Praise God for His provision
Too many people in our congregations are simply surviving, straining to get by, making it but not quite making it. Life is requiring all they have to give it and a little bit more. They need a little more time, a little more energy, a little more money. For many, the alarm makes its annoying sound each morning before the sleep is done. The frenzy of another day starts, and there is an avalanche of things to be done. Breakfast is rushed through, more work than can be done is waiting and it cannot get it done because people are coming by and the phone is ringing. The day is filled with meetings and even lunch is a meeting. There are kids to be picked up from school and taken to practice or lessons or games. People get
to their house exhausted and it should be a haven of rest, but even one’s home has demands. There is housework and yard work, meals to prepare and then it is time to pay the bills and once again a person realizes there is too much month left at the end of the money. The operative word is "lack". A lack time to do all one needs to do. A lack the energy to do the work easily. A lack the money to pay all one needs to pay. How great it would be to have a little more time for one’s schedule, a little more energy to do things, and a little more money to spend. It is to this end the scripture tells us how to have more than we need."
Why is life so hectic? What causes us to seem to have less than we need? Well, the truth is found in this phrase “Jesus is More than Enough!”
And so we proclaim that Jesus is more than enough. Just as there was more than enough food to feed the multitude, so there is more than enough help from Jesus in any situation we give to him and ask for assistance.
And that is a message to share with the world. Jesus is more than enough. For the poor person with no money to pay bills. Jesus is more than enough, For the person sick with a devastating disease, Jesus is more than enough. For the young. Unwed mother, Jesus is more than enough. For the young wife facing divorce, Jesus is more than enough. For whatever your problem, have no fear, for Jesus is more than enough! Jesus is the answer for the world today. He is the answer for you, and your family and friends, for your church and your community, He is the answer for this presbytery! Never Forget that “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” Praise God! Jesus is more than enough! Amen. Amen.
.
Too many people in our congregations are simply surviving, straining to get by, making it but not quite making it. Life is requiring all they have to give it and a little bit more. They need a little more time, a little more energy, a little more money. For many, the alarm makes its annoying sound each morning before the sleep is done. The frenzy of another day starts, and there is an avalanche of things to be done. Breakfast is rushed through, more work than can be done is waiting and it cannot get it done because people are coming by and the phone is ringing. The day is filled with meetings and even lunch is a meeting. There are kids to be picked up from school and taken to practice or lessons or games. People get
to their house exhausted and it should be a haven of rest, but even one’s home has demands. There is housework and yard work, meals to prepare and then it is time to pay the bills and once again a person realizes there is too much month left at the end of the money. The operative word is "lack". A lack time to do all one needs to do. A lack the energy to do the work easily. A lack the money to pay all one needs to pay. How great it would be to have a little more time for one’s schedule, a little more energy to do things, and a little more money to spend. It is to this end the scripture tells us how to have more than we need."
Why is life so hectic? What causes us to seem to have less than we need? Well, the truth is found in this phrase “Jesus is More than Enough!”
In our
gospel reading today, Jesus extended mercy to the many. He did it then and He continues to do so now.
Regardless of what state or situation you may find yourself in today, Jesus is
able and willing to extend mercy to you if you will receive it. You can bring
your troubles to Him and you will find sympathy, compassion, and a love so
strong that it will not let you stay in the sin which brings turmoil to our
lives.
Jesus had mercy for the many people
gathered there, and that mercy resulted in His ministry to the multitudes.
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and
reported to him all they had done and taught.
31 Then, because so many people were coming and
going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with
me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to
a solitary place.
33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them
and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.
34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he
had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he
began teaching them many things.
35 By this time it was late in the day, so his
disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already
very late.
36 Send the people away so that they can go to
the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
37 But he answered, “You give them something to
eat.”They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages ! Are we
to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”
38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go
and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
In the Book of John we
see that a boy had brought the laves an fish. (8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke
up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish,
but how far will they go among so many?)
39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the
people sit down in groups on the green grass.
40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and
fifties.
41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and
looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to
his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among
them all.
42 They all ate and were satisfied,
43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls
of broken pieces of bread and fish.
44 The number of the men who had eaten was five
thousand.
We would all agree that it is not enough
to just have a feeling of compassion for someone. That compassion must result
in some kind of action if it is to do any good. This is stated very clearly in James 2:15, 16, “If a brother or sister is
without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in
peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet do not give them what is necessary for
their body, what use is that?” It is worthless.
Jesus had
compassion and He did the work that was in keeping with His compassion. He
healed the sick. The word sick here refers specifically to those who are “weak,
without strength.” These people had to have made a special effort to travel
around the northern end of the Sea of Galilee to follow Jesus. Many of them no
doubt would have had to have been helped by their friends or relatives. Jesus
had compassion on them and healed them.
