“What If I’m Broke?”
John 6: 4-14
February 14, 2016
Intro: I’m not a gambling man but I have to admit I was pretty intrigued by Powerball last month when I saw that the prize had risen to $1.6 billion! People were lining up all across the country to purchase a ticket in the hopes of becoming overnight billionaires. Several of you told me that if you won that you’d give a large chunk of it to VillageChurch.
-Oh well. Maybe next time. But people are drawn to the idea of winning big b/c we think if we win big it’ll solve all of our problems. And there’s no doubt there are quite a # of us that are in need of winning big.
-Let me share w/you the financial situation most Americans are in. A new report released by the GoBankingRates, which tracks interest and banking rates nationwide, found that the average American is more than $225,000 in debt with many having less than $500 in savings. In case you’re wondering…that’s not good.
-So most people are living under quite a bit of financial strain. And then, to top it off, you come into the church and hear that we’re going thru a series of messages entitled “Give.” You might be thinking, “How in the world can I give when I’m broke? How in the world can I be generous when I’m struggling just to pay my bills?”
Sermon Idea: Today in our passage of Scripture we’re going to see Jesus ministering to a bunch of people who had a lot of needs. If anything, these people needed Jesus to give something to them. But what we’re going to see, was that before these people could be blessed by God it would require them to take a step of faith.
TEXT: JOHN 6: 4-14
Bckgrd: Just last month Emily and I were on a boat in the Sea of Galilee. And we were able to view the area where Jesus performed the miracle of feeding the 5,000. What’s interesting @ this miracle is that it’s the only miracle Jesus performed that’s mentioned in all 4 Gospels.
-I’m sure it was a big story b/c of the size of the crowd. We’re told 5,000 men PLUS women and children gathered on the banks of the Sea of Galilee to hear Jesus teach. That’s made many scholars believe this crowd could’ve been anywhere from 15,000-20,000 people.
-Why was there such a large crowd there? Well, b/c Jesus was renowned for being an incredible teacher. Crowds were drawn to Him b/c He taught w/power and authority. But the crowds were also huge b/c Jesus had performed miracles. He’d healed people of diseases, cured blindness, turned water into wine. Do a few things like that and people are going to come and see you for curiosity’s sake.
-There are a lot of lessons to take from this story but one of the lessons we’re going to see is a lesson on giving. How in the world can we give when we’re broke? How in the world can we give when we don’t have anything?
-Thru this story Jesus let’s see how we can approach giving when we don’t feel like we have anything to give. The 1st approach to giving is:
DIV. 1: START WITH WHAT YOU HAVE (vv. 4-9)
Exp: One thing I learned when we were in Israel was that the fisherman in Galilee basically traveled the shorelines and didn’t travel much in open water b/c it enabled them to get out of a storm quicker if it popped up. So it made it easy for this crowd to follow Jesus to the other side.
A.So why in the world were they so intent on following after Jesus? V. 2 gives us the answer. It said they’d seen Jesus healing people and they were eager to see more of it! Who wouldn’t be? If I saw a blind man cured by someone, I’d be looking to see where that guy was going next so I could get front row seats.
1.But why were there so many people following after Jesus? We can answer that question partly b/c it was near the Passover. And hundreds of thousands of people would’ve been making their way down to Jerusalem so they could go the Temple.
a.The crowd that was following after Jesus was substantial. We’re told that the crowd was made up of 5,000 men. One you put women and children into that #, many scholars say the crowd would’ve been up to 15,000-20,000 people.
b.Ego-wise, I’d be feeling pretty good @ myself. I’d be thinking, “Look at that! 20,000 people are following my boat b/c they want me to touch them.” But it’s interesting to see that Jesus wasn’t thinking @ Himself and how great He was at this time.
2.What was He doing? He was thinking @ the people. This story is also found in Matt. 14: 14-15. And in this text the disciples came to Jesus and said, “This place is a wilderness, and it is already late. Send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ ‘They don’t need to go away,” Jesus told them. ‘You give them something to eat.’”
a.The issue was it was getting late, there was a huge crowd of people, and the people were hungry but didn’t have any food. And Jesus boldly was letting His followers know that He was going to take care of them. In v. 5 He asked where they could buy bread so the people could eat.
b.Philip was the pragmatist. It’s like he heard Jesus and then said, “You’ve got to be kidding me! Even if I had 200 denarii it wouldn’t even touch feeding this group!” 200 denarii was worth @ 200 days salary. In other words, Philip was saying, “Jesus, you’re asking us to GIVE, to take care of these people, but we’re BROKE! We don’t have anything to give!”
