Lifestyle

Fresh Encounters with Jesus, Part 7 John 6:1-40

Pastor Tom Marcum, March 11, 2007

Several years ago I got to do something that made me the envy of all my golfing buddies—I walked with Jack Nicklaus as he played a round of golf. It was an amazing experience. As he prepared to hit each shot Jack would explain to my friend and me how he was going to hit the ball, the flight trajectory the ball would follow, where it was going to land and how the ball would roll when it landed. And, over and over again, the ball did exactly what he said it was going to do. I was in awe. And what struck me most profoundly was the fact that you could have put the same golf clubs into my hands, turned me loose on the same golf course with the same golf balls and the result would have born no resemblance whatsoever to what I was witnessing. Because the key to the result, of course, was not the golf club…it was the one holding the golf club. It’s a lesson that we’ve all learned many times over.

Put a pencil and a drawing pad in my hands and the result is stick figures. Put a pencil and a drawing pad in the hands of a Picasso or an Andrew Wyeth and the result is a work of art. The difference is not in the pencil and the pad. The difference is in the hands of the one holding the pencil and the pad.

Put $10,000 in the hands of most Americans and a year later it will be gone. Put $10,000 in Donald Trump’s hands and a year later he owns another building. The difference is not in the money. The difference is the hands of the one holding the money. Again, it’s a lesson that we see played out before us all the time.

This morning, as we continue our journey through the Gospel of John focusing on the ways that Jesus engaged the wide array of people that he encountered, we watch what happened when a little boy placed his meager lunch into the hands of Jesus. The story, which must be very important because it is the only one of Jesus’ miracles recorded in all four of the gospels—is found in John’s gospel in chapter 6. Beginning at verse 1 we read:

Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberius), (2) and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. (3) Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. (4) The Jewish Passover Feast was near.

So, as the scene opens Jesus has led his disciples to a hillside across the Sea of Galilee for a time of rest and relaxation following a hectic schedule of ministering to all kinds of people who had presented Jesus with all kinds of needs. But because so many people have either seen or heard of the miraculous healings that Jesus has recently been doing, the anticipated restful getaway never materializes because they’ve been followed by, “a great crowd of people.” In fact, verse 10 tells us that there were some 5,000 men in the crowd. Add the women and children who likely accompanied them and you can see that this was truly a huge crowd of people.

As we pick the story up again in verse 5 it starts to get very interesting.

(5) When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” (6) He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. (7) Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

So, Jesus and his disciples are sitting on this hillside looking out at a huge and growing crowd and Jesus suddenly turns to Philip and asks, “So, Philip, how are we going to feed all of these people?”

Put yourself in Philip’s shoes. What would you have said? We have the luxury of imagining that we would have come up with something wise and insightful. Philip didn’t have that luxury. He actually had to answer Jesus’ question in the moment. And what he said was, “How are we going to feed them? So, this is our problem, now? This is my problem, now? We can’t possibly afford to feed all of these people! We could pool all of our money and still not have enough to give everyone even a single bite!”

And Philip was right. Jesus and his disciples together did not have enough money to buy food for 5,000 plus people. Philip was absolutely right. So, the obvious question is: How come Philip knew that, but Jesus didn’t? In fact, here’s an even more obvious question—why was Jesus asking for Philip’s ideas in the first place? Was Jesus stumped? Was he unprepared and out of ideas? Obviously not. In fact, John tells us here that even though Jesus asked for Philip’s opinion, he already knew exactly what he was going to do.

So, what was the point of Jesus’ question? John tells us—it was a, “test.” The disciples were in the process of being schooled by Jesus, the Master Teacher. It was a test designed to lead Philip and the rest of the disciples to a new place of understanding about who they were, who Jesus was and how God accomplishes His purposes in and through them.

And the first lesson was a lesson in humility. If they were going to be of any use whatsoever to God, they had to recognize that on their own they were utterly powerless to accomplish God’s purposes. They had to abandon once and for all the foolish notion that God’s purposes can somehow be accomplished through our hard work and resources without God’s involvement. The truth is that God’s purposes are always so far beyond our means that trying to accomplish them in our own power and with our own resources is always going to be like trying to feed 5,000 people with our pocket change. It never works. That’s the first lesson that we need to see here.

As we read on, we’ll discover other lessons. Beginning in verse 8 we read:

(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?”

Recognizing that they don’t have enough money to buy food for the crowd, the disciples start brainstorming other possibilities. Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us that some of the disciples suggested that Jesus should just send everybody away. Just tell the people to go home and the problem goes away. The disciples were apparently the first ones to recognize what every pastor since them has known to be true, namely, that ministry would be a whole lot easier if you could just get rid of the people. Not surprisingly, Jesus squashed that idea.