It is
both interesting and significant to note that all of Jesus’ miracles were
related in some way with a demonstration of His compassion toward men. If Jesus
had wanted to demonstrate His power He could have started moving mountains
around, but that would not have demonstrated His love for humanity. Instead,
most of His miracles were directly to individual people such as physical
healings, casting out demons, forgiving their sins, and even those that were
not, such as calming the storm, and
feeding the people, were done in response to the cry for help by those
threatened by the calamity upon them.
And so we have the MIRACLE OF MULTIPLICATION: Verses 15-21,
“And when
it was evening, the disciples came to Him, saying, ‘The place is desolate, and
the time is already past; so send the multitudes away, that they may go into
the villages and buy food for themselves.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘They do not
need to go away; you give them something to eat!’ And they said to Him, ‘We
have here only five loaves and two fish.’ And He said, ‘Bring them here to Me.’
And ordering the multitudes to recline on the grass, He took the five loaves
and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking
the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave to the
multitudes, and they all ate, and were satisfied. And they picked up what was
left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. And there were about five
thousand men who ate, aside from women and children.”
There are
several things to note. The first is the size of the crowd. It was 5,000 men,
not counting women and children. The number of people could have easily been
two to three times that amount: 10-15,000.
Next, note what Jesus had to work with.
Our text says five loaves and two fish. John 6 gives more detail saying that the food
came from a lad that Andrew had found with “five barley loaves and two
fish.” The barley loaves were not large, and the two fish were most
likely the small Tilapia, now called “St. Peter’s fish,” which is the size of a
lake perch. All that was available was this boy’s lunch, and Jesus was going to
feed a lot of hungry people with it.
Why does Jesus do this miracle? John 6 gives us some additional insight into
the reason. In verse 15, we find that the disciples have come to Jesus asking
Him to send the people away to find food for themselves. This place was
desolate with no large villages or cities nearby to get food easily, and the “time was already passed” (verse 15) for when most
people would have eaten, so they want Jesus to send them away to get something
to eat before it gets any later.”
John 6:5 tells us that earlier in the day Jesus
had pointed out to Philip the size of the crowd and the problem of feeding
them. Now Philip and Andrew as well had probably been working on that problem
for awhile, because when Jesus told the disciples to feed the crowds Philip had
already calculated out how much it would cost to feed them, and “two hundred denarii worth of bread” would not be “sufficient for them for everyone to receive a little.” If
all the wages a man had earned over the course of 200 days of labor – fully 2/3
of the working year – were used to buy bread, it would not be enough to even
give each person a little bit. Andrew had already assessed what resources were
available on hand and found only the boy with the five barley rolls and two
small fish. It was no wonder they were surprised at Jesus’ command to them feed
the multitudes saying, “you give them to eat.” They
saw that task as impossible.
But that
is a major lesson that Jesus was teaching the disciples. Remember that Jesus
and the disciples had set out originally to spend some time alone.
The task
that Jesus charged his disciples with was impossible for them, but that was
just the point being made. They would be sent out to do what was impossible by
every reasonable means of human endeavor. But Jesus can do what is humanly
impossible and the disciples were to look to Him just as we are today.
Often we
find that we are charged by God with responsibilities that seem impossible. The
task is impossible for us alone, but we must be faithful to the task and rely
on God to provide what we cannot.
The same
is true in living for Christ. I cannot live and witness for Him in my own
power. I cannot fight sin in my own power. That is impossible for me to do and
at times I feel that so strongly my emotions seem to be crying out that I must
sin in order to find relief from the sheer tension of it all. We must rely on
the promises of God that are beyond my own power and simply seek to be faithful
relying on Him to do the rest.
Remember that God will provide
a way. God will make a way Where
there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
He will be my
guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way, He will make a way
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way, He will make a way
Our part is to be faithful to His commands and
then see how He delivers. Your future is in God’s hands and God will put you
where He wants you. God will provide for those who seek His kingdom and His
righteousness first. God can sustain you.
Say “yes”
to a righteous response even when others make fun of you for doing so. You are
living with eternity in mind. Say “yes” to proclaim the Word of God even when
others may hate you for it. We are more concerned about pleasing God than
pleasing men. Say “yes” to serve others even when it requires sacrifice on your
part. Our purpose for living is to serve God and others for Him, not ourselves.
God will provide for us when our priority is to serve Him and strive to be
holy.
The
apostles were just like us. All they could see in front of them was an
impossible task even though the one who could do the impossible was right there
with them. It is not recorded that they asked Jesus for help. All they said was
that they could not do it. They did not have enough, so why try? They were
defeated before they started.
