Gather the Fragments: The Fourth Sunday in Lent (March 30, 2025)

When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be alway acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer. Amen.

Waste is a terrible thing. Waste is bad stewardship of what God has given us. We know this intuitively and so we take the extra steps to prevent it: budgets eliminate wasteful spending; meal planning eliminates food waste; a to do list or schedule can keep us from wasting time. If we take such care to avoid wasting food, money, or time, how much more should we not let the spiritual gifts that God gives us be wasted? Have you ever looked back on a season of your life and thought, “I wish I could’ve made more of that time?” We all have. Today’s Gospel reading from John 6 teaches us not to waste what God sends us, but that we should take special care to guard them. Today’s Gospel is familiar: the feeding of the 5,000. But within it is a command from Jesus that we often overlook: “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” In John’s Gospel, there is no institution of the Lord’s Supper; many readers of the Fourth Gospel speculate that John 6 is this institution. The crowds follow Jesus around the sea of Galilee and are without food. Jesus asks Philip where they’re going to get enough food and Philip remarks that it even two hundred pennyworth—about 8 months’ wages—wouldn’t have been enough to feed the massive crowd. St. Andrew brings forward a lunch packed by a boy consisting of only five barley loaves and two small fishes, but this is just a drop in the bucket. And yet Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks, Eucharistic actions, and he distributed the bread and fish to the disciples who were able to serve everyone so that each had their fill. After everyone was done eating,Jesus tells the Twelve to gather up the leftovers—and they fill twelve baskets. A basket for each Apostle, a sign of fullness, a sign of God’s abundant provision. This detail is curious: Why does Jesus want them to gather up the leftovers? First , we can say Jesus wants them to gather up the leftovers as evidence of the miracle. The degree to which the onlookers would have recognized this as a miracle in the moment is unknown, but it could be that this gathering would have provided some evidence for the miraculous. A second reason for this gathering up is to show a contrast between Jesus and Moses. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were given manna from heaven to sustain them during their wilderness wanderings. But they were given special instructions to only gather enough for that particular day: anything leftover would spoil. This new bread, the bread that Jesus brings, doesn’t spoil which shows us that Jesus takes us on a better exodus, a spiritual one that results in eternal life. So “Don’t let the fragments get lost” is a reminder for us to keep the works of God in our mind so that nothing goes to waste because everything should point us to God.

The whole situation surrounding the feeding narrative is designed to reveal who Jesus is. Just like the Israelites weren’t sure where their food was going to come from in the wilderness, the disciples aren’t sure how this huge crowd would be fed. The fact that all they can scrounge up is that little lunch of five loaves and two fishes makes it feel even more desperate because such a small amount reveals how huge their lack is. And yet, in God’s economy, even the little things have significance: a small mustard seed grows into a great tree. That’s why wasting the spiritual gifts God gives us is bad: nothing is insignificant: the one sheep the shepherd leaves the 99 for matters; the widow’s mite is the most valuable offering.

We can apply this principle to the Church. The Church is scattered throughout the world by distance, cultural difference, language, unhappy divisions; and yet, we are still one Body, gathered together by Christ who will let none of those fragments go to waste. Further, God has distributed gifts to his Church through the Holy Spirit as he sees fit and none of them are insignificant; each gift is essential to our common life. None of those fragments will go to waste. “Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Your kingdom; for Yours is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever.”

But this doesn’t just apply to the Church corporately: we should gather up the fragments in our own lives. Nothing is wasteful about our personal stories: the twists and turns, the joys and consolations, the trials and desolations. In each of these circumstances, God’s mercies are new every morning. Nothing is wasted: God is closer to us than we are to ourselves and he gives us exactly what we need when we need it. Maybe you’ve walked through a season of confusion, grief, or depression and felt like the best of your life was behind you. But then something small: a conversation, a passage of Scripture, a moment at the altar. A fragment—gathered up and placed in Jesus’ hands. The question is not whether God is working in our lives, but how. When we gather up the crumbs in our lives, we remember God has done for us.

This past week in the Church Kalendar, we observed the feast of St. Dismas. This is the good thief who was crucified next to Our Lord. By most human standards, his life would have been a pile of “fragments”—a life wasted by failure and crime that led to a horrific death at the hands of the Roman government. And yet, at the very end, he turns to Jesus in faith, recognizing that God was suffering with him there on the cross, and he cries out: “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” That’s a fragment Jesus doesn’t lose: “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” St. Dismas had nothing to offer but the final fragments of a broken life. But those fragments weren’t wasted. Nothing is lost when it’s placed in the hands of Jesus.

It’s important that we not let any fragments go to waste. And we should say, gathering the fragments is not nostalgia: nostalgia is a fake, sentimental view of the past that glosses over what was wrong then usually at the expense of the present moment. Gathering up the fragments is different: that’s when we find God in the past, no matter how good or bad the situation was. We may think of an awful time in our lives but somehow, even in those moments, God showed himself to be faithful. So what are some ways we can gather the fragments now? First, we can read Holy Scripture and recollect the saving events found there. We can meditate on how God provided for Israel in the Exodus, how he saved King David, how he dwelt among us in the Incarnation, how he established his Church. Second, we can revisit those Ebenezers in our lives. In 1 Samuel 7:12, the prophet Samuel erects an Ebenezer stone after God intervened for Israel in their fight against the Philistines; the stone was supposed to be a perpetual reminder of God’s victory. We can each think of those moments in our lives when God has worked for us, when he has been faithful to us; revisit those moments and celebrate what God has done for you in your Baptism, Confirmation, Confession, and Holy Communion; how he has provided for you; how he has pulled you through what seemed impossible. Finally, if you want to collect the fragments, don’t quit. We find ourselves in the middle of Lent. Maybe you’ve been successful at fasting and mastering your passions; if so, keep going! Maybe you haven’t had a good Lent. Start again. Fast, pray, confess, give. Offer your small loaves and fishes. Let Jesus gather your fragments. He will not let them go to waste. He never has. He never will.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.