So, Andrew is the next to speak up saying, “Well, there is a boy over here who packed a lunch.” But then he quickly shoots down his own idea saying, “But a lot of good that’s going to do with all of these people.”

But Jesus immediately seizes the tiny opening that he’s been offered and beginning in verse 10 we read:

(10) Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. (11) Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
(12) When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” (13) So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

The miracle itself is very straightforward. Jesus simply took the five little loaves of bread and the two small fish, offered a prayer of thanks and told the disciples to start passing out the food. And they did. They passed it out. And they kept passing it out. And they kept passing it out. And, somehow—we’re not given any details—but, somehow the food just kept coming until everyone had eaten all they could eat. In fact, there was even enough for leftovers. Which, by the way, is proof positive that I wasn’t there.

We noted, a couple of weeks ago, that Jesus’ miracles always had meaning beyond the miracles themselves. The miracles were also signs that pointed to a greater meaning beyond the actual miracle. And we noted a few minutes ago, that Jesus is using this occasion to lead the disciples to a new place of understanding about who they were, who Jesus was and how God accomplishes His purposes in and through them. And, folks, through God’s word and the Holy Spirit, He’s also teaching these lessons to us, today.

--We learned earlier that the first lesson, here, is a lesson in humility. Namely, that if we are going to be of any usefulness to God we have to recognize that God’s purposes cannot be accomplished through our own power and with our own resources.

--The second lesson, here, is a lesson in sufficiency. Namely, that God is completely sufficient to accomplish all of His purposes. Not some of His purposes, but all of His purposes. Situations that look completely unfixable to us are completely fixable when they’re placed into Jesus’ hands.

Feed 5,000 people with a single lunch box? We’d say, “No way.” Put that same lunch box in Jesus’ hands and He says, “No problem.” God is completely sufficient to accomplish all of His purposes.

Dawn Maloney is a precious member of our church family and God has been leading her on a journey over the last many, many months now that has taken her from blessing to blessing to blessing. As a consequence, her life, today, is radically different from what it was not too awfully long ago. And God’s clearly not done with her yet.

Recently, Dawn has had a significant financial burden hanging over her head. It’s been a source of great concern for her. She called me this past Monday and simply could not contain her joy. She told me that, God, in a completely unexpected way had just completely provided everything she needed to cover her financial need. And then she said, “Pastor Tom, God takes care of the whole world. I can’t believe I ever doubted that He could take care of me.”

Folks, our God is completely sufficient to accomplish all of His purposes. He doesn’t forget His children. But sometimes His children forget Him. Sometimes we get confused about the nature of our relationship with Him. But He never forgets us and He’s completely sufficient to accomplish all of His purposes.

And that leads us to the third lesson, here. It’s a lesson in dependency. Folks, if we want to be useful to God in the work that He is doing in us and among us and through us the most important thing that we can bring to the process is complete and utter dependency upon Him. “Lord, I gladly offer everything I have to your service, but I also realize that everything I have is not enough. This work that You long to do in me and with me and through me, is far beyond the limits of my resources. So, Lord, I offer you what I have but I’m trusting and depending upon You to accomplish this work. I’m trusting and depending upon You to do what only You can do. Because Lord I realize that without You, I can do nothing.”

So, let me ask, folks, is there a need in your life…right now…that has revealed to you the complete inadequacy of your own resources? Something that you believe is consistent with the will and purposes of God that is beyond your ability to fix; beyond your ability to accomplish? What are the loaves and fishes in your life that need to be placed into the hands of Jesus?

--Is it a child that’s breaking your heart as you watch them wandering far from the Lord? You’ve done everything you know to do, but it just hasn’t been enough. Maybe it’s time to put your child into Jesus’ hands, stop depending on your own resources and start depending on the Lord.

--Maybe the loaves and fishes that you’ve brought with you this morning is not a wandering child, but a wavering marriage. You’ve done everything you know to do, but it just hasn’t been enough. Maybe it’s time to put your marriage into Jesus’ hands, stop depending on your own resources and start depending on the Lord.

--Maybe the loaves and fishes that you’ve brought with you this morning is a laundry list of old wounds; a catalogue of people who’ve hurt you or let you down in some way. You’ve done everything you know to do to get past all the hurt and move on with your life, but it just hasn’t been enough. Maybe it’s time to put all of those hurts and grievances into Jesus’ hands, stop depending on your own resources and start depending on the Lord.

--Maybe the loaves and fishes that you’ve brought with you today is some step of obedience that God is calling you to take—to serve Him in some ministry; to be faithful in bringing your tithes and offerings; to forgive someone or ask forgiveness from someone else—God has told you to step out in obedience in some way but you just haven’t been able to do it. Maybe it’s time to stop depending on your own resources and start depending on the Lord.

Folks, He takes care of the whole world. We can trust Him to take care of us. What do you need to place into the hands of Jesus, today? Will you do it? Will you do it now?