Iliff and Saltillo United Methodist
July 31, 2005
“Life is Sure No Picnic”
Matthew 14:13-21
INTRODUCTION: A man in a van stopped to fill up the gas tank. He had a van full of restless rowdy kids. Someone asked him, “Are these all your kids or are you on a picnic?”
He answered “Yes, these are my kids and NO, it’s not a picnic!”
Summer is a time of picnics and outdoor fun and activities for most people. You might have some summer time traditions in your family where every year you always go to a certain park or picnic grounds. When I was growing up we used to take a big picnic basket and go to Old Man’s Cave for the day. You might look forward to family reunions where people gather to enjoy the summer. Picnics are of great variety.
Walter’s favorite kind of picnic is to take two cans of pop and stop at Subway to get a couple of seafood and crab subs and then go to Dillon.
In today’s scripture, even though the people gathered together outdoors in the spring, sitting on the grass, eating bread and fish, “Life was sure no picnic for them.” This story is the only one told in all four gospels. Each account gives us a little bit of different information. Just as it is today, they faced many difficulties just as we all do and life was
no picnic for them. They were weighed down by many things. Some were sick and were looking to Jesus to heal them.
There are several things that we can apply to our lives today from this story.
1. Jesus Saw the Need and Had Compassion: In the Matthew, Mark, and Luke accounts, Jesus has just heard the news about John the Baptist being beheaded by Herod. That was sad news for him, and maybe He wanted to be alone for awhile to think--to take time out. The disciples were tired from being with crowds of people and ministering to need after need. Jesus intended to get away from it all for awhile to rest and to pray, but the crowds tracked him down. He could have been IRRITATED by their clamoring for first one thing and then another, but instead the scripture opens by saying in verse 14 “when Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had COMPASSION on them and healed their sick.” His heart went out to them. He WELCOMED all who came.
Mark’s gospel says that Jesus saw them as “sheep without a shepherd.” They had a variety of needs. Many were sick and sought healing, some had traveled a great distance to come to the Passover. It was late in the day and they were tired and out in the middle of no where without food. In a crowd of this size I am sure there must have been all kinds of frustrations and that these people experienced all kinds of lacks. They were probably wandering around like sheep without a shepherd not knowing where they were headed. At that point life was sure no picnic for them. They sought Jesus in hopes of seeing their needs met.
APPLICATION: Much of our life is made up of the routine, one problem after another. It is not the picnics or the celebrations but times when we feel the questions and problems press in on us. It is when we are uncertain about decisions, our energy level is down and we don’t know what we are supposed to do. Besides this we may be hungry.
2. There is NO Need for Them to Depart: The disciples urged Jesus to take a break late in the day and send the people into the towns to get some food. Instead he told them, “There is no need for them to depart.” Why would he say this when there was no place to buy food? The nearest town, Bethsadia, was about 9 miles from there. Why would he want them to stay when there was nothing to give them to eat? In John’s account Jesus asked Philip, “Where can we buy bread?” He knew that if anyone knew, it would be Philip because he lived at Bethsaida. What he is really asking is, “How are we going to approach this problem? He was trying to test or to strengthen Philip’s faith, also to help the disciples to see their responsibility in ministry. Jesus was not accustomed to sending people away with needs. He is saying, “It is not necessary that you go away EMPTY HANDED with the same needs that you came with.
APPLICATION: How many times are we just like the disciples in our thinking when it comes to the enormity of needs in the world today or in our OWN LIVES. We come to church sometimes with deep needs and problems and go away with those same needs because we are thinking, “It’s impossible. How’s He going to do this for ME?”
Jesus was not accustomed to sending people away empty handed. Jesus is saying to us today, “There is no need for you to go away the same as you came still burdened down by all kinds of problems.”
Another disciple, Andrew, had located a small boy who had a lunch of 5 loaves and 2 fish. But even though he brought the boy to Jesus, he said, “But what is that among so many?” The need is so great and the resources way too scarce. This doesn’t amount to anything. It is only a drop in the bucket. However, Andrew was more HOPEFUL in that he BROUGHT the boy to Jesus. Don’t let your estimate of what can or can’t be done keep you from taking on a task. We often say, “that’s not much, so I won’t do anything at all.”
Jesus was trying to get the disciples to thinking. How could they provide what the people needed when it looked impossible. The disciples looked at the need through their HUMAN EYES--It never OCCURRED to them that with Jesus things are not as impossible as they seem. “All things are possible--only believe.”
STORY: A businessman who needed millions of dollars to clinch an important deal went to church to pray for the money. By chance he knelt next to a man who was praying for $100. to pay an urgent debt.
The businessman took out his wallet and pressed $100. into the other man’s hand. Overjoyed, the man thanked him, got up and left the church, praising God. The businessman watched as the man left and the door behind him completely closed, then bowed his head and prayed,”And now, Lord, that I have your undivided attention...”
And then Jesus said, “YOU give them to eat.” They didn’t have the slightest idea how to do that. Philip protested by saying, “It would take 8 months salary to buy food for all this crowd even if we could find a Sam’s Club to get it. The disciples were focusing on what they DIDN’T have. Jesus was interested in showing his disciples that He was not only able to meet the SPIRITUAL needs of people but also the PHYSICAL needs.
APPLICATION: When it comes to our thinking today, do we limit Him to meeting just a certain kind of need--he can do THIS or THIS but I don’t know about something else?
