18th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2018
18th Sunday, B/ “Soup and Manna”
Some stories are so rich in meaning that we never absorb it all. The danger is that when we start to listen to familiar stories, we turn a deaf ear because we say to ourselves, “I heard this one before.”
The story of the stone soup is a story that is so ancient that we do not really know who the original story teller was. If we listen to the story again it can have many relevant truths for the situation we find ourselves into day.
Once there we a band of displaced persons who were wandering through the countryside. The group happened upon a village. The travelers were a shabby bunch who had tattered clothes, broken down carts. When they came into the village they were starving. The vagrants began to go from house to house to ask for food. But the answer was always the same. We can’t give you anything because we have only enough for ourselves. If we give you food and shelter where will it stop? We will never have enough resources for all who come.”
The mysterious travelers went to the town square where they did a peculiar thing. The refugees built a fire putting a full caldron of water on it. Into the pot they dropped a rock. The vagrants took turns stirring the pot. Occasionally, they would taste its contents adding salt or pepper. The residents of the village became curious. And they asked, “What are you doing?” The weary travelers said they were making stone soup. The villagers asked what the recipe was. The visitors said, “Well you need a stone and water and spices. If you add some carrots it is a lot better.” One man who was asking about the soup from the village said, “I have some carrots, let me give you those.” As each villager inquired about the soup they also were asked if they wanted to share an ingredient; potatoes, onions, a canned ham, other ingredients were added to the soup. Finally, it was served. All the travelers ate as well as all the townspeople. Everyone had enough to be satisfied. The old story speaks to every age because in each era we are confronted with the question, “How do we treat the stranger in our midst?”
The story we read from the Book of Exodus today also has many layers of meaning? Again, we think we know the story. The people of Israel were hungry as they wandered in the desert after escaping slavery. And God rained down bread from heaven on them. God is portrayed as a kindly deity. But God had other purposes beside proving his benevolence. If we read the full story, we have the cliff notes version today, we read several interesting things we need to reflect on. The first is that the Bread from Heaven was manna. “Manna” is a word that means, “What is this?” Manna is the secretion of insects who are feeding the tamarisk plant. The substance falls to the ground. If you pick it up before it melts in the hot desert sun it can sustain you in the desert.
What God gave the Jews was just enough to nourish them. When we read the story, God, it seems, wanted to teach the Israelites to trust. The Israelites were told to go out every morning to collect the Manna. If they try to gather enough manna for two days, it will only spoil. Every day by their actions they learn to trust the Lord again. We are reminded of the Lord’s prayer where we say, “Give us today our daily bread.” Do we really believe our daily bread comes from the Lord? The Israelites had to depend on the fact that the Lord was going to produce bread every day, but just enough to feed them.
The other lesson that God taught the Israel in the desert was the lesson of community. How often have we heard the same words the Israelites uttered, words of doubt, words that say that we will never have enough. We, like the Israelites, want to cling to what is certain even if it means being enslaved. We would rather trade possibility for an insufficient status quo. The lesson that the Israelites learned as they wandered through the desert was, not only could they depend on God, they could depend on each other. Trusting in God and neighbor is where security is. Trusting only in ourselves, usually leads to dissatisfaction in life.
We live at a time where people are reluctant to welcome the stranger. We also exist at a time where it seems like people do not want to invest much in community. Community is equated with the word institution. Churches, local governments, service clubs, neighborhoods are in decline. We invest in a lot of screen time, but not a lot of face time. We suffer because of it. We need to learn what every generation needs to learn; to trust in God to invest in community. If we learn that lesson then there will be enough resources in the world to feed us all; emotionally, spiritually, physically.
Please note, this is a rough draft….grammar may not be perfect!