AN OVERSTATEMENT OF POVERTY
TEXT: Matthew 14:17
Matthew 14:17 KJV And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
I. INTRODUCTION—A BELIEF THAT WE HAVE LESS THAN WE DO
-One of the easiest things, in fact it can become a habit in life, is to overstate our poverty. There can be a tendency on even the most vigilant of souls to look at life and think that all is lost. We can allow the constant pounding of the everyday begin to pull at our faith and our hope.
-This can especially be true in light of the sweeping societal changes that are taking place at a breakneck pace around us. To take an honest look at culture can be a very disheartening thing to do.
-Kent Hughes in his book, Set Apart: Calling a Worldly Church to a Godly Life, asked the following questions in the preface:
• What experiences and observations can you supply to confirm or illustrate the changes in culture?
• Have you observed inroads that these cultural trends have made in the church or in your personal life?
• What (if anything) in the survey of cultural trends or the life of the church surprised or shocked you?
• Are there any things that have convicted you in the last six months that you felt that you shouldn’t have been involved in even though they are commonly being accepted as the cultural norm?
• Are there any general biblical themes or specific Scriptures that have brought you to a place of contemplation about the direction of your life or even of this church?
• Are there any changes that you made to repent or change your attitudes about?
-When you start thinking of these matters in our society compared to what is taking place in the world, it can literally be overwhelming to even the most lukewarm of Christians. I believe that deep within all of us that there is a crying out that longs to bring us to a place of holiness and godliness that is pleasing to the Lord.
-How I think about God, His Word, and His church will directly affect the way that I live. A high view of all three will make a great impact on my own personal spiritual growth. A low view of these things can put me in the condition of Lot so that my soul is vexed by the “filthy conversation of the wicked” (2 Peter 2:7).
-The challenge that we all face is that when you see the culture affecting the church it is mostly gradual in its work. It is like the leaven the Bible speaks about and with the passing of the years, we can see its impact on us.
II. MATTHEW 14
-This single verse illustrates that very powerful lesson to us when we feel that we are literally overwhelmed with the magnitude of the job the church needs to be doing in our times.
A. The Background of This Miracle
-Before we get to the miracle that we will walk through, we need to fill in some of the details. This is one of the longest and most difficult days in the life of Jesus. Although when you look at it from the overall scope of His life, many of His days were very difficult.
-But this one was more because when you start in Matthew 14, there is a discovery that John the Baptist, the cousin of our Lord, was beheaded because he was preaching against the adultery that Herod was involved in.
-Instead of repenting and turning toward the Kingdom of God, Herod kills John at the request of Herodias, his brother’s wife. It was a savage, drunken party that took place on that day and there is probably good enough speculation that Herod was drunk and had lost his ability to think clearly.
-In one of those disastrous times when an alcohol clouded mind got the best of him, as has taken place on an innumerable host prior to and after that, he made an error in judgment and behavior and it affected him for the rest of his life and extended into his eternity.
-John the Baptist wasn’t a diplomat or a compromiser and because of his fear of the Lord, he said things that weren’t religiously or politically correct. There was a godly boldness about him that never considered the consequences.
• A faithful man of God confronts sin wherever it is committed.
• A faithful man of God pays no mind to the power that might be held over him politically.
• A faithful man of God has surrendered his life in such a way that only God has power over him.
• A faithful man of God is willing to forfeit his life rather than forfeit the message.
-Herod was incredibly different from John. He feared everything and everyone except for God.
• He feared that Jesus was actually John the Baptist who had come back from the dead (v. 2).
• He feared Herodias (v. 3).
• He feared the multitude (v. 5).
• He feared John the Baptist (Mark 6:20) because of his righteousness and holiness. He even feared his preaching but he was drawn into it because of its power of conviction.
-Herod’s fear came from the wrong places and it compromised his faith. The devil is still at that same tactic in this generation. He wants our fear to come from all sorts of places so that our faith is sorely compromised.
Arthur T. Robertson—(Speaking of John the Baptist)—It cost him his head; but it is better to have a head like John the Baptist and lose it than to have an ordinary head and keep it.
-Those were the details that were brewing behind the scenes as Jesus set up and began to teach the multitude on that day. Obviously he was grieving the loss of His cousin but He was required to continue His ministry responsibilities.
B. The Feeding of the Five Thousand
-This miracle is the only one of all of the miracles that Jesus did that is recorded in all four of the Gospels. Furthermore this was one of the miracles that took place at the height of the popularity of Jesus. It wouldn’t be too long after this that the popularity would began to fade.
