From Rev’d Caroline Symcox – 01285 712467 – carolinesymcox@googlemail.com
Readings for Sunday: Isaiah 55.1-5; Romans 9.1-5; Matthew 14.13-21
To hear the Gospel reading and Caroline’s sermon click on the arrow below
The following is taken from the Parish Newsletter for Sunday 2nd August 2026
“You get what you pay for.”
It’s an aphorism that we’ve all heard a million times in our lives. The concept is simple – there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Everything costs something, and the more you are willing (or able) to pay, the better the end result.
The thing is, our story from Matthew’s Gospel this Sunday tells us the exact opposite. No such thing as a free lunch? Well here is dinner served for five thousand people, without a penny to be paid. All these people, gathered to listen to Jesus in the wilderness, and Jesus’ compassion and power makes sure that they don’t go hungry. The difference, of course, is that this is a glimpse, and a taste in every sense of that word, of God’s Kingdom. This is what he has designed and wants for his people – the absolute quintessential free lunch. A world in which compassion is the greatest power, unlimited even by physical constraints. Only have five loaves and two fishes to share among multiple thousands? Not a problem for God’s power!
Our problem is that we have cynicism and distrust hard-wired into the way we interact with the world. “You get what you pay for” rings through our thought processes, and we find ourselves doubting the good that is freely available right in front of us. I think Isaiah has real confusion and sadness in his words in that rhetorical question that kicks off our reading from his book – “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy?” There is nourishment, strength, endless resource for you, freely offered, if you would just accept it – “Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price!”
‘Is this free lunch too good to be true?’ we might ask ourselves. ‘Who can afford to give things away for free without getting anything back?’ The answer, of course, is right in front of us. God, our Creator God, who made the universe out of nothing, who gives us all things, isn’t interested in his Return on Investment. He is interested in his children, the Creation he made and loves, whose love is pure abundance, giving more than we could expect or deserve. This is what the grace of God in Jesus looks like. A free gift, poured out into our hesitant hands.
This week, may we recognise and receive the over-abundant love of God into our lives, and may we seek and live the values of the Kingdom – compassion and care above advantage and profit – in our world here and now.
Rev’d Caroline Symcox
Updated 4th August 2026