The sixth chapter of St. John’s Gospel opens with the story of the “Feeding of the 5,000.” Make that 5,000 men besides women and children. Women and children did not count for much back in those days; they were mostly considered as “property” or some kind of liability in a world dominated by men. Never mind the fact that there are usually more women and children than men in any society, and that those grown men were at one time mere children. My apologies, women of the parish, for such arrogance on the part of men. So, I would wager a guess that there were more than likely 10,000 persons in attendance at this meal. The real question is: WHO CAME TO THIS MEAL? What kinds of people were there? I would venture to say that all kinds of people were there. Jesus was not choosey and picky about whom he associated with. So, who was there? The rich and the poor! Strangers and foreigners! Clean and dirty people! Well people and sick people! Humble people and proud people! Those “in” and those “out!” Straight people and gay people! The dominant and the submissive! Jews and Samaritans! Temple priests, Pharisees, and common ordinary worshippers! You name it! Every kind of personality type was there. Ijust cannot imagine Jesus walking through the crowd pointing and saying, “You can stay and you gotta go,” for, after all, the word of God, both written and living, has something gracious to say to absolutely everyone, even to you and to me, believe it or not. Who is more gracious than a welcoming host? With Jesus there are no barriers or boundaries. All are welcome . . . and when the bread was passed out to all the people, they all felt accepted and welcomed by Jesus. Similarly, when I, as the presiding celebrant at the Holy Eucharist, distribute Christ’s body, everyone gets a piece of bread—no exceptions! Who am I to deny someone that life-giving and sacramental bread? And I am so pleased, so thrilled to be able to give Christ’s body and blood even to little children. You should see the smiles on their faces! The Eucharist is Christ’s not mine. Jesus set the example for me already in the feeding of the 10,000. Jesus was modeling grace for the whole Galilean hillside to see. I am sure there were in that crowd those who were upset because Jesus fed the whole crowd, but Jesus did not let himself be manipulated by the fears and anxieties of the people. Sad to say, but not everyone picks up on God’s grace, even when it is right in front of their eyes—in this case, right in the bread in their own hands. Now to a related point . . . how welcoming and accepting of people is Atonement Lutheran Church? On a scale of 1 – 10, with 10 being most welcoming, where would you place Atonement? To be more direct, how welcomed and accepted do you feel at Atonement? Do you belong? Do you fit in? Are you valued for who you are? For what you bring to this parish? Do you feel “in” or “left out”? Are your feelings and ideas considered in decision making? Do the people of Atonement give you a real sense that you are valued here? These are all really important questions for a congregation that wants to be welcoming to the community around us, a community that in many respects is quite different from the people who already worship at Atonement. Let’s not kid ourselves: people can always perceive when they are welcomed or un-welcomed. It is a sixth sense. We all have it. We make use of it all the time. People tell us that Atonement is a friendly congregation, especially right before or after the worship service. But . . . during the coffee hour it does not look so friendly. Everyone is sitting with their friends, but if one is a newcomer to that room, where does one sit? With whom? And as one who always comes late to the coffee hour, I observe that there are a significant number of persons who are not present, even though they were just at worship. I do not know what this means for sure, but it crosses my mind that not everyone at Atonement feels welcomed and accepted. Being in a worship space and a coffee-hour space are two different things. Coffee hours are much more intimate than worship hours. Worship is a safe space; coffee hours, not necessarily so. Enough said. This is something that all of us need to work on. We take our cue from Jesus: Jesus was the most welcoming, most accepting person this side of heaven, due for the most part to Jesus’ strong connection to God (he was God!). In the Feeding of the 5,000 (10,000), Jesus fed everyone—no questions asked. Jesus went to them. Jesus is pure grace.

Pastor David A. Peters