Have you ever known hunger, real hunger when your stomach was beyond growling and you weren’t sure where your next meal would come from? You might have had a hint of that feeling during a self-imposed time of fasting or dieting but we always know it is possible to reach for an apple or a slice of bread if we truly needed it.

Last Sunday, as I was about to leave the building at around 1:00 o’clock, a couple was coming toward the narthex door. They looked as if they were in their late twenties or early thirties, the woman hung back a little, hesitant or somewhat shy. I asked if I could help them and the young man looked directly at me responding, "Is this the place that serves a meal today?" I was glad that I could direct them to Congregation Kol Shofar up Blackfield Drive where mid-day meals are served every Sunday. I invited them to come back to Westminster on Thursday. Then, this week I did see them here as people gathered for the noon meal. People come early, chatting in the narthex if it is raining or out in the Frost Garden on a sunny day. They come from the Gate Five area of Sausalito or from downtown Mill Valley, by a van that offers rides to the meal and others by car or bike or on foot. Women and men, some out-going and friendly, some quiet and reserved, looking worried and unsure. During vacation weeks, there are often children among the group. Usually, there are twenty or thirty but at least once in January, the Hot Meal team served forty people. Thanks to your contributions, there was just enough food. The guests are always very grateful and repeatedly thank the team members. Usually there is enough to provide a small pack of food to take away for those who ask. The Southern Marin Task Force, of which Westminster is a key player, offers a hot meal on Tuesdays at Mt. Carmel Catholic Church in Mill Valley, on Fridays at the Baptist Church in Sausalito and on Saturdays at the Miller Avenue Church in Mill Valley. At least ten congregations provide the food that is served.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus tells a story of the last days when the Son of Humanity comes. In his story, the King says, "Come, you who are blessed and take as your heritage the kingdom prepared for you, for I was hungry and you gave me food." The people asked, "When did we see you hungry and feed you?" and the King answered, "In as much as you did this to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me."

When did we see you hungry?

The economic situation has hit people hard even in Marin County. We know the statistics of wealth, the price of homes and the average income in Marin and yet, there is a growing number of hungry people. Recent studies say 6,000 in Marin have experienced hunger several times in the past year. The Marin Food Bank usually gives out about 3500 holiday boxes of food near year-end but this year had requests for 500 more, for 4,000. At the Ritter House in San Rafael, one of the Food Bank’s distribution locations, 1,000 households each month are able to get a three-day supply of food. Of those who use that food, one/third are children, two-thirds are adults who have housing, are not homeless, and two-thirds are working, they have some employment, but not enough to cover their household needs.

When did we see you hungry?

Hunger is a Biblical issue, a reality and serious concern in Biblical times as it is now. God as repeatedly experienced in the Hebrew Scriptures and in Jesus’ ministry and in the early church is compassionate and concerned about sufficient food for all people. God provided manna in the desert and called for us to "not be tight-fisted but open our hand to the poor and needy." In our Gospel story today, the frustrated disciples wanted to send the hungry 5,000 men and their wives and children out to buy food for themselves in the villages nearby. Instead, Jesus commanded them, "YOU give them something to eat." They snapped back at him, "Do you expect us to buy bread for all? That would cost two-thirds of a year’s wages to buy that much bread." Then, with the five loaves of bread and two fish that the disciples had among them and the direction that all the people should sit in smaller groups, with a prayer and a blessing, for some reason they all ate and were filled and there were twelve baskets of food remaining. Was it magic or a miracle of organization and compassion, or did Jesus help the people in some way amongst themselves to produce the food that they needed?

When did we see you hungry?

In our world today, there is enough, we are assured by those in the know. We have the experience and the technology right now to end the problem of world hunger. The challenge we face is not production but of more equitable distribution. Political changes can make it happen. Currently the situation looks something like this. Those in the high-income countries like the United States or Japan are represented by about 17% of you or one person in six. Of this loaf of bread, you will receive 80% of it on this beautiful china plate though many of you are already full. The middle-income countries like Albania or Guyana include about 25% of you or one in four and you receive 17% of the loaf of bread to share among you. The rest of you, about 58%, more than half, get 2% of the bread and no plate to put it on. Your countries include Haiti, Bangladesh and Mozambique. For you in the low-income group, how do you feel about the people in the other groups? For the wealthy nations, how does it feel to have so much food, especially when you r neighboring countries do not?

When did we see you hungry?

The good news is that the situation is improving. Even as the world’s population increases, the proportion of people in developing countries going hungry is falling from more than one in three in the early 1970s to one in five in the early 1990s. With some support from the UN, the president of Brazil started an ambitious effort called the Zero Hunger Project and has begun to see successes already, helping people grow food to eat and to sell.

The problem can seem overwhelming at times but God calls us to participate in the solutions and there really are many ways to do that, with people here at Westminster already involved. I invite you to stand and remain standing when I describe a way that you have helped to fight hunger in the past year. There are almost 200 people who prepare 1400 meals for the Thursday lunch here and monthly for the Mill Street Shelter and monthly and on special holidays for the Voyager-Carmel Shelter. If you are one of these people, would you please stand? There is a big Food Barrel always in the narthex where you can leave canned or boxed food for the Food Bank, especially on Communion Sunday. If you contribute in this way or in other ways to the Food Bank, please stand. If you contribute to the Deacons or participate in the Deacons holiday food baskets for families, please stand. The 2-cents-a-meal project is a way to contribute each time we sit down to eat and the money is used to fight hunger. If that is your practice, please stand. At the Christmas Fair, the Worship Commission sponsored the Heifer Project that helps people grow animals for food and sale to fight hunger. If you helped with that booth or purchased or received a Heifer Project gift, please stand. If you collected donations and walked in the CROP WALK, please stand. Westminster has joined the Bread for the World organization that works to change legislation to attack the problem from the political side. If you have ever written a letter to influence public policy, please stand. There are ways that we can modify our own life-style to live with integrity to foster equitable sharing of God’s gifts of creation, limit what we take and work toward sustainable lifestyles in our work and personal life. If you have given that serious thought and made adjustments in that way, please stand. If you have made financial contributions to this church or to other organizations that you know participate in some way to fight hunger, please stand. If you have been involved in any other way to help end hunger, please stand.

Like the little child in the Gospel according to John who brought his bread and fish forward, you offer yourselves and what you can bring to help solve the problem of hunger. You know the answer to the question, "When did we see you?" As we move toward the Lenten Season, I encourage you to remember the wide varieties of ways that we can be involved in this important effort that all God’s children and adults will have the nourishment they need, each and every day.

Let us pray:
Dear God, to those who have hunger give bread; to those who have bread, give hunger for justice. Amen.