When you approach the Lord in prayer, ask Him about ALL your needs. When you come to him with a need do you focus on your lacks and what you DON’T have? Most of the time we do. In Mark’s account Jesus asked, “How many loaves do you have?”
What are your resources
3. His Approach to the Problem: Even at the time Jesus questioned Philip, He knew how He was going to handle the problem, but He wanted to pull in the disciples. He wanted them to know that in spite of an enormous overwhelming need before them, that something could be done. He wanted them to focus beyond their HUMAN understanding to see how He could handle the situation.
STORY: A Texan wanted to go ice fishing. He’d seen many books on the subject, and finally, after getting all the necessary “tools” together, he made for the nearest frozen lake. After positioning his comfortable footstool, he started to make a circular cut in the ice.
Suddenly--from the sky--a voice boomed, “There are no fish under the ice! “ Startled, the Texan moved further down the ice, poured a Thermos of cappucciono, began to cut yet another hole. Again from the heavens, the voice bellowed, “There are no fish under the ice!”
The Texan, now quite worried, moved way down to the opposite end of the ice, set his stool down, and tried again to cut a hole in the ice. The voice came once more:”THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE!”
He stopped, looked skyward, and said, “Is that you Lord?”
The voice replied, “No, I’m the Ice-Arena Manager!”
Jesus gave them some instructions that they could understand. He told the disciples to seat the people in groups of 50 on the grass. There was an organized approach maybe for two or three reasons. He intended to prepare the people to receive the answer. Sometimes we don’t receive because we are not ready to receive. But first they had to get into the position to receive just as we do.
Getting them to sit down in groups helped to
1. facilitate the distribution of food
2. stabilize the people and kept them from getting into a panic and trying to make a mad rush for the food once they started to give it out.
3. it was a way to count the people.
Jesus was not at a loss for a solution. Get the people seated and ready for it.
It is necessary for us to get ourselves ready to receive--to quiet our hearts--to wait upon the Lord--to do what we can do as we approach the Lord for our needs.
Isaiah 40:31 says, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength..” To wait before the Lord is to hear his direction--to hear what he is trying to tell us. To lift our focus from the lack and impossibilities to faith in what He can do--to evaluate what we already have and what can be done with our current resources.
Jesus took what resources were available --two fish and five loaves of bread and lifted it to heaven. He
(l) BLESSED it. This was normal for the head of a Jewish household:
“Blessed art thou
O Lord our God
King of the Universe
Who bringeth forth
bread from the earth...
(2) He BROKE it into pieces
(3) He GAVE it to the disciples to hand out.
The multiplication was not done with great fanfare. He didn’t multiply it all at once into a massive heap of bread and fish. There was not a visible difference--it still looked scarce--some fish nuggets in their hands--some little pieces of bread. Still not much but they began to give it out to the waiting people--the supply didn’t run out like they might have thought it would. The first fifty were served--the next group was being served. The disciples RECEIVED from Jesus--they GAVE it to the hungry people. They followed his instructions.
STORY: An efficiency expert concluded his lecture with a note of caution. “You don’t want to try these techniques at home.”
“Why not?” asked someone from the back of the audience.
“I watched my wife’s routine at breakfast for years,” the expert explained. “She made lots of trips to the refrigerator, stove, table, and cabinets, often carrying just a single item at a time. “Hon,” I suggested, “Why don’t you try carrying several things at once?”
“The voice from the back asked,” Did it save time?”
The expert replied, “Actually, yes. It used to take her 20 minutes to get breakfast ready. Now I do it in seven.!”
I don’t know how long it took them to distribute the bread and fish. The important thing to remember is that THEY didn’t do the miracle. Their DEPENDENCY was fully upon the Lord--but they did what He asked them to do--they took the food as he gave it to them and gave it to the waiting people.
ARE YOU DEPENDING upon the Lord. We, too, receive in small amounts, but as we give it out--more is available to us. As we see one of our needs met we can receive from Him for the next. As we help ONE person giving out from the resources we have, we can give to the next. Don’t worry about HOW it is multiplied. It will be. What is amazing here is that the disciples CONTINUED to hand out the bread and fish and people “ate and were satisfied or filled.” (vs. 42). There was MORE THAN ENOUGH to go around.
NOT JUST BARELY ENOUGH. He was GENEROUS but he didn’t want the leftovers to be wasted. There was plenty left for another time.
STORY: meat loaf crumbs
Jesus has more than enough for us. We limit God in our lives. We settle for the “JUST BARELY” when we need to think in terms of “we were satisfied or filled--I can’t eat another bite.” And it is not us who multiplies the resources--it’s JESUS. We depend upon our own self-sufficiency far to much--we must learn to DEPEND upon the Lord. There are certain things that only He can do for us. When we try to do things our way we are often disappointed.
When all of this happened, the people realized that God was at work among them. How do we know this? John’s gospel says in vs. 14, “After the people saw the miracle that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the prophet who is come into the world.”
CONCLUSION: Today your life may sure not be a picnic. You may have lots of needs and scares resources. Allow Jesus to touch your situation and do the miracle. Don’t try to struggle and do what only He can do for you. It is your job to position yourself to receive from Him.
There is no need for you to depart empty handed
Jesus knows how to get his resources to you whether it’s a spiritual or a physical need.
He doesn’t just give you crumbs, but He fills you to the full. Remember, “They all ate and were satisfied.” Bring your scarce provisions to Jesus and allow him to do His work in your life today.
Shall we pray:
