Included and Fed | August 2, 2026

In this story of the feeding of the 5,000,  we get a glimpse of God’s kingdom looks like as Jesus miraculously provides food for a massive crowd. Everyone is included, and everyone is fed. As we heard in last week’s parables, God takes a little, tiny, almost insignificant offering–just five loaves and two fishes for a crowd of thousands–and does something incredible with it.

In the midst of an extremely busy couple of weeks (we left for an adult trip to Chicago an hour after Living Hope’s worship service), today’s sermon is almost entirely a repeat of my message from three years ago on this story, titled “Included in the 5,000.” The inspiration for this sermon (the first time) comes from this wonderful reflection by the late Rachel Held Evans and I also found helpful Allyne Holz’s GodPause devotion for August 2, 2023.

This Sunday’s Scripture readings are Isaiah 55:1-5; Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21; 2 Kings 4:42–44; and Matthew 14:13-21. Here’s the livestream from CTK and the sermon podcast audio.

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Grace to you and peace in the name of Jesus. Amen

For the last several weeks, as we’ve made our way through Matthew’s Gospel, we’ve heard Jesus describing the kingdom of heaven using parables, sort of object lessons of what God’s reign looks like. The kingdom of heaven is seeds scattered in a field, or a mustard seed, yeast mixed with flour, or a net of fish.

Today’s Scripture reading is a bit different. Instead of making up a story to use as an object lesson, Jesus enacts a parable. He does something; he gives a real-life glimpse of God’s kingdom breaking into the world.

The first verse of our reading, verse 13, begins with “Now when Jesus heard this,” so a quick moment of background first, before we get to the miracle story.

Do you remember Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist? He was a prophet out in the wilderness, who baptized people, ate locusts and honey, and irritated the religious and political leaders?

Right before this story, in the beginning of chapter 14, John had picked a fight with King Herod, criticizing him for marrying his brother’s ex-wife, and Herod had arrested him. And then—maybe you remember the story—Herod’s stepdaughter asks for John’s head on a platter, and Herod gives it to her.

So, when Jesus hears his cousin John, the one who baptized him, has been executed, he takes a break from his preaching tour and withdraws in a boat to a deserted place by himself. He needs some time to process, to grieve for his cousin, maybe to consider that he himself is likely to meet a similar fate.

But Jesus doesn’t get much time to himself, because when he gets out of his boat and goes ashore, a huge crowd of people is there waiting for him.

I want you to think about this crowd. Picture the scene. Matthew says there are about five thousand men there, plus women and children. [Just the men are more than the entire population of Saukville / All together, that’s more than the entire population of Port Washington.]

They’ve come out to this deserted place on foot, following him from the towns. Think about all their different stories, the variety of people present that day. All there because something about Jesus intrigues them.

Some of them we know are sick—Jesus has compassion on them and cures them. But many of them had other motivations for being there. Some have heard Jesus speak before, and they’re eager to hear more.

Some of them have been invited by friends, “Hey, come listen to this rabbi, and the stories he’s telling about the kingdom of God. He says God’s kingdom is near; it’s among us! This man’s from God!”

Others, though, were probably skeptics, maybe in the crowd looking for an argument, perhaps spying for the religious authorities. Maybe there were some Romans, either curious themselves, or just coming to keep tabs on this rabble-rouser, this potential trouble-maker.

Rachel Held Evans writes, “Within this legendary story hides more than 5,000 others—the story of the skinny orphan, the skeptical tax collector, the despised Samaritan, the curious fisherman, the struggling widow, the disdained prostitute, the wealthy mother, the angry zealot, the ostracized Canaanite, the banished leper, the suffering slave, the repentant sinner….and ultimately, the story of you and me.”

I wonder, what brought you here today? Where are you in the crowd?

What are you looking for as you come to worship, as you come to sing and hear God’s word, pray and share in the Lord’s Supper?

