Ephesians 3: 14-end; John 6: 1-21
There’s something different about the cathedral today, I wonder if you’ve spotted it?! It’s really wonderful to have Peter Walker’s installation with us this summer and I do hope you all get the chance, once the altar is moved to the side to stand under it and wonder at the prayers for peace that have been written on 15 thousand doves – all made by local people in our schools, prisons, and communities.
In the earliest Christian art, the dove represented inner peace rather than civil peace and of course the dove is a sign of the Holy Spirit right from Genesis chapter 1 where the Spirit is seen to be hovering over the waters, right up to the dove representing the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus at his own baptism.
And so how apt – that for the very first Sunday that we have this installation we are also baptizing Ziya!
But as inspiring and as beautiful these doves are – I am afraid they cannot compete with the small but beautiful image of the dove that is permanently here in the cathedral - it is tucked away under the font cover and which you can only see if you are standing or being held under it – which Ziya will in a few minutes.
It will act as a sign that the Holy Spirit will be with me and Ziya as I baptize her – this small hidden away dove may not be as awe inspiring as what is above me right now, but in its subtly, as all good signs should do, it points to another reality – a hidden truth that is in plain sight.
And in today’s Gospel there are many many signs, in every sentence in fact - that point to something else that signifies who and what Jesus is. There is a lot going on in this passage and perhaps it’s sometimes good to look at the bigger picture.
The biggest signs are the two miracles that occur, the feeding of the 5000 and walking on water – and what is a miracle but a sign that convinces us of the power and presence of God. But this miracles is not revealed for power alone, but for grace-filled pastoral care.
We see Jesus here feeding the people himself, and yes being a disciple means we are called to do the same, but first Jesus embodies himself what that should look like. Just as he is first baptized so we too are called to be baptized.
At his baptism the Holy Spirit came down upon him. This Spirit was the very presence of God. This was the same Spirit that was present in creation, when God created the world. Then, that same Spirit that was present in the creation story, came on the prophets of the Old Testament. The prophets were filled with God’s Spirit and they spoke with confidence and power. Then, that same Spirit came on King David and who knew that God’s Spirit was in him to help him to rule with wisdom. Then, that same Spirit came on Jesus at his baptism, this powerful Spirit of God.
In our baptism, the same Spirit lives in our hearts and in the hearts of the Christians around us. We too are filled with the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit found in the creation, the same spirit found in the prophets, the same Spirit who filled Jesus is the same Spirit who fills us – and will now fill Ziya.
And this is not an abstract nice idea - this same Holy Spirit who gave Jesus the power to walk on water and feed the 5000 gives you and me power to meet our daily challenges. Perhaps like the disciples in our reading we can quickly find ourselves in a spiritual lull after a spiritual high, Jesus, though, does not abandon us. Instead, he joins us on the boat and reveals himself to us, providing a way forward to face the challenges in ways that we cannot explain.
To face the challenges within your family, to face the challenges with your kids who may be driving you to pull your hair out. To face the challenges with your own aging and with your own death or that of a loved one. To face the challenges when sometimes all we can see is war and violence.
As Saint Paul prays for the community of Christians in our first reading, lets us pray the same for ourselves and for Ziya, ‘that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.’
Amen.