John 6:1-21 page 1

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On Friday we were in Lewes to bury my father-in-law’s ashes, following his death in February. It was an unusual service for me to take – the family had asked me to dress informally. So it was the first time I have officiated in a cemetery wearing a polo shirt, chinos and trainers.

After the ceremony we decamped to his favourite pub for lunch. Over lunch I was sitting with Debbie’s nephews. One of them, sixteen-year-old Ashley, is not enjoying this summer. And it’s not the heat. It’s the wait until 24^th August for his GCSE results. He hopes to go on to A-Levels. He can’t yet think about whether he might get to university. His mother is rather more sure of his abilities than he is. The results of his testing will soon be with him. And with it the next stage of his life.

Likewise, one of the things that scares me as a parent not of teenagers but small children is just how young the testing starts, with SATs kicking in at age seven. Our children are now the political footballs of power-hungry Government ministers. And they will feel like they can never get away from being tested.

Testing, then, is my theme this morning. It is a test for me, John’s account of the feeding of the five thousand falling in this week’s Lectionary after I preached [an old sermon] on Mark’s account last Sunday night!

But seriously, the testing centres on Jesus. He tests the disciples, and the crowd implicitly tests him. As we reflect on this story, I hope we can gain insight for some of the tests and trials we undergo. And I hope we can also pay attention to some of the ways we find ourselves testing Jesus – sometimes unwittingly.

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Copyright © David D Faulkner, 2006 except where other sources are attributed or noted as inspiration.