B.You ever feel that way? I’ve got 2 kids getting ready to go to college, I have a mortgage payment, have 4 cars, etc, etc. It’s kind of overwhelming. But the neat thing to see is that Jesus simply calls us to start w/what we have, NOT w/what we don’t have.
1.There are so many needs in our world today that it’s easy to think, “I really don’t have a whole lot to offer. What good is my giving really going to do?” Philip told Jesus they didn’t have the resources to make a difference. But in v. 8 Andrew, the brother of Peter, took a shot in the dark and told Jesus, “I’ve found a boy that has 5 barley loaves and 2 fish.”
a.Not exactly what you’d call a feast. As a matter of fact, barley was typically used to feed animals. It was of poor quality. And the fish wasn’t salmon. The 2 fish were sardines! I don’t even think 2 sardines would be enough to satisfy the hunger of one person!
b.It was all they had. But here’s the interesting thing. It was all they needed. Jesus isn’t calling for us to give what we don’t have. He calls for us to give out of what we do have. That means that everyone’s giving is acceptable. If you’re familiar w/the story, would you say that their gift of 5 loaves of crummy bread and 2 sardines was blessed? 2 Cor. 8: 11 tells us, “But now finish the task as well, that just as there was eagerness to desire it, so there may also be a completion from what you have.”
ILLUS: Most of us think if we had more then we’d give more. But statistics don’t bear that out. According to Forbes there were 946 billionaires in 2007 and they gave an average of 1.2% of their income to charitable causes. Be generous with whatever amount of money God has entrusted to you.
-Why? It comes down to a matter of trusting that when Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” that it’s true. B/c these men were willing to bring to Jesus what they had, even though it didn’t look like much, they got to experience something they couldn’t even fathom.
2.You might look at yourself and think, “I can’t afford to give.” Let me put a different spin on it. You can’t afford NOT to give.
Reit: The 1st approach to giving is start w/what you have. The 2nd approach to giving is:
DIV. 2: GIVE WHAT YOU HAVE TO JESUS (vv. 10-11)
Exp: Everybody in this room wants to make sure that they get the most bang for their buck. We’ve had classes at the church before on how to use coupons. I read a story in the Raleigh paper @ a lady who saves anywhere from 40-75% on her grocery bill b/c she’s so committed to using coupons. I’ve seen others of you who can squeeze every last drop out of a dime.
A.As hard as many of you work to get the most out of your $ when you spend it, you should also have a desire to get the most out of your $ when you GIVE it. The power of this story didn’t come from the fact that there were 2 fish and 5 loaves for around 15,000 people to eat. If Andrew and Peter would’ve simply taken those 2 fish and 5 loaves and started handing them out to the crowd, how many people do you think they would’ve fed?
1.I think we can guess not very many. So what made the difference? What made the difference is to WHOM they gave the food to. Who did they give the food to? They gave it to Jesus. And what happened when they gave it to Jesus? Look at the end of v. 11. “As much as they wanted.” Jesus took the small offering and turned it into feast. That’s what Jesus does when we give to Him. He takes our gift and multiplies it. He takes our gift and uses it to bless and satisfy people.
a.It happens all the time. I think @ how God has blessed the giving of VillageChurch since we first started. There were a handful of people that decided to come alongside Emily, Hank, Glyn, Janie and me when we started the church. When this church started, we really didn’t have anything to offer!
b.We didn’t have a children’s ministry. We didn’t have a youth program. We didn’t have a building. We had a budget ON PAPER. That was it. But a few people were willing to invest their time, ministry and money. And now, almost 14 years later we can look back and say, “God did this.”
2.There’s no other explanation for it. Jesus was making a simple statement to our church and also to the disciples as He fed the 5,000. The statement was, “I’ll supply all your needs.”
a.Paul wrote in Phil. 4: 19, “my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Sometimes it’s tough to think @ giving. I totally understand that. We have bills to pay. We have things we want to do. But God tells us to trust Him and He’ll take care of us.
ILLUS: A mother who was putting her little girl to bed. But her daughter was a little scared of something and was having trouble getting to sleep. They got to talking about God and her daughter asked: "Does God ever sleep?" The mom said, ”Oh, no honey, God never sleeps."
-The daughter was quiet for a while. And then she said, “Well then, if God’s going to stay up all night, there’s no sense both of us staying awake." And with that, the little girl turned over in bed, pulled her blanket up to her neck and fell asleep.
b.God knows what’s going on in our lives. He’s not asleep on the job. But He does call for us to trust that He has His eye on us. And if we know that, then we can be generous and relax knowing that God will provide all of our needs.