-In fact you see some of it beginning to wane in John 6 when the crowd left after they had been fed and the Lord turned to the disciples and asked them if they were going to leave also. Peter immediately replied back to the Lord. . . Where else can we go. . . You have the words of eternal life. . .
-We can see it starting to change a few chapters later in Mathew 16 when the Lord looked at and called out:
Matthew 16:24-25 KJV Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. [25] For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
-That is the real question that we all have to ask ourselves. . . . What will we do and where will we go beyond the miracles? Or what will I do when the miracles cease? Will I still keep following the Lord despite my set of circumstances?
-Back to our miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. . . The disciples are faced with an alarming dilemma. They have the oversight of getting these people some “victuals” or food as we would say in our day.
-Again they looked at the crowd and said to themselves. . . All we have is five loaves and two little fish.
-Life and ministry puts us in some predicaments sometimes. If you are going to be involved in ministry and moving the Lord’s agenda forward you can be prepared for some things.
• Often puts us in places that is very perplexing.
• Puts us in places where our resources are limited.
• We often fail to see God in the middle of the circumstances.
-What are our responses? I can see two responses that preachers and saints make. More often than not we let our faith sag and we embrace bad solutions. There are others but I am drawing two of them from the text in Matthew 14.
1. We Pass the Buck
Matthew 14:15 KJV And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away. . .
-The disciples decided that they ought to pass the buck. What we can do is send them away. We don’t have any responsibility in this matter.
A mouse looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package; what food might it contain? He was aghast to discover that it was a mousetrap!
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning, "There is a mouse trap in the house, and there is a mouse trap in the house." The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell you this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me; I cannot be bothered by it." The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mouse trap in the house."
"I am so very sorry Mr. Mouse," sympathized the pig, "but there is nothing I can do about it but pray; be assured that you are in my prayers." The mouse turned to the cow, who replied, "Like wow, Mr. Mouse, a mouse trap; am I in grave danger, Duh?"
So the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital.
She returned home with a fever. Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. His wife's sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well, in fact, she died, and so many people came for her funeral the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat. So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when the least of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
-There are some things in life that you cannot afford to pass the buck on. Even if it seems that it might be overwhelming to you.
-There is a picture of this in the in the Old Testament. . . There was a father who had a son that wilted down one day when they were working in the fields. My head, my head, he cried out. It was a very serious matter but the father’s response said otherwise. . . Send him to his mother!
-He was sent to his mother but the child’s life was lost. It was only restored when the prophet came to the scene and started praying for the Lord to raise him up.
-America needs a revival, our state needs a revival, our city needs a revival. . . our church needs a revival. We can start looking around and make some determinations:
• It’s Brother __________ and Brother ____________ job to bring revival.
• It’s the responsibility of those few who show up to the prayer revivals to get it for us.
• It’s the responsibility of the youth pastor and youth committee to get a revival here for us.
• It’s the responsibility of the elders to sacrifice for revival.
• It’s the responsibility of the youth to bring their energy to a revival.
-When the reality of the matter is this. . . All of us are needed. . . Revival does not begin with someone else, it starts with me!
• It is a nineteen year old Evan Roberts crying out in prayer. . . Bend me. . . Bend me. . .
• It is a converted lawyer named Charles Finney preaching with fire. . .
• It is a man who is determined that no matter what. . . The church will experience a revival. . . An awakening!
-If we ever needed the Lord. . . We need Him now!
-A song by Casting Crowns called Lord If We Ever Needed You, sums it up pretty well. . .
Hear our cry, Lord, we pray
Our faces down, our hands are raised
You called us out, we turned away
We've turned away
With shipwrecked faith, the idols rise
We do what is right in our own eyes
Our children now will pay the price
We need Your light, Lord, shine Your light
If we've ever needed You
Lord, it's now, Lord, it's now
We are desperate for Your hand
We're reaching out, we're reaching out
All our hearts, all our strength
With all our minds, we're at Your feet
May Your kingdom come in our hearts and lives
Let Your church arise, let Your church arise
We're reaching out
We're reaching out
We need You now
Revive us now
We need You now
-How we need to sense that feeling of responsibility for our children, for our church, for ourselves!
2. We Run from the Problem
Matthew 14:15 KJV . . . that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
-The first matter is that we can have a tendency to pass the buck and look to someone else to do the job. The second matter we can resort to is to run from the problem.
-Again there are examples in the Bible of men who had that mentality. We have to understand that Scripture is written about people who were just like us. They were burdened, overwhelmed, and wanted to flee from their responsibility.
