"Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 'I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.' "

         I must admit that I struggle a bit each year at the end of summer. While others seem excited about fall schedules, regular routines, football games and back to school, I would rather linger over one more clambake, a bit more vacation, a baseball game, a concert in the park, an ice cream cone, a Missions trip -- really most anything that lets me hold on to summer. I like to keep it going, but I know that at some point I must turn my face to the mountain of work and responsibility we call "fall."

         Some years ago Kathy worked for a group of doctors, and at the end of each summer they would invite all the staff and families to a cabin on the salt water that one of them owned. It was always a glorious day, with oysters from nearby waters on the grill, crabs plucked from pots just off-shore boiling in big vats, salmon from some local fisherman slowly cooking over a smoky pit of coals, corn from the neighboring farmer and berries fresh picked made into all manner of pie and cobbler. And we sat on the beach and ate of this fare until the sun sank into the water. Then it was time to go home and face the music played by the new season. It was always for me a mixture of celebration and sadness. Back to reality comes as a bit of a jolt.

         This love of summer is real in my experience but it is also symbolic. Life moves us from rest to activity, from enjoyment to worries, from the slow and serene to the quicker pace and demands that come wrapped in uncertainty. As the politicians have reminded us this week, the future may indeed be filled with promise of better days, but it will not be easy. We know that. Whatever it is we face, it is not easy.

We wonder where Christ is in our lives as we walk into that big new school filed with unfamiliar faces; or as we return to a workplace stressed to the breaking point by the faltering economy; or as we anticipate entering a hospital room either for ourselves or for a loved one; or as we face the challenge of poverty in our world; or watch the storm track of Gustav and wonder what will be washed away. Whatever the new season will bring, we know it will not be easy. Where do we find Christ in all of this?

         Chapter 15 of Matthew records the end of the public ministry of Jesus. In a sense his "summer" ends here. There are very few miracles recorded after Chapter 15. There are no more large gatherings of crowds with healings and miracles. When he returns from this feeding of the 4,000 he faces Jerusalem, and begins a journey marked by intense teaching of his disciples and conflicts with authorities, and then the cross.

         So here is the last event of "summer" for Jesus. It is a three day mission meeting. In Africa they would call it a Big Sunday. The crowds gather around Jesus on a mountainside, and people bring the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and lay them at his feet, and he heals them. For three days this goes on, maybe night and day. It seems it goes on with singing and praising God, and attentive listening to Jesus. It is a wonderful time.

         These are people in great need, and they are healed. So we picture this grand gathering where those who were crippled now walk about, stretching their limbs; where those who were deaf listen in amazement; where those who were blind now state with amazement; and those with chronic illness lift their hands and sing aloud to the God of Israel. Healed people rejoicing and singing, and they do not go to bed, and they do not stop to eat. The meeting just keeps on going.

         The commentator R.T. France believes this to be a Gentile group. There are some clues in the text. Jesus takes a boat across the lake, where Gentiles would live. They praise "the God of Israel." A very unusual way of referring to God. This comes right after the healing of the daughter of a Canaanite woman, where the issue of the role of the Jewish Messiah in the non-Jewish world is pointedly discussed. But the most interesting clue that this was perhaps a Gentile crowd is that the disciples are at a loss as to what to do. They have just witnessed the Feeding of the 5,000 in Chapter 14, among a crowd that is certainly Jewish. Now the same need arises, but strangely they do not look to Jesus to feed this crowd. "Where could we get bread?" they ask. Why are they so slow to learn? France wonders if "it is possible that they take it for granted that while Jesus might use his messianic power to feed a Jewish crowd, it is outside his domain to do the same for Gentiles."

         So here we see Jesus showing compassion to a Gentile people. The doors are being opened for the salvation of the whole world. The hearts that have been empty for so long are now soaking in the grace of Jesus, and it goes on for three days! He heals them.

         But, after three days they are weary, they are hungry, even weak from hunger. They might collapse on the way home, if they are simply sent away. "Summer" is over for them, now they are headed back to reality, to the hard things of life, and they need strength for what they face. Jesus has compassion on them, and feeds them.

         In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, there are five separate accounts of these two miracles of feeding the 5,000 and the 4,000. There are also three separate accounts of Jesus at the Last Supper. In all of them the same order of words is used:

Jesus took bread;

he blessed it/ he gave thanks;

Jesus broke the bread;

Jesus gave the bread to them.

So there is a connection between the accounts of the feeding miracles and the Last Supper. This is a miracle that draws us to the themes of the Last Supper: the Messianic banquet in the kingdom of heaven, and the death of Jesus for our sakes. Jesus does more than provide bread for hungry people. He points them to the Kingdom of God. He points them to salvation.

         So, here are these people who have had a wonderful experience of healing and renewal, and yet they are hungry and weary and uncertain about the future, and going back home to responsibilities and situations that are hard and uncertain. And Jesus feeds them and gives them hope in the Kingdom of God, and points the way to salvation through the cross.

         It says they ate and were "satisfied." That is the key word which connects us to Isaiah 55, an invitation to eat and drink without price. Verse 2 is a warning not to spend money on what is not bread and does not satisfy. Then it says in Verse 6, "Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call on him while he is near." So the crowd seeks and finds Jesus to be the Lord. They call on him and are satisfied. He heals them, feeds them and saves them.

Now we are leaving summer and preparing our lives for a new season. In that we are welcomed by Jesus. Jesus meets you in your hunger today. He does not send you into your uncertain or worrisome future alone, where you might collapse along the way. He strengthens you with faith and hope and love. He renews your heart for the journey ahead, for the hard work of fall, for his call on your life.

Those who have been healed, those who know experiences of praising God, those who have received his grace, are not left alone on their way home. They are strengthened for the journey. On your way to what this new season brings, you are satisfied by what the Lord gives, you are made strong in word and spirit.

         I feel that often we are thankful for what the Lord has given us in the past; we look back at the sunshine, the times of refreshment, the healings, and the worship. Perhaps that is our experience at camp, or on a missions trip, or perhaps we think back on our youth. We remember when the Lord was near. We recall times of commitment to him.

But now we are weary, hungry, and we are aware of the journey that is ahead of us. We see that mountain of work and responsibility. We feel the uncertainty of these days. Even the ground beneath us may be giving way. Yet so often we turn to make this journey in our own strength: before we have eaten, before we have received the provision of the Lord, before we have heard the invitation from the Savior, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!"

Today let us seek the Lord, and open our hearts to his provision and care as we face a new season.

Amen.