The Rev’d Jacky Sewell

Sunday, 2 August 2026

Readings: Matthew 14: 13-21, Romans 9:1-5, Isaiah 55:1-5, also: Philippians 4:8-9

Last week I found myself in the city with an hour to spare inbetween comittments.
It was lunchtime and I was hungry. I made a quick detour to a favourite cafe, chose something to eat, and sat at a quiet table in the corner.
Except it was not destined to be a quiet, reviving meal break. Across the room, three well-dressed, mature men, in business suits were eating lunch whilst having a business conversation. On their phones. To a poor, happless contractor who had no idea that the phones were turned up so loudly that every word that he said was broadcast across the cafe. I listened – I couldn’t help but listen – as he was torn apart, in shreds, by a relentless inquisition accompanies by insults. After an interminable length of time the phone conversation ended; the meeting, however, continued. The most senior of the three was being congratulated by his companions on knowing how to hold his business affairs together; he now ran 42 entities across Austalia and NZ; he was no fool and he didn’t tolerate fools. No kidding.
As you can imagine, by now the food on my plate had turned sour, and the coffee in the cup to vinegar. Giving them fixed and penetrating looks across the room had yielded no fruit. I wished I had enough brass – hmmm – to walk over and tell them that they were intruding on the entire room – but in such a way, you understand, that they felt instant shame and resolved to be better, more considerate persons in the future.
The words of the prophet Isaiah.
Come, buy and eat; come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Why spend your money and labour for things which do not satisfy? Listen, eat what is good.
How do we preach the Good News to a world which believes that wealth does satisfy, that ruthless business practices are to be emulated, and that hawkish policies will make for a better civilisation?
To be fair, the three lunch companions were probably doing no more than living off the same beliefs with which they had been fed. Products of a system. Living by those maxims that had been fed into them, and bringing forth behaviours and actions to match. Most of us do likewise.
What comes out of us, reflects what has gone into us.
I was brought up to believe that treating people well was a prime moral imperative – do unto others as you would have them do unto you, said Jesus. Gospel food that would produce a better world than harshness and meanness.
I’ve become very conscious of what I put into my body over the last couple of years. I’ve bored my family to death with healthy and virtuous eating – all that added sugar you’re feeding to my grandkids! Their eyes roll. Lighten up, Jacky!
I’ve also become conscious of what I put into my body via my eyes and ears. Watching and listening to the news whilst night after night ruthless politicians and powerbrokers rain down death and incarceration upon civilians who simply want to get on with their lives. It gets to you after a while. We either get desensitised to the unremitting violence that we see, or we start to experience stress and anxiety ourselves. I’ve had to make a choice to filter world news through an international news site that gives summary headlines and allows me to chose what to see in more depth. And then watch a comedy that makes me laugh. What comes forth from me in response is that I sleep better, without loosing consciousness of the appalling price that ordinary people are paying with their lives.
Come, buy and eat; come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Why spend your money and labour for things which do not satisfy? Listen, eat what is good.
Last week we celebrated the 35 years that our foodbank has been operating. We heard the story of the political landscape that made it necessary, and reflected on the ongoing need, here, in the lush suburb of Howick. We stand in a long tradition – thousands of years long – of a people of faith who believe that living out that faith means looking after the needs of others.
I don’t mean to rehash what we heard last week. This week’s lectionary readings remind us that there is another dimension to looking after the needs of others. Our hunger is not just for food for our bellies, though when you don’t have enough to eat it tends to become an all-consuming need. This morning’s gospel – the feeding of the 5000 men, plus the women and children, is a subtle and complex story. We hear it as the great miracle of the loaves and the fishes, and as part of the great moral imperative for Christians to be compassionate, as Jesus was, and take care of the needs of others, as Jesus did. But do you remember why the crowd was there in the first place, and what Jesus was doing out of compassion, before dinner time came along? He is grieving the brutal killing of his cousin, the political activist and prophet John the Baptist, and took himself away to a quiet spot. When the local people find out where he has gone, they follow him. ‘And Jesus had compassion for them and cured their sick’. Hundreds of other miracles, personal miracles, glossed over in a single tiny sentance. They didn’t come all that way because they were hungry. They came because they sensed that in Jesus they would find life in all its fulness. In response, Jesus’ heart yearns for the well-being of the children of God, and he feeds them, heals them, tells them inspiring parables of the kingdom of heaven.
Come, buy and eat; come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Listen, eat what is good. Delight yourselves in rich food.
Come to me, listen, so that you may live.
What was put into people’s bodies that day was food for their bellies, healing for their bodies, love and compassion for their souls, teaching for their lives.
What came out of their bodies, in response, was a desire to follow this Christ, a willingness to put up with long tiring days, and a faith that Jesus would not let them down.
What comes out of us, reflects what has gone into us.
There’s a fabulous little passage in Paul’s letter to the fledgling Christian community at Philippi. It’s right near the end, after Paul has spent a couple of chapters gently coaxing this community to stop it’s bickering and arguing, and imitate his lifestyle of keeping his eyes focused on the Gospel – the Good News. As Paul concludes, he reminds them of a deep truth about human nature and the way of achieving a peaceful heart, mind and soul.
Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing … [these things], and the God of peace will be with you. Phil 4:8-9.
A peacefully centred life that is lived abundantly and fruitfully, focused, with joy, is so difficult to achieve if what we are putting in is full of harshness, viciousness and cruelty.
May we feed into others some of what we ourselves have received: hearts, minds, bodies and souls that are focused on Christ and the Good News of life in all its abundance.
Amen.