Thomas J Parlette
“An Odd Time for a Picnic”
Matthew 14: 13-21
8/6/23
In the early 1980’s, a quick-serve Chinese restaurant opened at the Glendale Galleria mall in Glendale, California. The owners, Andrew and Peggy Cherng, called it Panda Express. A few years later, Chef Andy Kao developed their signature dish, Orange Chicken.
The business began to grow. The 100th store was opened in 1993. The 1,000th in 2007. Today they have more than 2,000 restaurants in 9 countries. With more than 3 billion in sales, they serve more than 90 million pounds of Orange Chicken every year.
At Panda Express, you are going to get “American Chinese food quickly and cheaply,” writes reviewer Kevin Alexander. Plus, “if you choose these winning dishes, you’re going to have a very enjoyable meal.”
Surprisingly, Alexander’s top dish is Teriyaki Chicken, which isn’t even Chinese. Alexander ranks the top dishes at Panda Express as teriyaki Chicken, Beijing Beef, and Kung Pao Chicken. The famous Orange Chicken comes in fourth.
Now, nearly 40 years after its founding, Panda Express continues to evolve. The restaurant recently introduced a plant-based version of its signature dish – Orange Chicken without the chicken. They call it “Beyond the Original Orange Chicken.”
Panda Express is also expanding its philanthropic work. Fast Company magazine reports that a division called “Panda Cares” was established in 1999, and it has raised more than 305 million to help children in need. In recent years, conversations around race have inspired the company to create the “Panda CommUnity Fund”. Since being launched in 2021, more than 2.3 million has been contributed to organizations that support people of color and other marginalized communities.
Andrea Cherng, the chief brand officer, says, “We are a company founded by immigrants. We continue to look outward.”
They are trying to answer the question: “How do we best serve our people and the broader community?” (1)
Speaking of feeding large amounts of people and serving the needs of others, that’s just what Jesus is doing today – although it seems like an odd time for a picnic.
In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus and his disciples are shocked by the news that Herod has killed their friend John the Baptist. Needing to grieve and pray, Jesus climbs into a boat and retreats to a deserted, lonely spot across the Sea of Galilee.
But the desperately needy people of the region won’t let him just slip away. They follow Jesus on foot. Even though he himself is suffering, Jesus isn’t irritated or annoyed that his retreat has been interrupted. On the contrary, Jesus cares deeply for these people who are in need and unable to help themselves.
Matthew tells us that Jesus has compassion for the people in the crowd – which means, literally, that he “suffers with” them. Jesus is moved with pity from the depth of his heart, feeling a sympathetic awareness of their distress, combined with a strong desire to provide some relief. In Mark’s version of this story, Jesus has compassion because they are “like sheep without a shepherd; and he begins to teach them many things.” Jesus becomes their Good Shepherd, one who orders the people “to sit down on the grass”, just like the Lord of Psalm 23 makes his sheep “lie down in green pastures.”
Jesus has compassion for every one of his people, regardless of their background or circumstances. Jesus is the Good Shepherd promised by the prophets, the one who teaches his people, heals their sick and injured, and provides them with food. “He will feed his flock like a shepherd,” promises Isaiah; “He will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.” Ezekiel; picks up on this image as well, when he writes, “I will set up over them one shepherd, and he shall feed them.”
The feeding of the 5,000 story must be important, because it’s the only miracle of Jesus recorded in all four Gospels. The story harkens back to God’s gift of manna while the Israelites wandered in the desert. It is also reminiscient of the Last Supper, especially in the blessing and breaking of the bread. The disciples only had 5 fish loaves and 2 fish, so Jesus introduced his own version of a signature dish – loaves and fish – and everyone ate and everyone was filled.
When we receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper in worship, we share bread, just as Jesus and the people did, gathered on the grass by the Sea of Galilee. We feel the compassion of Jesus in the meal, and we discover that our hearts are filled.
The feeding of the 5,000 also reminds us that the Lord does provide. Not millions of dollars, but rather for the physical and spiritual nourishment we need. We find ourselves in a lonely and deserted place, Jesus meets us there and has compassion for us. When we feel spiritually empty, Christ breaks his bread and feeds us. When we are worn out at the end of a long day, Jesus does not send us away to fend for ourselves. He invites us to lie down in green pastures, and he gives us what we need for life.
Jesus also encourages us to extend his compassion and nourishment to others. He wants us to continue to look outward, and to answer that question raised by Panda Express: “How do we best serve our people and the broader community?”
Notice that the disciples seem a bit resistant at first, or at the very least a little skeptical. They want to send the hungry crowd away so that they can buy some food in a neighboring village. But Jesus says, “They don’t need to go anywhere; you give them something to eat.” The disciples are mystified by this, since they only have 5 loaves and 2 fish – clearly not enough to feed all these people. But after Jesus blesses the food, there is enough for everyone. And Jesus doesn’t feed the crowd himself – no, he gives the bread and fish to the disciples, and they feed the people.
That’s the challenge in this story. To take what Jesus gives us and share it with others. “You give them something to eat,” says Jesus – and then he gives us what we need to feed the world around us. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, about 10% of US households were food insecure at some time during 2021. (2) That means that 1 in 10 households across the country are forced to eat a less varied diet, participate in federal food assistance programs, or get food from a community food pantry. I would venture a guess that that statistic has remained unchanged for 2023, and might have even gone up.
We respond to the challenge of Jesus when we do something to address this need. Concrete actions could include volunteering or contributing to Channel One community food pantry, gathering a group of people to provide a meal at Jeremiah Program or rescuing food that would otherwise go to waste, like what Community Food Response does. Answering Jesus’ challenge might also mean creating space for people to grow their own food, supporting the farmer’s market or even advocating for the expansion of public transportation to include access to grocery stores.
You give them something to eat. Such feeding and sharing can go beyond putting food in hungry mouths. Giving might include regular offerings to support work that the church is already doing. Giving could include welcoming visitors to worship and sharing communion with them. Giving might include working creatively on issues like affordable housing and homelessness.
Remember that Jesus was famous for eating with people he didn’t know, and he was criticized for sitting down at the table with people no wanted to be around – like tax collectors and known sinners. He didn’t consider people to be strangers when it came to sharing food and fellowship. When he reached out to the people around him, he always showed generosity and compassion. Since Jesus has given us what we need for a good life, he wants us to share that goodness with others.
Sometimes we might worry that all this giving and sharing might mean that we don’t have enough for ourselves – that we will be left wanting. But notice in this story that when everyone in the crowd eats and is filled, there are 12 baskets of food left over – interestingly, that is one basket for each disciple. Sharing with others never depletes us, it never hurts us, never robs us of what we need for a good life. In the wonderful abundance of God’s generous gifts, there is always enough for all.
In the story of the feeding of the 5,000 we discover that Jesus meets us in our deserted, lonely spots, in our times of grief – and offers us compassion, literally suffering alongside us. Like a good shepherd, he gives us what we need for life – abundant food, drink and protection. And then, because he wants us to be his disciples, he asks us to feed others with the resources he has given us. We join Jesus in compassion and in innovation, looking outward and caring for a world in need.
We live in the assurance that there is always going to be enough. The Lord does, in fact, provide – for us and for the people around us.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Homileticsonline, retrieved 6/20/23.
2. Ibid…
