Let Go of Your Loaves
It was a beautiful day. Jesus had crossed over the sea of Galilee and the crowd discovering where he was going followed on foot, covering a distance of approximately 15 kilometres and Luke tells us in chapter 9:10 that they finally caught up with him in Bethsaida. And it was here on a hill overlooking the sea of Galilee that Christ began to teach the crowd, and after teaching his heart became filled with compassion as he looked around and realises that those who have gathered are probably hungry. Christ saw not only a spiritual need, but he saw the physical need as well.
Jesus was aware that if His preaching about love wasn't evidenced in his behaviour then he would be regarded as a hypocrite and rightly so. And so, as he looked around at the hungry crowd he didn't say "They need God," even though they did, instead he said, "They need lunch."
This is week 3 of our Miracles of Christ series and the Miracle we’ll be looking at this morning is the only miracle, aside from the resurrection included in all four gospels. And some people would say “Aha, that goes to prove the gospels are unreliable.” To the contrary, that just proves to me they are more reliable, and were four different accounts, not one copies account.
Most of you know that over the past couple of weeks Beulah Camp was happening, and there were at least 18 of us from Cornerstone there. But if you asked us for our recollections, you’d think we were at different events. Because there were things that some of us saw that others missed, and things some of us heard that others didn’t.
In this story there are three people that Christ interacts, and we are going to look at all three of them this morning.
John 6:5 Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?”
The first person that Jesus checks with is Phillip the Realist. Have you ever asked yourself why he asked Philip first. I mean other than the obvious answer, that Philip was right next to him. Here are a couple of suggestions. 1) This was Philip's old stomping ground. We are told in the book of John 1:44 Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown.
And that makes sense, if you're looking for a good cheap meal you ask a local. Right? They're the ones who know where the best food and best deals are in this life. 2) Or maybe this was a faith check or an attitude check. Christ wanted to see how big Philip's faith was at this point. And good old Philip the practical said, John 6:7 Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”
Actually, in the original he said that it would take 200 Denarii to feed the crowd, and we are told that a denarii was the equivalent of a day’s wages and so Phil was planning on feeding 25 people for a day’s wage, which is fair.
Now don't give Philip a hard time, he was just responding to Christ's question with a statement. But he didn't answer the question which was “Philip, where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” Like he could have said, "Well you could try Saul's deli or Aaron's Bakery." Instead, he says, "Even if we were to go to McMalichi's and everyone ordered a McBagel, regular fries and a diet coke, it would still cost ten bucks a head off their value menu."
I remember when the value menu was 4.99 and better than that as a kid, McDonalds advertised that you could feed a family of four for under $4.00, that was 1972 that was in the States, but still, in Canada it was feed a family of four for five dollars and get change back.
At this point Philip could not see beyond the present day, he couldn't see beyond the cost. And that's typical of how most of us thing when we are confronted with a new project or goal.
When we are confronted with a new project our gut reaction is usually "How much is this going to cost?" Can we afford it? Can we do it with what we have, or what we can raise?"
When we first moved to Australia at one of our first church board meetings I quoted Mike Macintosh, a Pastor from San Diego California, and Macintosh said and I quote, "Money's not a problem, because Money's not an issue" profound right? In other words, if it's God's will to do something then the funding is God's problem. The problem was that from that point on whenever we needed to go ahead with a project if I was feeling the least bit cautious a guy on my board by the name of Nev Robbins would say "Denn remember; Money's not a problem, because Money's not an issue"
And Mike Macintosh and Nev Robbins were right because even though we may not be able to afford to do something God can. Philip should have remembered Psalm 50:10 For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.
I mean think about it if nothing else they could have had a dandy BBQ. Philip was a pessimistic realist. He was one of those guys who saw a problem in every solution. He'd blow out the candle just to prove how dark the room really was.
Let’s go back to the story, John 6:9 “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”
Along with Philip the realist was Andrew the Idealist. Andrew and his brother Peter were also originally from Bethsaida and Andrew comes rushing up to Christ to share his amazing discovery, “Hey everyone, I found food.”
I bet Peter had a laugh at that, can't you just hear him now, "So, we have five thousand or so people to feed and you bring us two sardines and a few buns. Andrew there's not enough there to make tuna sandwiches for the thirteen of us."
