Imagine that you are in a big green pasture, and the sun has started to cool off and drop behind the nearby hills. The gras under our feet feels cool and refreshing after a hot day. There’s even a comfortable little breeze from the north northwest.
You have been hanging out with Jesus, watching him heal the blind, the lame, and the possessed. Maybe you were healed too, or maybe you came to be inspired, or maybe you came because you thought it would be cheap entertainment. It has turned out to be more than entertaining.
Then your stomach begins to growl, and you realized that the day is coming to an end and you are hungry. What are your plans?
The disciple’s stomachs must have rumbled too, and they told Jesus, “The day is getting late. It’s time for these folks to go home so they can get something to eat and get cleaned up. Some of them are a little ripe after standing in the sun here all day. We’re going to go pass the word.”
“But wait!” Jesus says, “Don’t send them away. YOU give them something to eat.” What was he thinking? Luke says that there were 5000 men were in the crowd. Add a wife and 2.5 kids per family there could easily be 22,000 in the crowd.
What would you do if you had 22,000 people to feed? Remember, Galilee is just a little out of Lidderdale Caterers service area.
In spite of asking the impossible, Jesus casually says, “you feed them.”
The understatement of the day is on Phillip’s lips in John’s version of the story. “It would take more than 6 months wages to give each one just a little bit.”
Still Jesus says, “No, you feed them.”
Let’s stop right there and think a moment. Have we ever been in that situation? Yes, we have. A young child told to clean their room. It seems impossible. An older student trying to pass a big test or an employee who is told to have a 2-week project ready in 2 days. Impossible. A family trying to pay 10 pounds of bills with only 5 pounds of money. There are some thigs that just seem impossible.
We have it at the church too.
Jesus commands, “preach the good news” but we have to close down 2/3 of our sanctuary?
“Love our neighbor”. But loving the wrong neighbor might literally kill you.
“Feed the hungry and clothe the naked.” Some of our folks have trouble feeding their family or buying school clothes for their own kids this year.
“Teach the children and youth” but can we do it safely?
“Reach out to the community” Have you seen the streets lately? Many people are just not coming out much.
We want our church to flourish and grow. As pastor, I want our church to stay on mission. But how do we help people connect and socially distance at the same time. We might want to throw up our hands and surrender to the events and uncontrollable forces around us. But before we do that, let’s check in with the disciples.
They must have huddled and inventoried the available supplies and came back with a list saying, “We have five loaves and two fish but that’s all.”
Jesus replied, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking all the disciples had, five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled.
Wait, “they ate and were filled?” Really?
If you do the math, if they were 1-pound loaves everyone gets a crumb weighing 4/1000 of an ounce. But This was little the boy’s lunch. Chances are he had small fish, a little bigger than minnows and something more like crescent rolls or hot dog buns. It is impossible to us, but nothing is impossible with God.
When everyone was full, they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.” Do you suppose that was one for each disciple just to show them the abundance of the miracle?
While I love this miracle and it makes a great story, if we only focus Jesus, or on the crowds or the fish or the bread we are missing an important point. “YOU give them something to eat.” Puts the ball squarely on the disciple’s shoulders. Jesus says, don’t send them away. Don’t look for a way out. Don’t hope for someone else to do it. Don’t even wait for tomorrow. Don’t leave it all up to me. “YOU give them something to eat.”
I can hear the disciples because I have said the same thing. “We don’t have enough bread.” Sometimes bread means time, or money; energy, willingness, or ability; faith, love, compassion, or whatever. A lot of the time, if you’re anything like me, you are just downright full of excuses.
Jesus does not want our excuses. But Jesus also did not expect the disciples to feed the whole crowd. He expected them to do SOMETHING. To offer SOMETHING, to give SOMETHING, and they did. It was woefully inadequate, but they did SOMETHING. And Jesus took those sad little crumbs and turned them into a banquet for 20,000 people. In this situation…
The disciples were completely powerless, so are we.
The disciples were completely empty, so are we.
The disciples were unprepared, so are we.
The disciples wanted to solve the problem their way, so do we.
The disciples would have been glad for Jesus to bail them out with no effort on their part, so are we.
The disciples were tired, so are we.
The disciples were out of fresh ideas, so are we.
The disciples had no hope of doing what Jesus asked them to do. Neither do we.
The disciples knew there was not enough to go around, sometimes I am sure of that too.
YET… YET… they gave what they had. They offered their measly 5 loaves and two fish. They were willing to be part of Jesus plan by trusting him to do great things with the little bit they had. Are we? That is the question for the day
What I hear Jesus saying is, “Don’t wait for someone else to do it.” “Don’t pretend you don’t have the time or the skills or the resources to do God’s bidding in the world.” “Don’t pretend you’re not qualified or capable.” “Don’t put it off for another day or time or moment when it might be more convenient for you.” “Don’t even wait for me to do it in your place.” Do SOMETHING and trust me.
Will we? Can I? Are you willing to give whatever you have and trust Jesus to do great things? Are we willing to do SOMETHING?
Rarely is there enough of me to go around, but instead of giving up, I do something and trust Jesus to use what I have.
Sometimes I feel like the little bit I can contribute to a mission project or a disaster isn’t going to make much difference, but instead of not giving I do something trust Jesus to do great things with it.
Sometimes the sermon never gets to where I really want it to be before Sunday morning, but instead of retiring, I do something… I offer it and trust that I have done my best and Jesus will take it from there.
How about you? Not sure you have enough bread? …whether that means time, or money; energy, willingness, or ability; faith, love, compassion, or hope, or focus, or inspiration, or confidence, or anything else… are you willing to give what you do have… and let Jesus do the rest?
The message here is not “God will take care of you,” but … do something… do what you can… and let Jesus do the rest. Just do something
What can you do to see the church survive the pandemic, and not just survive but be stronger than we were before, better than we were before? Just do something. Just say yes. Say yes, I’ll help, Yes, I’ll try, Yes, I’ll be there Yes, I’ll do what I can, Yes, I will DO SOMETHING.
You have cards in your hands. During the song I would like you to write one SOMETHING that you will do for Jesus, for the church, or for your neighbor… one thing. It might not seem like much but offer what you have. Let’s listen to the lyrics of Matthew west’s song.
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