Memorial Music Sunday – November 2, 2025
First Congregational Church of Cheshire
© the Rev. Dr. James Campbell
John 6:1-14
After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place, so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated; so also, the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So, they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”
This church, like most churches, has a de facto Lost and Found. And you wouldn’t believe the things people actually leave behind. Some are very common, like umbrellas and coats and ink pens and water bottles. Others are expensive, like cell phones, jewelry, or designer sunglasses. And then there are the odd things, like prescription drugs, packaged food, and once a small appliance.
We hold onto these things for a while in our Lost and Found. But truth be told, mostly it’s just a Lost department. It’s a collection of things that people almost never come back to get. And so, eventually I load those things into my car and take what I can to Goodwill.
I’m always glad to think that these things will have a new home. But I’m also sad to think that something someone once chose and treasured and perhaps even loved, isn’t missed enough for the person to search it out again.
And so, it’s odd to me that we speak of the dead as being lost. “We lost them,” we say. It’s odd because if there’s anything we would come back to look for; anything we would seek to retrieve, it’s those we have loved and who have died. In fact, we never stop looking for connections of any kind: a photo, an old shirt, a funny story. We think about them, dream about them, long for them.
Our loved ones are not really lost, but they are gone - at least from us. And that can make us feel lost.
At the end of a long day of teaching and healing, Jesus had sailed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee for some rest and rejuvenation. But the crowd followed him all the way around the periphery of the lake because they were desperately looking for what they had lost: health, relationships, faith.
And apparently, in their excitement about seeing and hearing Jesus, they had all left home that morning without packing a lunch. And so, by this point in a long day, they were hungry. And somehow Jesus knew that. So, he asked Phillip where on earth they could buy enough food for everyone. “Forget where,” Phillip replied. “How about HOW, since we don’t have the money to buy that much food!”
Andrew overheard this exchange, and trying to be helpful, jumped in: “Well, there is some food,” he said, “a little boy over there has five barley loaves and two fish.” It was one of those things you say in the excitement of the moment that you immediately regret. And all the other disciples just rolled their eyes, and said: “There he goes again.”
But Jesus had an idea. “Tell the people to sit down,” he said. “And then go and ask that boy for his lunch.”
We don’t know anything about this boy other than this one moment in his life, but no matter where else his life might have taken him; no matter what other decisions he might have made, he is enshrined for us as a generous and trusting soul.
Jesus took the barley loaves and fish, blessed them, broke them, and gave the pieces to the disciples to distribute to the people. Theologians tell us that this action was a precursor to the Last Supper: Jesus blessing and breaking the bread and feeding hungry souls.
Well, lo and behold, from those five loaves and two fish somehow everyone had enough. 5000 people had enough! And that was, indeed, a miracle. But then again, so was what came next.
After everyone had eaten all they wanted, Jesus, sort of like my mother, was not about to waste any food. And so, he said to his disciples: “Now go out there and gather up all the leftover fragments, so that nothing may be lost.”
Those six words, “So that nothing may be lost” are so easy to ignore, but I am convinced that they are the whole Gospel in miniature.
This passage ends with this statement: “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.” The most obvious meaning of that statement is that they were thankful for their full bellies in a world in which they were often hungry. But I wonder if at least some of them saw the miracle of a prophet who was not willing that even one crumb would be lost.
The Gospel declares that Jesus Christ came into this world to seek and to save that which is lost. Sometimes, we’re lost. And when death shatters our world, then everything can seem lost.
But 2000 years ago, in some cool green grass, Jesus showed us the God who refuses to leave anyone behind. This God walks in the fields of our lives looking for every fragments of our broken hearts – every broken dream, broken hope, broken love - and gathers them into a safe place.
And one day, when the time is right, we will be gathered too. And everything we have ever lost, including ourselves, will once again be found.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
First Congregational Church of Cheshire
© the Rev. Dr. James Campbell
John 6:1-14
After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place, so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated; so also, the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So, they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”
This church, like most churches, has a de facto Lost and Found. And you wouldn’t believe the things people actually leave behind. Some are very common, like umbrellas and coats and ink pens and water bottles. Others are expensive, like cell phones, jewelry, or designer sunglasses. And then there are the odd things, like prescription drugs, packaged food, and once a small appliance.
We hold onto these things for a while in our Lost and Found. But truth be told, mostly it’s just a Lost department. It’s a collection of things that people almost never come back to get. And so, eventually I load those things into my car and take what I can to Goodwill.
I’m always glad to think that these things will have a new home. But I’m also sad to think that something someone once chose and treasured and perhaps even loved, isn’t missed enough for the person to search it out again.
And so, it’s odd to me that we speak of the dead as being lost. “We lost them,” we say. It’s odd because if there’s anything we would come back to look for; anything we would seek to retrieve, it’s those we have loved and who have died. In fact, we never stop looking for connections of any kind: a photo, an old shirt, a funny story. We think about them, dream about them, long for them.
Our loved ones are not really lost, but they are gone - at least from us. And that can make us feel lost.
At the end of a long day of teaching and healing, Jesus had sailed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee for some rest and rejuvenation. But the crowd followed him all the way around the periphery of the lake because they were desperately looking for what they had lost: health, relationships, faith.
And apparently, in their excitement about seeing and hearing Jesus, they had all left home that morning without packing a lunch. And so, by this point in a long day, they were hungry. And somehow Jesus knew that. So, he asked Phillip where on earth they could buy enough food for everyone. “Forget where,” Phillip replied. “How about HOW, since we don’t have the money to buy that much food!”
Andrew overheard this exchange, and trying to be helpful, jumped in: “Well, there is some food,” he said, “a little boy over there has five barley loaves and two fish.” It was one of those things you say in the excitement of the moment that you immediately regret. And all the other disciples just rolled their eyes, and said: “There he goes again.”
But Jesus had an idea. “Tell the people to sit down,” he said. “And then go and ask that boy for his lunch.”
We don’t know anything about this boy other than this one moment in his life, but no matter where else his life might have taken him; no matter what other decisions he might have made, he is enshrined for us as a generous and trusting soul.
Jesus took the barley loaves and fish, blessed them, broke them, and gave the pieces to the disciples to distribute to the people. Theologians tell us that this action was a precursor to the Last Supper: Jesus blessing and breaking the bread and feeding hungry souls.
Well, lo and behold, from those five loaves and two fish somehow everyone had enough. 5000 people had enough! And that was, indeed, a miracle. But then again, so was what came next.
After everyone had eaten all they wanted, Jesus, sort of like my mother, was not about to waste any food. And so, he said to his disciples: “Now go out there and gather up all the leftover fragments, so that nothing may be lost.”
Those six words, “So that nothing may be lost” are so easy to ignore, but I am convinced that they are the whole Gospel in miniature.
This passage ends with this statement: “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.” The most obvious meaning of that statement is that they were thankful for their full bellies in a world in which they were often hungry. But I wonder if at least some of them saw the miracle of a prophet who was not willing that even one crumb would be lost.
The Gospel declares that Jesus Christ came into this world to seek and to save that which is lost. Sometimes, we’re lost. And when death shatters our world, then everything can seem lost.
But 2000 years ago, in some cool green grass, Jesus showed us the God who refuses to leave anyone behind. This God walks in the fields of our lives looking for every fragments of our broken hearts – every broken dream, broken hope, broken love - and gathers them into a safe place.
And one day, when the time is right, we will be gathered too. And everything we have ever lost, including ourselves, will once again be found.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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