HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL NOBODY
John 6:1-13
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: WHY LIFE IS CONFUSING TO MANY
1. A librarian commented concerning a woman just leaving her desk that she could get more out of a mystery novel than anyone she knew. "How is that?" asked her co-worker.
2. She replied, "She starts in the middle so that she not only wonders how it comes out, but also how it began." This illustrates what a great many people are doing with life today.
3. They have no idea how things began, or of how things will end up. All they look at is the middle of the story. They see the contemporary scene only, and the result is that they have too much mystery on their hands, and life is confusing.
4. We’re going to look at an incident in the Bible that left many people guessing and see the little pieces that Christ put into action to make it all work out.
B. TEXT
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, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” 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?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 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. John 6:1-13
C. NOBODYS DO MORE THAN WE THINK: ILLUS. OF THE ORGAN BOY
1. Years ago a very famous organist was giving a recital on a new organ. The wind was pumped by a small boy behind a screen. The boy pumped his heart out at this recital, and he was glad for the intermission half way through the program.
2. Out in the vestry of the church the boy looked up at the great organist and said, "Aren't we wonderful?" The prideful organist responded, "Who's we?" Saddened, the lad returned to his pump for the climax of the recital.
3. The organist pressed the keys for the opening cord, but only silence came from the majestic pipes. The signal must have failed, the organist thought, and so he repeated it and then pressed again for the thunder to come. No thunder came. There was only a small voice from behind the screen saying, "Now who's we?"
D. TITLE & THESIS
1.The title of tonight’s message is, “How to be a Successful Nobody”
2. It’s a blunder if we fail to recognize the importance of obscure, behind-the-scenes people. Some of the greatest and most famous people in the Bible are people we don’t even know their names.
3. You can do great things too, if you learn 2 secrets:
I. THE BOY MADE AVAILABLE WHAT HE HAD – HIS LUNCH
A. WHAT ARE YOU MAKING AVAILABLE?
The question is not, how much do you have, but are you making what you have, available?
1. The widow had only a penny, but she gave it all to God, and this made her great in the eyes of Christ.
2. The Good Samaritan: We don't even know his name, but we know that he had was available. He had time, compassion, and some degree of wealth, and God used him.
3. This boy with 5 loaves and 2 fish. He didn’t have great resources. God doesn’t ask for what you DON’T have, only that you give what you DO have. Jesus didn’t expect the boy to feed the 5,000, all He needed was for the boy to give what he had. Christ will do the rest.
B. EVERYBODY HAS SOMETHING TO GIVE
1. Marion Simms, in “Your Life,” told the story of a girl who wanted to give her older sister a birthday gift, but she had no money in her bank. But unselfish people always have something to give.
2. When her sister opened her package she found three colored slips of paper. One said, “Good for two dish washings. Good for two bed makings. Good for two kitchen scrubbings.” These were among her most welcome birthday surprises.
II. WHAT HE HAD WAS MADE ADEQUATE- CHRIST USED IT
God can take our small investment, and our weak and inadequate gifts and use them to be a blessing to many. Certainly, this lad had no idea what Jesus could do with his little lunch, and we have no idea what He may do with what little we have if we make it available to Him. This unknown boy became famous in God's history book.
A. TRUST GOD TO DO WHAT YOU CAN’T DO
1. A pilot of an American airline DC-6 was flying 21,000 feet over the Colorado Rockies when his plane threw a propeller which crashed through the fuselage and ripped the engine from the wing. With half the controls gone he brought it into Denver for an emergency landing.
2. A reporter at the scene asked him what He did. He said, "In a situation like that you just move over a little bit and let God take over." That’s what the boy did with his lunch!
B. EVEN KIDS HAVE SOMETHING GOD WANTS
1. Everyone of us has some resource that Christ needs to accomplish His goals. Others may do a greater work, But you have your part to do, and no body else can do what God has called you to do!
2. One time Jesus’ disciples didn’t realize how important & valuable kids were; they tried to shoo the children away from Jesus. But Jesus loves all children, and told them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” Mt. 19:14.
3. That little boy (with the lunch) would have laughed at you had you told him that God would feed 5,000 people with his lunch that day. We need to learn that “little is much when we make it available to Jesus.”
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: Enrico Caruso
1. The story is told how, as a boy, he worked long hours in a factory in Naples. He longed to be a singer. When ten years old, he took his first lesson in voice. 'You can't sing. You haven't any voice at all. Your voice sounds like the wind in the shutters,' said his teacher.
2. The boy's mother, however, had visions of greatness for her son. She believed that he had a talent to sing. She was very poor. Putting her arms around him she encouragingly said, 'My boy, I am going to make every sacrifice to pay for your voice lessons.'
3. Her confidence in him and constant encouragement paid off! That boy became one of the worlds greatest singers -- Enrico Caruso!
4. Not many will become as famous as Caruso, but every one of us is given an opportunity to make something worthwhile out of our life and be equally rewarded. The important thing is not what we have or don't have, but what we do with what we have. [Dick Innes]
B. THE CALL
1. If you ever feel like a nobody with very little to offer for the kingdom of God, don’t despair. You’re just what Jesus is looking for to demonstrate again that He loves to make much of little. He did it with the boy and He’ll do it with you.
2. How many of you want Jesus to use you to bless others?
3. How many will give all you have to Jesus so He can do something big with your life? PRAYER
[This is a rewrite of Glenn Pease’s message of the same title.]