-David said. . . I wish I had wings like a dove. . . How soon I would fly away and be at rest. That can be the prevailing thought for many of us in our worn out, frazzled condition. We just want to be left alone and have the attitude of “don’t bother me!”
-Jeremiah. . . I wish I had a lodging place in the wilderness for wayfaring men that I might leave my people and go from them. He was a prophet and a preacher who wanted to get away from the responsibility that he had to preach. “I want a vacation from it all!”
-Jonah. . . Bought a ticket in the opposite direction. “Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” Jonah was even bolder than David and Jeremiah, he just outright disobeyed what the Lord had called him to do. We have that option to do the same thing.
• We can run from the problem of a cold, dead church.
• We can run from the problem of teaching a Sunday School class.
• We can run from the problem of financing missions or even going.
• We can run from the problem of young men and young women no longer going into ministry.
• We can run from the problem of doing our part.
-Why did the disciples take those actions?
• Not because they were altogether selfish.
• Not because they were indifferent to the problem.
-It could have been because they felt like there was nothing else to do.
-How many times have we been in a place like that where the facts seemed to overwhelm us?
• A hungry crowd
• Nothing to feed them
• Not enough money for the solution
• A look of pathetic poverty
-Sometimes we have a tendency to say the very same thing. . . “This is all that we have!”
• All we have is just a little church.
• All we have is just a little youth group.
• All we have is just a little Sunday School program.
• All we have is just two little vans.
• All we have is just a little building.
• All I have is just a little prayer bench.
• All I have is just a few little sermons.
• All I have is just a few Bibles.
• All I have is just ordinary talent.
• All I have is just a few resources.
-In all of that we cannot even begin to grasp that there are great things locked up in what we do have!
-Somewhere, the Lord has to stretch our faith! Can you remember Elisha in Dothan? His prayer. . . Lord, open the eyes of my servant. Once the servants eyes were opened. . .
2 Kings 6:13-20 KJV And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. [14] Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. [15] And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? [16] And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. [17] And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. [18] And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. [19] And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria. [20] And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.
-Lord. . . Open his eyes. . . Suddenly he came to understand. . . behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
• Lord, help us to see beyond the mistakes of others.
• Lord, grant us the ability that our little grudges don’t hold out your power.
• Lord, see to it that our hearts can forgive those who we may have perceived have opposed us.
• Lord, help us to move beyond our own little choices and have a revival.
• Lord, don’t let us run from the problem.
-Our world is in desperate need of a revival. . . Don’t let us look at the little bit of bread and the few fish and say that you can’t move! Somewhere lurking around is a miracle that will astound us.
C. The Principles To Glean
-There are some principles that I come away from in this passage concerning the purpose of God in our lives.
• God always has a plan.
• It is always a good plan.
• It is often a very simple plan. . . Bring me what you have!
-We all need to grasp that very principle in our heart! Far too often we overstate our own poverty. . . I only have five loaves and a couple of fish!
-The solution to the problem usually boils down to what I will do with the loaves and fish that I have. The reality is that it is locked up in what I will do with today.
-Today:
• Choose to display the right attitudes
• Determine and act on the important priorities
• Communicate and care for your family
• Practice and develop good thinking
• Make and keep proper commitments
• Earn and properly manage your finances
• Deepen and live out your faith
• Initiate and invest in sound relationships
• Embrace and practice good values
• Seek out and experience improvements
-Practice those things and be amazed at how far the loaves and fish will go.
-Far too often there are some traps that we fall into:
1. We over-exaggerate yesterday.
-Success and failure look bigger than they were. We think about what we could have done.
-Negative experiences shape our view of life. We have a tendency to re-live every rejection, failure, and injury.
-You need to know that yesterday. . . It ended last night!
2. We over-estimate tomorrow.
-We work like mad trying to live in the future. . .
-People fall into the mindset. . . “I’m going to hit it big tomorrow!”
-The reality is that what I do today will greatly affect what takes place tomorrow.
3. We under-estimate today.
-Killing time is an expression that should be changed to. . . I’m killing myself. . . I’m throwing away my life.
-If you will just start today! If you will just determine in your heart to move into doing something today it will make all the difference in the world. Forget about doing something so powerful and earth-changing. . . Just bring your bread and the fish.
III. CONCLUSION—DO WHAT YOU CAN!
-It needs to be reiterated, don’t try to do something big. . . just do something. . . Here the voice of God and respond to it.
-Do His will! Submit your life!
Philip Harrelson
February 15, 2015
