“The Power of Parallel and Parable”

July 28, 2024

John Gribas

Reading from 2 Kings 4:42-44

(New Revised Standard Version)

[42] A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, "Give it to the people and let them eat." [43] But his servant said, "How can I set this before a hundred people?" So he repeated, "Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD, 'They shall eat and have some left.'" [44] He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the LORD.

 Transition

 Holy God. I ask that the words I share today, and the thoughts and ponderings they prompt in all our hearts and minds, may be guided by your Holy Spirit. And may they reveal You and the good news of the kingdom of heaven. Amen.

 Sermon

 When Pastor Mike first extended the invitation for me to prepare and share a message as I am doing today, I learned that for weekly worship readings, this church, like so many others, traditionally follows the lectionary—a common annual calendar that provides a list of thematic scriptures for each week. Mike let me know that I should not feel any obligation to choose from the lectionary options. I appreciate that.

However, I have always chosen a sermon scripture from this common lectionary. To me, it just seems like the right thing to do. Also, it really helps in making a decision. Having all of scripture to consider would be pretty overwhelming. How could I ever make a choice? The handful of lectionary options narrows things down nicely.

So when I am invited to share with the church, I first spend some time reading and reflecting on the lectionary scriptures. And I listen. I listen for God’s prompting—some kind of nudge toward one reading or another. Sometimes the prompting is very clear and comes quickly. Other times, less so. Well, this time around was definitely a “less so” experience.

My initial thought was that I really didn’t like any of the options. They seemed either too familiar to do much with, or they were examples of very general declarations of God’s goodness and humankind’s foolishness, or they included those exceedingly long, grammatically complex, and for me pretty confusing introductory statements Paul was fond of in his letters.

In the end, though, I was nudged toward this rather brief excerpt from 2 Kings. I thought it was an odd place to be nudged, honestly. To begin…it is so short. Three total verses. And while I have been a pretty serious Bible reader for decades, I can’t say I actually recalled this story featuring Elisha and some guy who comes from a place with a name that sounds a bit like an actor’s pre-performance vocal warm-up.

Baal-shalishah! Baal-shalishah! Baal-shalishah!

 But seriously, this story felt completely new to me. At the same time, not new at all. I am sure as I read it moments ago, you had the same thought I did. This sounds a lot like something from the New Testament. Something really, really familiar—Jesus’ multiplication of the loaves and fishes and the feeding of 5000. In fact, John’s version of the feeding of 5000 event was another one of the lectionary options for this week. It has a lot more detail, more impressive numbers, includes a generous little kid which always makes a story more appealing…oh, and it also includes Jesus as the center of the action. You might think I would have been nudged toward this scripture from John.

Nope. 2 Kings 4:42-44.

Though it is short…and unfamiliar…and includes reference to an obscure city with a pretty weird name, I actually think there is a lot here. Especially if you are willing to consider this story from two perspectives. As a para-LLEL. And as a para-BLE.

Parallel. Parable.

I think it is pretty obvious how this 2 Kings 4 story can be seen as a “parallel” to the loaves and fishes story from the gospels.

Side note. Did you know that the feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle other than the resurrection that is recorded in all four gospels. Yep. So it is pretty safe to assume that most people with even a cursory knowledge of Christian scriptures is familiar with the feeding of the 5000. And I think it is safe to assume that you all see how the story from 2 Kings works as a “parallel.”

In both stories, someone brings a small amount of food and willingly offers it. A person recognized in one way or another as a “man of God” gives instructions for that small offering to be used to feed a lot of hungry people. Comments are made suggesting that the idea is seen by others as rather ludicrous. The “man of God” nonetheless directs others to distribute the food. And they do. And it is enough. More than enough.

Parallel stories.

But, to make use of some geometry terms, parallel is not equal.

These are not the same stories. And the difference is not just where they can be found in scripture, or the names of the characters involved, or the specific kind and amount of food offered, or the number of people fed.

Actually, despite the many similarities, I think the 2 Kings version can offer insights that are less likely to come from what we know as the feeding of the 5000. And one reason for that is because in the 2 Kings version…there is no Jesus.

It might sound disrespectful or not-very-Christian or even a little heretical, but I do think that, in some ways, Jesus’ presence in the gospel version of these parallel stories interferes with some valuable take-aways here.

Obviously, I am not standing here arguing that the feeding of the 5000 would somehow be “better” without Jesus. That is not it at all. But as I spent time reading and reflecting on this story from 2 Kings, I immediately noticed the connection to the parallel story in the gospels, but then I found myself thinking about things I don’t believe I ever thought about when reading the feeding of the 5000.

In 2 Kings, Elisha is a big deal. He is a man of God. This food miracle sits among a long list of Elisha miracles—many which are also parallels to other miracles of Jesus recorded in the gospels. Some biblical scholars see the earlier prophet Elijah as a kind of Old Testament John the Baptist, preparing the way for Elisha, who can be seen as a kind of Old Testament Jesus.

But the fact is, Elisha isn’t Jesus, and we know it. Reading 2 Kings, I am never tempted to consider that the purpose of the miracles is to demonstrate how awesome a man of God Elisha is. Instead, I am compelled to think about how awesome God is. In particular, I am struck by the fact that God—omnipotent, omnipresent, and everlasting creator of the universe—notices and cares that people are hungry. Not only cares, but provides.

That might seem rather obvious, but I don’t think it is.

Miracles are awesome things. But they can also be dangerous things, especially when they are big, splashy, public miracles. We can get all caught up in the spectacle and impossibility of it all, and that can prevent us from seeing some things that are less flashy and more mundane but, nevertheless, really important.

