July 31, 2005
The 11th Sunday after Pentecost
Series A
Matthew 14:13-21
Jesus Feeds The Five Thousand
All four Gospel writers report this event - each with his unique perspective. Jesus, upon
hearing of the fate of John the Baptist at the hands of Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee,
withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Crowds of people followed Him to this
place on foot and arrived ahead of Him. If you have ever been in the middle of a lake
with little or no wind, it is not hard to explain the crowd arriving ahead of Jesus. Perhaps
the lake provided the solitude that Jesus needed -- for when He arrived on shore He
appeared to be refreshed, He had compassion on the crowd and healed the sick. Mark
tells us that He began teaching them many things. He could have stayed on the boat and
ignored the crowd -- but that is not the nature of our Savior who came to serve. The
disciples became concerned for the welfare of the crowd and encouraged Jesus to send
them away so they could go to the villages and buy some food . John’s perspective of this
event gives us insight into the thinking of the disciples. Jesus tested Philip - Where shall
we buy bread for these people to eat ? Philip wasn’t concerned with where -- he had a
problem with how -- he stated that eight months wages would provide only a bite for
each person. We have to pause here and ask -- were the disciples concerned for the
crowd or were they more concerned for the condition of their treasury?-- Did they have
the money but didn’t want to share? - Again from John’s Gospel we learn that Andrew
found a small boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish -- how could this little
contribution feed so many? By sending the crowds away, an opportunity would be
missed. This was another chance for Jesus to demonstrate through - a miraculous sign -
who He was and to further document that He is the Son of God, the promised Messiah,
the redeemer of lost mankind. --- Imagine missing a preaching opportunity with a crowd
of five thousand men plus women and children for the lack of a little food?
We all know that Jesus could have produced the food without any help - but that would
have denied the little boy the opportunity to participate in the work of the Lord. Jesus
didn’t need the food from the boy -- the little boy needed to give the food so that he could
participate in the Lord’s work. He could easily have said - I was smart enough to plan for
this contingency -- why should I share with those of you who didn’t. He could have also
said they walked here -- let them walk home. They made their beds, let them sleep in
them. He could have said if - Jesus is such a great teacher, he should plan his excursions
a little better and arrange for food -- all these preachers want is donations. Let’s face it
-- the little boy could have come up with plenty of reasons why he wasn’t going to part
with his lunch to support the work of the Lord - we certainly have our bags of excuses.
Like the widow’s gift of two very small copper coins - all she had to live on, this boy
gave all that he had to eat that day -- they both gave sacrificially. They both gave in faith
that the Lord would provide. They both gave expecting nothing in return. Jesus did not
explain to the boy His plan so that the boy could say -- OK this makes sense - I will help.
Jesus didn’t need to promise the boy a memorial plaque for the location. They did not
offer to rename the location to honor the donor. -- The boy gave sacrificially because he
trusted in the Lord. He gave expecting nothing in return and he gave quietly without
calling attention to himself.
This miracle is repeated daily in our lives. All of life is a miracle - all of creation. The
germination of seed to produce food, the soil to nurture the plants, the rain to make plants
grow into food.. The reproduction of fish and other animals for food -- the millions of
observed, studied, and researched behaviors that we try to understand in life are all
miracles that we take for granted. The rotation of the Earth at just the right distance from
the Sun. The many raw materials provided for us to live and prosper. The intellectual
skills that we have to manage economies and the production and distribution of resources
- are all miracles provided by God for our use. All that we have is created and owned by
God -- we just get to use His possessions.
The little boy trusted in the Lord. He trusted the Lord to do far more with the resources
than he could ever hope to do. On his own he could have fed himself and maybe one or
two others. By giving to the Lord -- the gift was multiplied -- well over 5000 were fed -- a
preaching opportunity was extended, the Lord was given extra time to teach, to preach
the word of God and to change the hearts of many people.
Yes this story is about a miracle. All of life is a miracle. This story is also about trust.
Trusting in God’s provision for our lives. Trusting in His church to carry on His work
here on Earth until His return. God has called us - the visible church - into existence
through His grace. In the Church we learn who God is, what He has done for us, what He
has made and owns. We learn that Jesus the Messiah lived the perfect life that we can
not live, we learn that our sins nailed Him to the cross, we learn that He willingly went to
the cross for our sins - He chose the nails - we learn that He was raised from the dead and
now sits at the right hand of God the Father and that we can stand before the Father
because we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. We have no righteousness of our
own. We are justified - called - sanctified -- and sent into the world to live - to praise and
glorify God by serving others through acts of servanthood done in the name of Jesus.
We can sit on the sidelines and watch this happen or we can actively participate in the
work of the Lord. We have time talents and treasures - on loan from God - that are
needed to carry on His work here in the world -- our Discipleship is lived out in the
community - our faith is personal but not private. We trust Jesus for our salvation - we
can not save ourselves - we can give to God through His church to participate in His
work. We can use those gifts that He has given us. Like the little boy with the food to
share we can also give sacrificially to participate in God’s work. We say that we believe
in sacrificial giving. In what ways are we willing to forgo the gratification of wants or
desires? What can we refrain from or abstain from? What can we sacrifice to participate
more fully in the Lord’s work? The list is limitless and, in the big scheme of things,
relatively painless. Examples include but are not limited to: turning off the TV shopping
channel, reducing cable coverage to a few channels instead of over one hundred --
throwing out the catalogues that come in the mail - staying out of Walmart unless buying
absolute necessities, taking less elaborate vacations closer to home, driving Fords instead
of Cadillacs or Hummers -- living in a modest home instead of a behemoth.- eating
more meals at home instead of in restaurants. The list is endless. Some changes are
easier to implement than others. In a few short months we will be thinking of Christmas
shopping again. This is an area where many of us literally waste money that could be
given to the Lord. It is easy to begin changing our spending habits here. We can buy far
less than we have in the past. Some of what we don’t spend can be given to the Lord’s
work. Some can be saved for future needs or used to pay down personal debt. We can
experience triple blessings. We can have less financial stress in our lives, we can have
less junk to take to the rummage sale - we can participate more fully in the work of the
Lord.. “Test me in this, “says the Lord Almighty. (Malachi 3:10) We can all make
changes - sacrifices if you insist - enabling us to give more to God through his Church so
that we can participate in His work and miss fewer and fewer opportunities to participate
in the building of His kingdom.
In The Name of Jesus
