Luke 9:10-17
Introduction
Pastor Andy Stanley, in his book Deep & Wide, tells
about a time in the life of Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Computer and
former CEO of Pixar, when he experienced a crisis of faith. At 13 years old, he
took the July 12, 1968 edition of Life
magazine, with its cover photo of two children from war-torn Nigeria where over
one million people died from civil war and famine; he took that magazine cover
to the church. There he asked the pastor, “If I raised my finger, will God know
which one I’m going to raise even before I do it?” The pastor answered, “Yes,
God knows everything.” Jobs then pulled out the Life cover and asked, “Well,
does God know about this and what’s going to happen to those children?”
According to his biographer, the answer he received was “less than acceptable”
and he never went back to church.[1]
Steve Jobs looked at real human need and concluded that if
God knew he either didn’t care or was irrelevant. I think God does care. I
think that he put me here, and keeps me here, because he does care. But, if I
took an honest look at my own life and lifestyle, I might conclude that I
either didn’t care or was irrelevant.
How About You?
Do you ever feel that way? We can barely keep up with our
own lives—we are tired. There’s just no gas left in the tank at the end of the
day. Then the phone rings.
How many of you have a friend where there are tough health
issues? How many of you know couples where the marriage is struggling? How many
of you know those who have lost jobs or have jobs on shaky ground? Finance
issues, kid trouble, and secret destructive habits. What you know in your life,
is true multiplied many times over throughout this city.
Is there ever any good news? We are so tired and so much is
going wrong. So much is happening in my life and with those close to me, how
could I ever be able to deal with their issues? We try avoid thinking about it,
we move to El Dorado Hills or to the nice neighborhood, like those high rises
in Makati that turn their back on the slums.
Anyway, what can we do? I am just one man. And that is the
dilemma. Too much is going wrong. We know we should be doing something, but it
is just too much. Any effort we make is like a match in a typhoon wind. Too
big. Too broken.
What does God say?
What Does God Say?
When I read the biography of Jesus found in the Bible, in
the 9th chapter of Luke, there is an incident where Jesus’ followers
found themselves in the same place. Starting in the 10th verse, read
what happened:
10When the apostles returned,
they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they
withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida,
Let’s stop right there for a
moment. Back at the beginning of this chapter, Jesus took his twelve closest
followers and sent them out to duplicate his ministry of teaching the kingdom
of God and healing people in the towns and villages of northern Israel. Now,
these ‘sent ones’ (that’s what apostle really means) are coming back to report
to Jesus.
They are excited. So Jesus puts
together an impromptu leadership retreat so that they can talk about all of the
things that happened. But things didn’t work quite the way they wanted. Let’s
keep reading (verse 11)
11but the crowds learned about it
and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God,
and healed those who needed healing.
Someone leaked the location of
Jesus’ safe house, near Bethsaida. Twitter goes wild and there is soon a flash
mob outside Jesus’ door. By far the largest crowd of Jesus career, experts
estimate over 15,000 people (5,000 men + women and children) are camped on the
north-eastern edge of the Sea of Galilee. He could have said: “I need a little
me time.” But he doesn’t. He is interruptible. Teaching. Helaing. Good News for
this huge group of needy people. And this is a needy crowd. Many of them are
sick and need healing. Many of them want the truth. Many of them want to see
the circus, because their life is boring and meaningless. And one more thing.
Let’s read a little further (verse 12)
12Late in the afternoon the
Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the
surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are
in a remote place here.” <next slide>
13He replied, “You give them
something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two
fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14(About five
thousand men were there.)
Many of them are hungry and they
are far from home. The apostles notice it is getting late and they nervously
start checking their sun dials. “Ok, Jesus, church is over. Many people didn’t
book hotels or make restaurants reservations. Send ‘em home.”
But Jesus was giving his
followers a chance to show him what they’ve learned over the past weeks. Pop
quiz. Here it is: “You give them something to eat.” And the disciples are
thinking, “There goes dinner” because they have only five loaves of bread and
two fish. There is a bit of whine in their voice, “But master…” And they may
have a degree in mathematics, but they can see that 5 divided by 5,000 is
pretty small and 2 divided is even smaller. Great! We’re all going to get an F
on this test.
But for Jesus, the crowd is not
an obstacle, it is an opportunity. He doesn’t turn them back. These
people had hiked out into a “remote place” to listen to Jesus, and his
followers wanted to send them away. And for Jesus, it is not five loaves
and a few fish, it is a feast. He tells the disciples, don’t hold
back.