Have you
ever felt that way? The task was beyond you so why even try? Remember that God
does not require success from us, only faithfulness in following His commands.
It is God Himself that works out the end result. Jesus told them to give to the
multitudes to eat.
The
apostles, and we, are not to be mindless servants of God who act without
thinking, but we are to have the faith of a child that fully expects his father
to provide. It is not a matter of our understanding why He wants us to do
something, but a matter of trusting Him that it is best for us and that we will
be able to do it and/or He will be there to help us.
Jesus was
there and He did help even if they did not specifically ask for it. He tells
the people to sit down in organized groups of 50 and 100. That must have been
quite a site as they sat there in multicolored splashes of color against the
backdrop of the lush green grass that grows there in the early spring and the beautiful
blue sky above. Then Jesus took the bread and the fish and blessed the food,
giving praise to God for what was provided. Then Jesus broke the bread and
divided it among the disciples to distribute to the multitudes. Nothing in the
text specifically indicates when the bread and fish multiplied or how it did
so. There was no fanfare, there was no majestic public display, but quietly,
and perhaps imperceptibly the food multiplied with the magnitude of the miracle
being attested to only by the many people who ate and were satisfied and the
twelve baskets of leftovers.
My thought is that the miracle occurred
much as those in the Old Testament did. The widow woman of Zarephath whose jar
of flour and jar of oil never ran out, though there was little in them and she
used them for a whole year (1 Kings 17:10). Or the case of the multiplied oil of
the prophets’ widow when Elisha had her continue to pour oil from one container
and fill up a room full of vessels. The oil multiplied even as she poured it
out. I believe the same occurred here with the food multiplying in the baskets
even as it was being distributed.
Jesus
performed a miracle of multiplication of food. Five small loaves of barley
bread and two small fish multiplied to feed and satisfy well over 5,000 people
and the fragments that were leftover amounted to more food than when they had
started.
But what
does all this mean to us? The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 is obviously
a very important miracle since it is the only one repeated in all four gospel
accounts.
Jesus’
demonstration of compassion is a model for us. Life is not about our
convenience, but about serving the Lord. Ministering to others is not always
convenient, yet, as we see people through God’s love, we reach out
self-sacrificially to meet their needs.
We also
find that truly ministering to someone necessarily involves telling them about
God. We should help meet the physical needs of others, but our real purpose is
to reach out and meet their spiritual need. Another lesson here is that we need
not question the wisdom of God asking us to obey Him. It is enough for us to
know of His love for us and that He will enable us to do whatever He asks. And
we must remember that God is not limited as a human. What is impossible for us
is the possible for Him.
God wants us to know that Jesus is more than enough…that
Jesus supercedes our inability with his supernatural capability that he wants
to put on the inside of us…notice notice notice…that Jesus did not say…okay
disciples I take care of this…this is too much for you…no, no, no, Jesus said
you feed them…you give them something to eat…..what Jesus was saying..is that
you make the effort to minister unto to them and I will bless your effort…I
will multiply your effort…I will strengthen your effort…I will make your effort
to minister become successful. We cannot any longer my friends shrink back from
the great mountains of tasks that are before us we are going to literally have
to start taking our little bit and giving it to Jesus and when we do so, Jesus
will take our little bit and make it into much. Jesus works beyond our ability.
Jesus is the master of assigning things to us that we cannot do because Jesus
wants us to learn that he has come to do the work through us. Jesus wants us to
learn how to lean on him. Jesus wants us to learn how to trust in him. Jesus
wants us to learn how to rely on him. Jesus wants us to learn that he wants to
glorify himself through us. And Jesus assigns us a task that only he can do
through us not something that we can jump up and do and say I did this
myself….let me tell you Jesus wants you and I to be involved in ministry that
is beyond our limitations because it’s not about our limitations…it’s about
Jesus unlimited, unlimited, unmeasured, beyond comprehensive ability to move in
our lives personally, in our families and in the church. Jesus is more than
enough.
And so we proclaim that Jesus is more than enough. Just as there was more than enough food to feed the multitude, so there is more than enough help from Jesus in any situation we give to him and ask for assistance.
And that is a message to share with the world. Jesus is more than enough. For the poor person with no money to pay bills. Jesus is more than enough, For the person sick with a devastating disease, Jesus is more than enough. For the young. Unwed mother, Jesus is more than enough. For the young wife facing divorce, Jesus is more than enough. For whatever your problem, have no fear, for Jesus is more than enough! Jesus is the answer for the world today. He is the answer for you, and your family and friends, for your church and your community, He is the answer for this presbytery! Never Forget that “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” Praise God! Jesus is more than enough! Amen. Amen.
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