But Andrew didn't see the loaves and the fishes, what he saw was Jesus and he knew that Jesus was capable of anything. Andrew didn't know how Jesus would fee the five thousand, he didn't know what Christ could do with so little for so many, but he knew that Christ could do something. I mean after all nobody thought he could do anything with Peter either, but he did.
Maybe Andrew was thinking back to John 2 and the wedding at Cana of Galilee and how Jesus turned the water into wine. Andrew was the eternal optimist who believed implicitly what Gabrielle told Mary in Luke 1:37 NIV For nothing is impossible with God.”
Andrew didn't ignore the problem, he realized that his wasn't going to be easy, however he knew that there wasn't anything too tough for his God. Let's never whitewash the practical necessities of the ministries that we endeavour to perform or make them look easier than they are. But let's realize that God is God and He is bigger than mere dollars.
And thirdly there was The Boy. We don’t even know his name, but from the description of his lunch box, we can make the assumption that this boy was not an up and coming executive in Galilee. Barley loaves were a poor man's bread, dark and coarse. And the fish were probably the standard pickled sardines of the region.
The boy didn't have much to offer, but what he had he gave to Christ. Just like the widow gave her all when she placed her two small coins in the temple offering box, this boy gave Jesus everything he had.
Now that's a radical concept, in a time when most Christians give of their spare time and spare change, most of us would never consider giving our weeks grocery money to Christ, but this boy did. We give out of our abundance he gave out of his poverty.
My question is this: "Would Christ have performed the miracle if the boy had kept one loaf for himself?" Think about it. If the boy had kept back just one loaf and one fish. Just an assurance that he would have enough to eat, what would the end result have been? What was the catalyst for this miracle? The fish and the loaves or the total unselfishness with which it was given? And I’m not asking if Jesus could have performed the miracle without the boy’s generosity. Of course he could have, but would he have?
Now this would be an ideal time to talk about money, but we're not going to because the loaves and fish of this story are much too important to demean by making them a financial statement. And besides, it isn’t March, which is when Denn talks about money.
Instead, the fish and loaves are an attitude statement.
Every one of us has loaves in our life. Loaves we will keep control of for ourselves or that we will give over to Jesus.
The choice of course is only ours to make, nobody else can make it for us. Those loaves might be material possessions, personality traits, habits, desires. We might be willing to give all we have, but are we willing to give all we are? Did you catch it the first time? We might be willing to give all we have, but are we willing to give all we are? It's only when we surrender it all that Christ can perform the miracles He wants to perform in our lives.
Peter Had to Surrender the Loaf of Pride. Peter must be the apostle most of us identify with the most. And the reason is because he is so human. On again, off again. Presumptuous, arrogant and all too quick to shoot off his mouth.
We all have a little Pete in us if we look deep enough and hard enough, and some of us don't have to look very deep or very hard. Most of us have a little Simon Peter in our character, and some of us have a lot of Peter in our character.
But for all of his lovability and identifiability, when we identify with Peter, we conveniently forget that it was Simon Peter who denied Christ. Remember Matthew 26:35 “No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same.
Not. If you recall the story. Peter was questioned three times and three times he denied Christ. And those who questioned Peter were in no position to harm him. They were servants, lackeys.
Indeed, if he could be recognized so quickly by servants, then his relationship with Christ was a matter of public record. But Peter was afraid to admit to knowing Christ, I wonder if Peter was afraid of the consequences or if his pride wouldn't let him admit to hanging around with someone who now appeared to be wrong.
I Guess he wasn't paying attention when Jesus told him in Matthew 10:32–33 “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.”
That's heavy stuff isn't it, "if you aren't telling people who your Lord is, then Christ won't admit to knowing you when the chips are down" Can you image the Father asking the Son about you and saying, "Jesus who is this person" and Jesus saying, "Gosh, he's not one of mine" You say, "But pastor that isn't what he's really saying" oh yeah, that what is he really saying, sounds pretty clear to me.
Peter's pride got him in trouble time and time again and when Christ came to the disciples on the beach in John 21 and asked Peter if he loved Him what he was really saying was "Peter, do you love me enough to give me your loaf of pride."
How about it, pride wouldn't be keeping you from calling him Lord, would it?
