Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory

to God. I wonder if you have ever found yourself

in a difficult or perhaps impossible situation.

Your challenge have seemed clear, but your resources

are limited. has set in front of his disciples

in today's gospel is that of a situation of 5

,000 people and no food. I don't know if you're

a manager or you work with managing things. Your

mind easily comes to how can we solve a situation

like this? And the disciples, probably being

of a similar kind, suggests to Jesus, this is

a deserted place and the hour is already late.

Send the multitudes away that they may go into

the villages and buy themselves food. Given the

situation, this seems like a sensible solution

to a difficult challenge. feeding 5 ,000 people.

But Jesus has something else in mind. They do

not need to go away. You give them something

to eat. And the question immediately arises,

I know at least in my case, how? We don't have

food. It's 5 ,000 people. And, you know, if you're

a subordinate, you might ask, does my master

know what he's talking about? Does he understand

the challenge in front of him? The practical

implication of his command? Is this just lofty

spiritual talk? The suggestion of the disciples

is reasonable, given the situation. But you and

I, we might have argued with our manager, and

we probably have argued with our Lord like this.

Have you felt tempted to give God a little bit

of direction, or tell him that you know what

he should do. This is how we should solve this

problem. This is my challenge. This is how I

think it should be solved. Or in fact, this is

how I expect this challenge to be solved. If

God really knew my situation, he would know exactly

what is best for me, what I need or what we need.

If God knew me like I know myself, he would know

what I need. And you know, when we talk like

this, when we say our words out aloud, They seem

silly in some ways. Of course. Who am I to direct

God? Do I know myself better than God? I'm sure

most of us have thought like this when presented

with a challenge in our life. We already think

we know what we need and how God should give

this to us. or solve our problem. But in doing

so, we assume a whole lot of things. We assume

that our Lord does not really know, that he is

perhaps a little bit out of touch, that he needs

a little bit of direction. But what we really

do is to limit our God, to our own expectations,

to our own imagination. And if we do that, it

will be impossible for us to discover if God

has something different in mind for us that we

cannot anticipate. Or if he has a different way

of doing things. than I would like or perhaps

you would like. If we only look in a certain

direction, and this is very simple, we will not

discover him, our Lord, if he comes from another

direction. In short, it will be impossible for

us to see God and see if he is doing something

new. What we really are doing is to limit God

to our own expectations and imagination. We confine

God to our own mind. We make God small and ourself

great. We become the center and God becomes someone

who can help us with what we need and what we

think is best. But how? How can God do something

great if we confine him to our own expectations?

How can God be greater than we if we limit him

to a person of our own mind? Can God do something

greater and different than what we have anticipated?

Of course. So we need to stop confining God to

our own mind, to a prison of our own imagination.

If we stick to our ways, we will be stuck. It

will be impossible to receive the command of

God, and to receive the miracle God has in store

for us and for his people. When we read the gospel,

the commandments are very radical. We often forget

how radical they really are, how challenging

God is. His commands are, sell everything in

order to obtain the kingdom of God, leave everything

and follow me, die in order to live. But oftentimes

we find, if we are honest, that it is hard to

let go. It's difficult to die and that we hold

on to things. also tells us that their Lord will

receive what we have. And in this case, two fishes

and five loaves. Which doesn't seem a whole lot.

It's not enough. But give what you have. You

might think it's small, it's significant. That

God cannot do anything with it. But it's not

up for you to decide. What you have, what you

can give, can be transformed into something great.

And it is transformed, and this is important

to note. The fish and the bread are transformed.

to the glory of God, but to the benefit of all

the people. We can even see it on the icon above

the arch, just on this side. God gives us a command.

His commandments are for the benefit of us and

for the people that he loves, his body, his church.

He's not giving us things so that we can keep

them for ourselves. That little boy, according

to the Gospel of John, could have kept that fish

and those loaves. He could have thought, you

know, this is not very significant. It won't

help. But perhaps because he's a child and he

has a simple faith, he offers to God what he

has. He's not limited by his own mind. And the

disciples are forced to present this to the Lord,

as we do as well when we are forced to present

the only thing that we have. But it is for the

benefit of the people, to the uplifting of the

body. He will use what you give to feed his community,

those scattered around you, those next to you,

whether it be 5 ,000, 100, 25, or 2. These people

around you are your brothers and sisters whom

God has given you, whom he has united you with

through himself in his own body and blood. So

your challenge is to open your hearts, your imagination,

by giving something to the Lord that you can

give to his people. If you will obey or if you

will not obey what God is commanding you, he

will ask someone else. He will transform and

heal someone else. How? Will you respond? So

the questions. What are the things that you are

keeping back from God and those next to you because

you think they are insignificant? Because you

cannot see what purpose they might have? In what

ways have you limited God? What challenge in

front of you? Are you managing on your own? What

can you offer him today? Give him what you have

today, not what you think he might need or what

you might have tomorrow, whether it be your resources,

your skills, your time. Even your failures, doubts,

and lack of faith can be transformed into something

great, into life, into abundance, into strength.

Offer it and watch the Lord transform it into

an abundance so incredible and so rich that it

will overflow. And don't let anyone tell you

it is impossible. It is impossible for you, but

not for Jesus. Glory to Jesus Christ.