Like the fact that, in 2 Kings, there were a lot of people who were hungry. Apparently, God recognized that hunger, that human need, and God worked through the willing, modest gift of the man from Baal-Shalashah, and worked through the encouragement and faith of the man of God, Elisha…and the hungry people were fed.

God cares that people are hungry. God sees human need. God can and does provide. God often provides through the modest offerings of willing human beings, human beings like you and me. And, so often, what we have to offer seems like far too little. But God’s grace and power can transform even the smallest gifts into…enough. More than enough.

So the parallel between 2 Kings 4:42-44 and the loaves and fishes helps me. With Jesus being revealed as the messiah and as divine in the gospels, it is easy for me to get caught up in that as the central message—the central message of the story of the feeding of the 5000, and also of so many other Jesus miracle stories. Healing a man’s withered hand, making lepers clean and the blind see and the demon possessed freed and paralytics walk, restoring deceased loved ones to life, even responding to a potential wedding fiasco by providing wine when there was no more.

Yes, in all these cases, Jesus demonstrates his uniqueness and his power. But I have a difficult time believing that was his motivation. I don’t think Jesus was thinking, “Great! Here is a guy with a withered hand. This will give me an opportunity to show everyone what I can really do!!”

No. In all of these cases, Jesus saw human suffering. Human need. And he cared. And he acted. He acted with divine power, yes…but, perhaps more amazing, he acted with the deepest human compassion. This is Jesus’ nature. And Jesus reflects the nature of the Father. Our creator God.

The fact that 2 Kings 4:42-44 is parallel to but not equal to the feeding of the 5000 helps me—and I hope helps us all—to remember that.

I think there is even more to this story if we consider it not only as a parallel, but also as a parable. Here is one definition of “parable.”

A short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson.

Now, some might question the appropriateness of examining this passage from 2 Kings as a parable. Isn’t 2 Kings, along with many other books in what we typically call the Old Testament, considered ancient history?

Well, yes. It is. But we have to understand that the ancients who passed along this material—often passing it along from generation to generation through the oral tradition—understood “history” very differently than we do today. We assume that any history worth paying attention to represents fully accurate accounts of things that actually happened at particular times and places, filled with verifiable details and corroborated by other historical accounts and evidence. But ancient people simply did not have access to the kinds of records or resources needed to expect this from history.

This isn’t to say that ancient histories are “inaccurate” or that things and people and places referenced in ancient histories “didn’t really exist.” It means that the way ancient people understood history was different, and the way they recalled and shaped and passed along their histories had a purpose.

I share this only to suggest that, given this understanding of ancient history, it makes plenty of sense to look at 2 Kings through the lens of parable. Not simply to read it and conclude, “Yep. That happened,” but to read it and ask, “What might this mean? How does it illustrate some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson?”

So to finish up today, let’s do that. Let me suggest a few insights that I think are reasonable and that might be helpful.

First, with God’s help, even very modest gifts can have tremendous impact. Actually, that point has already been made earlier, looking at 2 Kings 4:42-44 as a parallel. But it is worth repeating. The man from Baal-Shalishah didn’t have a lot. And he seemed pretty incredulous that it would go far in feeding so many. Do you have something you are willing to offer but that you feel is just not enough? Maybe you need to find your Elisha and listen to that person’s encouragement to take the step to share anyway. Perhaps it is exactly what God wants to use to meet some human need.

Second, I think there are many like that man from Baal-Shalishah, willing to share their gifts but unable to see their real impact. Might you be the Elisha in their lives? How might you provide the vision, confidence, and encouragement they need to take the risk, offer what they have, and step out in faith?

Third, as a place, Baal-Shalishah is rather an oddity. It is mentioned only once in scripture. It’s meaning and location are very unclear. But based on what is known, it is unlikely that the person from Baal-Shalishah would be a member of the Israelite clan—unlikely that he would be a worshipper of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Unlikely that he would have any awareness of the practice of tithing. In fact, the “Baal” part of the place name might suggest that this person was a worshipper of a rival deity! Yet this man brought “food from the first fruits to the man of God.” And God did something amazing with it.

I recall a powerful experience from many years ago. My wife, Lana, and I were attending the performance of an original play at the experimental theatre associated with the Guthrie in Minneapolis. The play was about the French Revolution. It was certainly non-religious…a secular play performed by what we assumed was a secular theatre company.

During the performance, we in the audience began to smell something really good. The lovely aroma grew. Then, at one point, the action of the play stopped. The performers all went to a spot where production crew handed them fresh bread that had been baking back stage somewhere.

The performers, still in character, brought loaves to some members of the audience in the first couple of rows. In keeping with the principles of liberty, equality, and brotherhood associated with the French Revolution, the audience members were simply told, “Here. Make sure everyone gets some.” It was a little awkward at first, but soon people were turning to those around them, tearing the bread and making sure all were included. People were very quiet, and the time felt…holy. Honestly, I will always remember that as one of the most real, sincere, powerful “communion” experiences I have ever had.

Sometimes, gifts come from unexpected people and places. Maybe people or places that don’t fit nicely into our idea of where Godly gifts should come from. We need to be ready to receive them.

2 Kings 4:42-44. A curious place to be prompted. A very small passage of scripture. Small but, if explored as parallel and as parable, filled with the potential for substantial insights to challenge, inspire, and feed our hungry hearts and souls.

Amen.

Benediction

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you.

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

Charge

So let us go, reflecting on these words by Dorothy Day—journalist and one of the most well-known Catholic social activists of the twentieth century.

Young people say, "What can one person do? What is the sense of our small effort?" They cannot see that we can only lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time; we can be responsible only for the one action of the present moment. But we can beg for an increase of love in our hearts that will vitalize and transform these actions, and know that God will take them and multiply them, as Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes.

Amen.