John and James had to Surrender the Loaf of Anger. The sons of Zebedee were fishing partners with Andrew and Peter and as we read through the gospels, we discover that Christ nicknamed them the "Sons of Thunder"
Now, I know, that in my book, I say that he called them that because everyone called their dad "Thunder", but that’s artistic licence.
Most commentators think it had a lot to do with their personalities. Do you remember when the Samaritan village wouldn’t welcome Jesus? Their response is recorded in Luke 9:54 When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?”
That seems a little extreme. Remember this is at the end of three years with Jesus. How could they have missed all that he had taught them, they must have slept through, "The meek will inherit the earth" and "Turn the other cheek" Just as Peter had failed to surrender his pride the Sons of Thunder had failed to give up their temper. Paul in particular speaks out concerning anger and temper. 1 Corinthians 13:4–5 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
and Galatians 5:19–20 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division. . .
And let's not forget what Christ said in Matthew 5:22 But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! I
The New King James Version says it a bit differently it says Matthew 5: 22 NKJV "But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.
What type of cause do we need? In John 2:13-16 Jesus drove the merchants and money changers out of the temple, listen to the account in John 2:13–16 It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”
Sounds like he was a little annoyed to me, but I've always wondered if the time he took to braid the cords into a whip might have been his way of counting to 10.
It doesn't sound like he flew off the handle, instead it would appear that he put some thoughts into why he was angry and what the proper response should be.
Ephesians 4:26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” You say, "Hold on, does that mean you can be angry and not sin?" Must be.
Abortion, and its disregard for the life of the preborn makes me angry. Although probably not angry enough.
But you see that anger is removed from me because it really doesn't affect me. I'm beyond being aborted. I'm not directly affected by abortion, so it's not really a selfish anger.
Back in the 1980s when I was pastoring in Truro, the church was involved in a rezoning battle with the neighbours, and I was guilty of holding on to the loaf of anger. Forget holding on to it, I was making sandwiches with it.
It was my church and my parsonage, and I was bound and determined that nobody was going to tell me what I could and couldn't do with it and look out if you got in my way.
It was really neat because all the official proceedings were televised over the local cable station. You may find this hard to believe but I got a reputation for being the most sarcastic pastor in town. Like me? And I had to apologize to my church for the damage I had done to them through my actions.
The rezoning wasn't that big of a deal, and if the truth was known it was probably because I saw it as a threat to Denn that I got all bent out of shape.
It was Aristotle who said, “Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.”
Sometimes some of us, like Denn Guptill, have to surrender the loaf of our tempers to Jesus.
John 1:46 “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” “Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.
3) Nathanael Had to Surrender the Loaf of Bigotry.
Let us be careful that the insidious little bug of bigotry doesn't creep in and eat our souls. As Canadians, we live in a mosaic of cultures and races. As Christians we need to extend the love of God to all of them. Regardless of colour, creed, religion or race.
Some people cling to their racial stereotypes, and that is just the way it is. It is probably best summed up by the journalist Walter Lippmann who said “The tendency of the casual mind is to pick out or stumble upon a sample which supports or defies its prejudices, and then to make it the representative of a whole class.”
Or as Rev. Jeffrey Johnson told his multicultural congregation "If God is your father, then I am your brother"
The Bible says the same thing, with different words. Galatians 3:28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. Nor black, nor white, nor red, nor Asian.
All too often we pass judgement on the immigrants who arrive on our doorsteps from all over the world.
And it's easy to be judgmental while we live in the relative safety and comfort of Canada, decreeing that they should go back to where they came from. But remember we are all descendants of boat people and if the Mi'kmaq had of had tougher immigration laws we'd all still be on the British Isles or Europe.
Bigotry doesn't just involve people of different races. Surrendering that loaf means that we treat people of different religions with respect, and this is tough that we treat other Christians of different denominations with respect. And hold on to your seats because it means we treat members of the LGBTQ community with respect.
King David had to surrender the loaf of lust, Nicodemus the loaf of tradition, Judas the loaf of ambition, Ananias and Sapphira the loaf of money. Are you hanging onto to some loaves in your life and wondering why you aren't seeing miracles. Or maybe you are holding onto the loaf of pride and won't even let Christ into your life.
Romans 12:1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him
