Sharing the Gift of Self Responsibly

Mark 8:1-10 (NRSV)

In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to eat, he called his disciples and said to them, "I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way and some of them have come from a great distance." His disciples replied, "How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?" He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven." Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them to the crowd. They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he ordered that these too should be distributed. They ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Now there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

This story which can point us towards the Holy Eucharist, also carries with it an important message about how we share the gift of ourselves. We live in a time where we have all been given so much. Despite the horrible economy of the times we live in they are times in which we can still reach out to someone, or be reached out to by someone in one fashion or another. A simple hello with a friendly desire to serve someone is more than enough to help us all get through these difficult days.

As Jesus was going along his way, he knew that it would not be appropriate to send these people along a journey that would only end with them being sick. Knowing that it would be better to feed them here and now, he takes seven loaves and with the goodness of God feeds the hungry people and their souls. God sees beyond their temporal needs, but realizes that if God is going to reach their souls, God has to meet their physical hunger too. Jesus gives of himself in a responsible way. Jesus chooses to see the moment as an opportunity to minister God's presence to God's people in the best way. In so doing, Jesus shares with the hungry people God's very gift of God's Self completely and responsibly.

There is a beautiful Communion hymn that we sing in the Episcopal Church. It is found at number 318 in the Hymnal 1982.

Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face; here would I touch and handle things unseen; here grasp with firmer hand eternal grace, and all my weariness upon thee lean.

Here would I feed upon the Bread of God: here drink with thee the royal Wine of heaven; here would I lay aside each earthly load, here taste the calm of sin forgiven.

I have no help but thine; nor do I need another arm save thine to lean upon; it is enough, my Lord, enough indeed; my strength is in thy might, thy might alone.

Mine is the sin, but thine the righteousness; mine is the guilt, but thine the cleansing Blood. Here is my robe, my refuge and my peace; thy Blood, thy righteousness, O Lord my God.

God shares God's Self in the Eucharist. God is present through the Body and Blood of Christ, when we receive God's gracious gift which God gives so freely and responsibly. God owns what God gives and through God's generous gift of Self, God simply offers us a way back to the bosom of God's extravagant love. It is a place where all prejudices are crushed and all sin is forgiven. However, we do not leave that presence of God back at the altar. No, we are told to carry that presence into the world and to be the Body of Christ and the Cup of Salvation for all the world. We are to confront the evils of our time, through God's compassionate mercy and justice.

In so doing, we challenge many of the attitudes and ideals that have taken hold in our society today. Attitudes such as heterosexism that says that if you are heterosexual you benefit at the expense of homosexuals, bisexuals and transgendered persons. Other attitudes such as race that suggests that only those who are white should benefit at the expense of those who are not. Sexism suggests that women are still less than what men are, and therefore should still be thought of as property that men are free to abuse, neglect and control. Heterosexism is why Don't Ask, Don't Tell is such a terrible law. Heterosexism is what leads to the idea that LGBT people should not seek or be granted the right to marry the person they love. Sexism is why the Stupak amendment in the health care reform bill is so disrespectful to women. Racism is why it is wrong to stereo type people who are not white as "welfare crooks".

The Eucharist is also a call to share the gifts of ourselves in responsible ways. It means seeing things as they are, rather than how we would like them to exist. There was an interesting article in the Episcopal Lead about the child sex scandals in the Roman Catholic church and the many attitudes that have come about as people have left the Episcopal Church over the ordination of Bishop Gene Robinson.

However the scandal turns out, it calls attention to a bizarre dynamic that we Episcopalians have been well-positioned to observe. Since the consecration of Gene Robinson in 2003, we've seen a steady stream of conservatives leave our church because it ordains gays and lesbians to join a church that is still covering up sex crimes against children. They have done so because they think the Catholic Church's teachings on sexuality are morally superior to ours.

One can argue, in defense of those who have departed, that Catholic teaching is indeed superior to that of the Episcopal Church, but that the teaching has been disregarded by sinful individuals. But this ignores the systematic nature of the cover-up which the Church has carried out, and it forces defenders to argue that Catholic teaching on issues of sexuality and authority within the Church are in no way responsible for this widespread scandal. That hardly seems plausible.

It would be a really good idea for all of us to give some thought as to how responsible we all are in terms of sharing our gift of self in responsible ways. As we draw closer to Easter where we see Jesus give of himself totally and completely, yet very responsibly, we would do well to ask ourselves about our own giving. Where do we see places where we could give ourselves more responsibly? How do we see ourselves giving of ourselves more responsibly as we share our gifts of self with others.

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, BCP, Page 219).