• I know I will have some people's attention this morning because there are fish in the story.
• Fishing and catching fish.
• I don't think Jesus planned on taking his disciples fishing, but he wanted them to get away.
• There were fish involved, however, in their evening.
Mar 6:30-32 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.
• Jesus planned a little get-a-way for tired, service-weary disciples.
Mar 6:33-34 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.
• Some may have anticipated where Jesus and the disciples were going.
• Others saw them coming, predicted their destination, and ran along the shores to meet them.
• Jesus, seeking rest for his disciples, saw the large crowd and need for ministry.
• Instead of agitation, He felt compassion.
• Notice, He taught them.
• They had teachers, but none that really cared for them.
• What a difference it makes when the community knows that a Church cares for them and their families.
Mar 6:35-36 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, "This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."
• John's record said it was Philip who said, "Let's send them away to the towns and village before the Dairy Queens close."
• When the sun went down in those villages, the businesses and markets closed.
Mar 6:37 But he answered them, "You give them something to eat." And they said to him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?"
• Jesus said, "Let's feed them. You go gather up our food."
• The disciples answered, "We don't have enough for them. It would take 8 month's wages to feed them.
Mar 6:38-44 And he said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." And when they had found out, they said, "Five, and two fish." 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.
• five loaves of Barley bread (more like biscuits or rolls) and two small fish.
• Not quite a happy meal, is it?
• Jesus said a blessing. Did Jesus bless His food? (trick question).
• I think He blessed God for His food. God was the object of the prayer, not the food.
• Then they distributed it to the disciples, who distributed to the people (five thousand men, plus women and children).
• Then they collected up more than they passed out.
• Here are a few thoughts about this passage that I hope will bless your life:
We should try to see our Troubles with compassion. (the desert place).
• You have heard it said, if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.
• Jesus was planning a restful evening. But Look who's coming to dinner?
• People started showing up from all the villages and towns.
• Many times, we make our plans, and because of someone else or someone else's needs, we don't get rest.
• When we look at our selves and our plans, we can become angry, impatient and frustrated.
• However, if we look at the ones who are doing the interrupting, there is plenty of room for love and sympathy.
• Jesus modeled our response to interruptions with compassion.
• Anything short of compassion in an interruption is not of God.
• Hudson Taylor had definite convictions about how God's work should be done. We can make our best plans and try to carry them out in our own strength. Or we can make careful plans and ask God to bless them. "Yet another way of working is to begin with God; to ask His plans, and to offer ourselves to Him to carry out His purposes."
We should try to see Trials as opportunity. (the people kept coming).
• An exhaused group of disciples saw the opportunity to recover from a rough week.
• But when they got there, they saw a large group of people waiting for them.
• The disciples said, Let's send them away so they can catch the shops open to buy food.
• Jesus, however, saw the opportunity.
• Let's feed them, he said. Let's do what we can.
• God wants us to focus on what we can do through His power.
• Many will focus on what we cannot do, but that isn't God's way.
• Louis Albert Banks tells of an elderly Christian man, a fine singer, who learned that he had cancer of the tongue and that surgery was required. In the hospital after everything was ready for the operation, the man said to the doctor, "Are you sure I will never sing again?" The surgeon found it difficult to answer his question. He simply shook his head no. The patient then asked if he could sit up for a moment. "I've had many good times singing the praises of God," he said. "And now you tell me I can never sing again. I have one song that will be my last. It will be of gratitude and praise to God."
• There in the doctor's presence the man sang softly the words of Isaac Watts' hymn, "I'll praise my Maker while I've breath,/ And when my voice is lost in death,/ Praise shall employ my nobler power;/ My days of praise shall ne'er be past,/ While life, and thought, and being last,/ Or immortality endures."
We should try to see shortages as miracles. (the fish and loaves and an avenue for miracle.)
• When they inventoried the supplies, they had a few fish and a few barley biscuits.
• If I were a disciple and had to pass out the food, my thoughts would have been. "I will pass out what I have, but when It's gone, I'm done.
• But the food kept miraculously coming. Everyone was fed, and according to the original language, completely satisfied with the meal.
• It was a miracle. The disciples saw a shortage, but Jesus saw a miracle.
• That is how God wants us to do, live with a curiousity about how God is going to pull this off, and that off, but in faith, knowing He is.
• James Brown, Evangeline Baptist Church, Wildsville, LA
• There is no situation I can get into that God cannot get me out. Some years ago when I was learning to fly, my instructor told me to put the plane into a steep and extended dive. I was totally unprepared for what was about to happen. After a brief time the engine stalled, and the plane began to plunge out-of-control. It soon became evident that the instructor was not going to help me at all. After a few seconds, which seemed like eternity, my mind began to function again. I quickly corrected the situation.
• Immediately I turned to the instructor and began to vent my fearful frustrations on him. He very calmly said to me, "There is no position you can get this airplane into that I cannot get you out of. If you want to learn to fly, go up there and do it again." At that moment God seemed to be saying to me, "Remember this. As you serve Me, there is no situation you can get yourself into that I cannot get you out of. If you trust me, you will be all right." That lesson has been proven true in my ministry many times over the years.
• Our problem is never our lack of resources, but or lack of trust in the One who plans it all.
Today, I ask you, when you patience is thin, seek God's compassion.
When trouble comes, look for god's opportunity.
When your resources are depleted, look for God's Supply.
