A sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 13
August 7, 2026, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Hot Springs, AR
Readings: Isaiah 55:1-5; Psalm 145: 8-9, 15-22; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:13-21
“And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.” That’s how St. Matthew puts it, and we call the story the Feeding of the 5,000. But there were a lot more than 5,000. If there was one woman and one child per man, we’re talking about the Feeding of the 15,000. Or a couple children and one woman per man, the Feeding of the 20,000. In short, there were a lot of people, and old Matthew seems to sell Jesus short with his 5,000 count. The gospels were just using the prevailing custom of the time of only counting male heads of households. But I prefer to imagine that the old tax collector’s mind was so blown at the miraculous nature of it all that he lost his wits–his intellectual senses were dulled, so great was his wonder. All this is more than he can ask or imagine, he can scarcely describe it. Have you ever been that amazed?
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Storied Grace 