"Greater Than Knowledge": Sermon for 8 Pentecost

When my wife and I offered seats to another couple in an urgent care waiting room in San Diego last week, even as the man moved to accept, he said, "Whatever you want to do," which is a common primal male response. He didn't want to owe us a favor, so he acted like he was doing us one. I've acted the same way whenever I've assumed that there wasn't enough grace to go around. Scarcity thinking afflicts all our relationships and also lies at the root of mass tragedies such as genocide as well as the killing of Jesus Christ. Through the mystery of the feeding of the 5,000 by the Sea of Galilee (which we St. John's pilgrims will visit next week), Jesus offers the radical alternative of abundance. The trick is that nobody -- neither church, government, nor charities -- can be abundant for us. We have to begin by loving God and our neighbor all by ourselves. My Sunday sermon is here.