She continues, this “is the story of a crowd of people who had little in common except that they were hungry—for food, for healing, for truth, for Jesus. And it is the story of a crowd of people who were fed. No questions asked. No prerequisites demanded. No standards of holiness to meet first.”

Jesus doesn’t examine the crowd; he doesn’t ask if they’re members of the right synagogue, church congregation, or denomination. He doesn’t ask if they volunteer for the right groups, or vote for the right party; he doesn’t ask who they love, or if they have money to pay; he simply sees they are hungry and feeds them.

This is our model as a church when we say “all are welcome” in our community. This is why we welcome everyone to our Lord’s table for communion. There’s a place for you here, whoever you are.

It’s a living parable: The kingdom of heaven is like a meal where thousands are fed, where all eat and are filled and there are abundant leftovers.

This is the prophet Isaiah’s vision enacted: Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. No money? Come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Everyone!

That sounds beautiful, doesn’t it? I was with a group serving yesterday at Mr. Bob’s Under the Bridge, and then at the Ozaukee Food Alliance community meal, and I think both of those give a glimpse of this, because anyone is welcome to come.

There’s no test or qualification or residency check; if you show up to the park, you can get some clothes, some coffee. The community meal is for food pantry guests, but it’s also open to the entire community. Sometimes abundance and grace looks like crates of donated ice cream so everyone can have their own pint.

But at the same time, this vision of abundance for everyone is controversial. Over and over in the gospels, the upstanding religious leaders shake their heads at who Jesus chooses to eat with. They ask his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

One time when Jesus is at a banquet, he has the audacity to tell the host who’d invited him, “Next time when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Invite the people who can’t pay, the people on the outside.”

Why? Because that enacts God’s kingdom. God’s gifts are for them too. In the kingdom of God, all are welcome. There is a place for everyone at God’s table.

Of course, that sounds great…until we actually try putting it into practice. Welcoming people—especially welcoming people who seem different—is not easy!

Often, we are the ones who want to set boundaries, who want to decide who’s in and who’s out, who deserves to eat, who’s done enough to deserve a spot at the table, but that’s not how Jesus thinks.

Rachel Held Evans points out that the English word “companion” comes from the Latin com, meaning “with” and panis, meaning “bread.” A “companion” is literally “someone with whom you share your bread.” As Jesus eats with and feeds the poor, the sick, the outcasts, the sinners, he’s saying, “These are my companions. These are my friends.”

She writes, “All who feast on the Bread of Life are family. All who dare to feed the hungry, fellowship with the suffering, and befriend sinners are companions of Christ.”

Again, beautiful, yet challenging to live out. They let you join this church? How do you fit in? Is there room for me too?

In God’s kingdom, the answer is yes. By the grace of God, you are welcome. You are forgiven. You are named and washed clean and fed. This is God’s kingdom, not ours. This is God’s economy, a foretaste of the feast to come.

The only qualification to be fed is to be hungry. We are all companions on this journey of faith. Who do you know who needs to hear an invitation, needs to hear the good news that they too are welcome here?

When Jesus saw the hungry crowd, he fed them. Or rather—and this is important—he told his disciples, “You give them something to eat.” Jesus did the miracle of multiplying the loaves and fishes, but it was someone in the crowd who provided the five loaves and two fish. It was the disciples who distributed the food.

As we’re talking about all summer, God calls us to do something.

Not only do we get to be in the crowd and share in Jesus’ meal; we get to participate in this kingdom work of feeding, this kingdom work of offering hope, purpose, meaning, sharing the good news of God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ, sharing through both word and deed, using our talents for God’s kingdom.

As people who have been fed, we get to feed others. And God can multiply our gifts.

In this meal, Jesus gives a glimpse of heaven, meeting the people’s spiritual needs, and he also provides literal food, tangible love for people in need. This is God’s kingdom in action. And in God’s kingdom, all are welcome, and all are fed.

“So whoever you are in this ongoing story…if you are hungry, come and eat.” You are welcome here. Thanks be to God. Amen