Reit: The 1st approach to giving is start w/what you have. The 2nd approach is give what you have to Jesus. And the final approach to giving is:
DIV. 3: WATCH FOR WHAT HE SUPPLIES (vv. 12-14)
Exp: Scripture challenges us to be generous stewards of what we have. As a matter of fact, the Bible points out to us that at least a tenth of what we make is to be given back to the Lord (Mal. 3 indicates that channel for giving is the church).
A.Now if you’re a skeptic, you might be thinking that the giving of the tithe is a ploy for people who work in the church to get paid. And I’d guess that in some cases that’s been true. But the tithe isn’t just a way the institutional church milks the congregation of its funds.
1.The giving of the tithe is a demonstration of faith. When we give we’re showing God that our grip on our earthly possessions is LIGHT. We’re showing that we’re merely stewards of what we have and not the owners.
a.The giving of the tithe is also a challenge. If you go back to Mal. 3: 10, God told His people to tithe. Now our natural instinct isn’t to give away a tenth of what we have! It’s to hang on to it; to spend it like we want to; to use it for ourselves. But God told us in Mal. 3: 10, “Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this way,” says the Lord of Hosts. ‘See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.’”
b.He said “Test Me! The only way to find out if I’m real or not is to try me out. Once you do that, then see what happens..” What happens if we put God to the test in our giving? Look at what Malachi wrote. He said, “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you w/o measure.”
2.The boy in our text gave all that he had…2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. Jesus took what he gave and v. 12 tells us that everyone was full and that there were leftovers. The word “full” was used in speaking of animals at a trough that have eaten so much that they walk away from it b/c they can’t eat any more.
a.Jesus gave an physical example of what He does in a person’s life when they follow after Him. He fills their life so much that the realize they don’t need any more. They don’t have to look elsewhere for satisfaction and hope. Jesus fills the emptiness in our lives.
b.But just to top everything off, Jesus also provides leftovers! In our story, after the multitude had been filled, we’re told the disciples picked up 12 extra baskets of food! This reminds me of Ps. 23: 5 where David wrote, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head w/oil; my cup overflows.”
B.To say your cup overflows is to say that you’ve been provided w/more than enough; that you’ve been provided w/even more than you can handle!
ILLUS: I just started drinking coffee in the past few years. And I’m not a coffee snob at all. To be honest w/you, I can’t tell that much of a difference between Folgers coffee and Starbucks. That probably doesn’t say a whole lot @ my sophistication, but since I’ve started drinking coffee, there are a few things I’ve picked up on.
-Probably the most important thing I’ve noticed is that when I go to a restaurant for breakfast, they’ll have coffee cups out at the table. But the cups are always turned upside down. Now if I leave my cup like that it gives a sign to the waiter that I don’t want any coffee.
-But If I want to have a cup of coffee, what do I need to do? I need to turn the cup over! It’s only when the cup is turned over that I’m going to be able to receive the coffee!
1.That’s what giving to God is like. You want to blessed by God; you want to experience the presence and power of Jesus? Then you have to turn your cup over so that you can receive?
a.What does that involve? It involves being open to doing what God calls for us to do. When the disciples put into Jesus’ hand what they had, it was only then that Jesus blessed and multiplied what they gave.
b.Don’t you long to see God do something spectacular in your life? Don’t you long to KNOW that something that’s happening in your life comes straight from God? Giving is that opportunity to see God move.
2.I honestly believe that when we give, we see God bless us beyond what we can imagine. It is thru my giving that I get a tangible picture of God moving in my life. I believe that many of us as Xians have missed out on seeing God move in our lives b/c we’ve been too afraid to release our grip on the things of this world.
a.We haven’t been willing to surrender the power of our purse to God. But if we do, then God says He’ll bless us.
Conclusion: I know giving messages aren’t the most popular messages. Most of the time it’s b/c we don’t like anyone else telling us what we’re supposed to do w/our money. I get that! I’m the same way. But I’d like to start approaching my giving in a new way.
-1st, I want to start giving w/what I have. 2nd, I want to give what I have to Jesus. And finally, I want to watch what He supplies when I give. Xians, are you ready to accept this challenge? Are you ready to trust that when you tithe that God’s going to provide for and take care of you? Put Him to the test and see what happens.
-After that, then I’m going to be asking some of you to give testimonies on how you saw God be faithful in your giving.
