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THE TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST August 2, 2026 Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto -- A Confessional Lutheran Church Our Bible Readings – Old Testament: Isaiah 55:1-5 Psalm 136:1-9 Epistle: Romans 9:1-5 Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21 Our Hymn for the Day from Lutheran Service Book is LSB 642, “O Living Bread from Heaven” The Sermon – “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. There are few things more unsettling than realizing you don’t have enough. Not enough money to pay the bills. Not enough strength to carry another burden. Not enough wisdom to solve a life crisis. Not enough hope to face tomorrow. The disciples knew exactly what that was like. Standing before them was an enormous crowd — five thousand men, besides women and children. Evening was approaching. There was no nearby village large enough to feed them. They counted what little they had: five loaves of bread and two fish. It wasn’t enough. Their conclusion seemed reasonable. "Send the crowds away." It was the practical response. Let the people fend for themselves. But the earthly solution was not the Lord's solution. Jesus replies, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." The disciples must have looked at one another in disbelief. How could they possibly feed this multitude? They were being confronted with something far beyond every human ability. And that’s precisely where Jesus wanted them to be. For throughout Holy Scripture, the Lord delights in showing that His grace begins where human resources end. Isaiah proclaims this very truth in today's Old Testament lesson. "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat." Notice who receives the invitation. Not the wealthy. Not the proud. Not to those who feel they have earned God's favour. The invitation is extended to those who have nothing. The spiritually poor. The drink and the food are the Word of God. The Word spoken in the Old Testament as promise. The Word fulfilled in the New Testament, God in Human flesh. The gift of grace is for those who realize they cannot buy salvation. It is for human beings incapable of paying for their sins. It’s for those who thirst for righteousness. That is the Gospel. The Lord gives freely what sinners could never purchase. Forgiveness and eternal life. Heaven cannot be earned. Salvation is not a reward for the deserving, but a gift given to the undeserving. Everything depends upon God's grace. Our good works are like filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6) Only the good work Christ did on the altar of the cross could pay for the sins of the world. The disciples are slowly learning that lesson in the wilderness. Their hands are empty. But Christ's hands are full. Matthew tells us that Jesus had withdrawn after hearing of the death of John the Baptist. John had faithfully proclaimed God's Word and paid for it with his life. Jesus was grieving. He desired solitude. Yet when He saw the crowds, Matthew writes, "He had compassion on them and healed their sick." That word "compassion" tells us everything about our Lord. His heart is moved toward those who suffer. He doesn’t turn away. He does not tell them they’re an inconvenience. Instead, He gives. He heals and feeds. This is the heart of God incarnate revealed. Throughout the Gospels, whenever Jesus encounters human misery, His compassion is never merely emotional. It acts. It restores, forgives, heals, saves. That same compassion ultimately carries Him to Calvary. There He sees an entire world starving — not for bread — but for forgiveness. Humanity has nothing to offer God except sin. We possess no spiritual riches. No righteousness of our own. No merit worthy of heaven. Like the crowd in the wilderness, we stand empty-handed. Yet Christ gives Himself. He becomes the Bread of Life broken for the life of the world. His body is given; His blood is shed; mercy is freely bestowed. His redemption is a gift to believers. It is unmerited favour for sinners who receive faith worked within them by the Holy Spirit through God’s means of grace. Isaiah's invitation is fulfilled in Christ. "Come . . . without money and without price." Notice the disciples' response. They see only limitations. Five loaves. Two fish. Impossible numbers. How often we do the same. We look at declining church attendance. We see aging congregations. Limited budgets. Few volunteers. A culture increasingly indifferent — even hostile — to Christianity. And we begin to think like the disciples. "There isn't enough." But Christ has never depended upon human abundance. He has always worked through weakness. The Church has never been sustained by impressive resources. She has been sustained by the Word of Christ. The Gospel has never depended upon human strength. It is the power of God for salvation, and His gracious will. Saint Paul reminds us of this in Romans Chapter 9. Paul grieves deeply over many of his fellow Israelites who have rejected Christ. Yet he immediately adds that God's Word has not failed. The Lord's saving purposes never depend upon human effort or ancestry. They rest entirely upon His gracious promise. Election, rightly understood, does not produce anxiety. It offers hope. Our salvation doesn’t depend upon our strength, but on God's faithfulness in Christ. It is a gift, yet one that can be rejected with dire consequences. The disciples' success wasn’t founded on their ability to provide food. It depended upon Jesus. Everything depends upon Christ. Matthew describes the miracle with remarkable simplicity. Jesus takes the loaves. He looks up to heaven. He blesses them, breaks them, gives them to the disciples. And the disciples give them to the crowds. There is a beautiful pattern here. Christ gives. His servants distribute. This continues throughout the Church today. Pastors do not invent forgiveness. They distribute what Christ has entrusted to them. They do not create the Gospel. They proclaim it. They do not manufacture the Sacraments. They administer what Christ Himself instituted. The ministry has always been one of faithful distribution. Christ remains the Giver. This miracle also points us toward the Lord’s Supper. The actions are familiar. He takes, blesses, breaks, and gives. Soon, in the Upper Room, He will do the same with bread and wine, giving His true body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. The feeding of the five thousand is not the Holy Supper itself, but it points forward and prepares our eyes to recognize the generous heart of the One who feeds His people. Here our Lord satisfies physical hunger. At the communion rail He satisfies the deepest hunger of all — the hunger for forgiveness, reconciliation, and eternal life. Notice the result. "All ate and were satisfied." Not almost everyone. Not most. All. There was no shortage. No one left hungry. Then came an astonishing detail. Twelve baskets remained. The disciples would be left with the saving message of Christ. With God’s Word and Sacraments to distribute to the nations after the Ascension. After the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them at Pentecost. Our Lord never gives sparingly. Psalm 136 repeatedly declares, "For His steadfast love endures forever." Again, and again, the refrain reminds us that God's mercy is always greater than our sins. His compassion is not exhausted. His forgiveness and grace aren’t rationed. Every Sunday Christians gather because we know exactly where Christ has promised to feed His people. He feeds us through His Holy Word. He brings us to new life through Holy Baptism, where He claims us as His own. He forgives and sustains us at His Holy Table with His own body and blood. The world offers countless substitutes. Wealth, pleasure, power. Yet every worldly promise eventually leaves the soul hungry again. Only Christ satisfies completely. Only Jesus gives food that endures to eternal life. Dear brothers and sisters, every one of us comes into the Church carrying empty baskets. Some carry sorrow. Others shame. Some harbor fear. Others loneliness. Some carry burdens that no one else knows. Christ sees every one of them. And just as He looked upon that great crowd with compassion, so He looks upon you today. He doesn’t send you away. Instead, He invites you to Himself. He speaks His absolution. He feeds you with His Gospel. He strengthens your faith. He assures you that His steadfast love endures forever. He invites you to pray to our Heavenly Father for His loving provision and protection in the Lord’s Prayer. “Give us this day our daily bread.” All that we need in this life, the physical and the spiritual. One day, the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand will reach a final fulfillment. The Book of Revelation speaks of the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom, where God's redeemed people will hunger and thirst no more. There, Christ Himself will welcome believers to the eternal banquet. Until that glorious day, we live through His gifts, trust His promises, and receive His mercy. And we rejoice that our compassionate Saviour never runs out of grace. For the One who fed the multitude still feeds His Church today. And all who come to Him will be satisfied. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.