Here’s what Jesus teaches us: 1)
in the face of people’s overwhelming need, it is not an obstacle, it is an
opportunity. 2) if we want to see what
God has, we must be willing to trust God with what we have. 3) where God moves,
he multiples.
Fear says: there’s nothing left. Faith says:
there’s more coming. This is not a limited blessing universe. Stingy people
convince themselves that God is like them: stingy.
Fortunately, the disciples give
the food to Jesus. Let’s see what happens next, in the 2nd half of
verse 14.
But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit
down in groups of about fifty each.” 15The disciples did so, and
everybody sat down. 16Taking the five loaves and the two fish and
looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. <next slide> Then he
gave them to the disciples to set before the people. 17They all ate
and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken
pieces that were left over.
They gave Jesus the bread and fish. And did they starve? No,
they had more than when they started, and 15,000 people were satisfied. And they got the amazing
privilege of being the ones who served the food. We can feel the electricity of
being the conduits for Jesus’ blessing, or we can watch God work from the
sidelines.
Application
Years later, the Bible shows us that Jesus’ friends learned
this lesson. One day, as described in the 3rd chapter of the book
Acts, a man born crippled was begging near the gate going into the temple.
Peter saw him and said these words, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what
I have I give you.” (Acts 3:6) He said,
“what I have” (not what I don’t have) What do you have? It may not be much, but you have a
surplus of blessing in some area of your life.
- Experience - God has brought you to the other side of something and you are still in one piece. That is a blessing! And it is one that you can share with someone else.
- Dollars - You can make a difference between hunger and not hunger, thirst and no thirst, sheltered and not sheltered. If you have any surplus, be generous rather than grudging.
- Wisdom - Maybe you have thought deeply about something. Share it!
- Time - I was at a funeral this past Saturday where over 30 members of a volunteer organization that my friend had worked with showed up. They had time, and showed great support for the widow and family. Use your extra time and give it away, rather than squander it.
- Forgiveness - Do you have a surplus of forgiveness? Has God or someone else forgiven you freely? Then use that surplus of mercy that you have received and spend it one someone else, taking the sting out of hurtful words and deeds by applying the surplus of grace you have received.
- Joy - Sometimes there are just happy people. And there are grumpy people. And God delights in putting them together, sometimes in the same marriage, for sure in the same family, absolutely in the same church. That surplus of joy is not a private joy, it is meant to be shared. Because we need it.
Here are three chances.
1)
The chance to pray. Someone you will know will
share bad news. Volunteer to pray for it or go with them to pray with someone
else.
2)
The chance to be interrupted. Someone will
interrupt you with an urgent need. Drop what you are doing and help them.
3)
The chance to give what you have. Someone will
share with you an overwhelming need. Give what you have, trusting God to
multiply its impact.
Prepare your heart now. The disciples weren’t prepared. They
asked Jesus to send the needy away. He redirected them, giving them the chance
to show the very mercy of God with five loaves and two fish.
Conclusion
In July 14, 2005, Kyle Macdonald
traded his large red paper clip for a fish-shaped pen. The same day, he traded
the pen for a hand-sculpted doorknob.
Over the next year, Kyle traded his doorknob for a Coleman camp stove
(with fuel), traded the stove for a Honda 1000-watt generator, then traded that
for a beer keg, an IOU for a keg of beer and a neon Budweiser sign. He traded
those for a snowmobile, traded the snowmobile for a trip to Yahk, British
Columbia, traded the trip for a box truck, traded that for a recording
contract, traded that for a year’s rent in Arizona, traded the year’s rent for
an afternoon with Alice Cooper (the rocker), traded that for a KISS motorized
snow globe, traded that to Hollywood film director for a speaking role in the movie
Donna on Demand and traded that for a
two-story farmhouse in Kipling, Saskatchewan, where the movie was being filmed.[2]
He kept the house.
If Kyle can take a paperclip and
end up with a house, how much more can God do with what you will give him? His exchange
rate is much better.
When God moves, he multiplies.
Will you move with Him?
[1]
Taken from Deep & Wide, Andy
Stanley (Zondervan, 2012), p. 139
[2] Derived
from Man turns paper clip into house,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5167388.stm
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_red_paperclip,
retrieved on October 19, 2012
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