The Problem:
“God is asking something from us financially that we don’t have the ability to fulfill.”
- v. 37.
- The disciples are asked to fulfill a request that requires financial resources they do not seem to have available.
- Often, “not enough money” is the end of the story, whether it is concerning a Christian (in tithing to their church or perhaps giving to a particular missionary or ministry or need) or a church (in boldly pursuing a dynamic (and expensive) new ministry or in increasing the amount of the budget given away). Too often, “there’s just not enough money” is the beginning and end of the discussion. This passage reminds us that seeming to lack the funds is not necessarily a sign that we aren’t supposed to pursue that path.
- We have been called to do more than we are able to do by ourselves. We must learn again that God’s provision usually begins at the point of our inadequacy.
Why Does God Do That To Us?
1. It pushes us to greater depths of trust.
2. It gives us the joy of participating in the blessing.
How Do We Do This In Our Situation?
1. Start with what you do have.
- v. 38.
- We’ll talk about what we would give if we won the lottery or suddenly inherited a million, but God is ready to use you right now. It may be that you don’t make a lot of money or have much in assets - that’s ok, God still wants to us you.
2. Know that you don’t have to fill everyone’s need.
- vv. 39-40.
- Looking at this crowd of perhaps 20,000 people (a ballpark figure off the 5,000 men we do know were there), the need was overwhelming. One of the nice, small details of this story is that Jesus has the disciples break the crowd up into smaller, more manageable groups. None of the disciples would be responsible for the entire crowd - one would start in this direction, another over here, still another down this way. Each would certainly do more than they ever anticipated they would be able to, but none had to serve the whole crowd.
- In our lives, we balk at the seemingly endless stream of needs that are present in our society. Why bother starting when there are so many that need touched? We too need to realize that God is in charge of the big picture and we are responsible for those that we find in front of us. As other Christians, other churches, and other ministries go in “their direction,” it’ll be amazing how many people are touched.
3. Give everything to Jesus.
- v. 41 - “And when He had taken the five loaves and two fish. . .”
- Could Jesus have done the miracle with just a crumb? Absolutely, but he took everything that they had. In our lives, we must come to the understanding in our financial lives that everything we have belongs to God. Not that 90% is our’s and 10% is God’s - everything that we own belongs to God. In His generosity, He provides for our needs and our “daily bread.” We thank Him for that and understand that we are stewards of the money that He has entrusted to us. I do not, of course, mean that we give away 100% of our income (unless God would direct you to), but that even what we keep to pay our bills belongs to Him. He is “Lord of our checkbook.” We have told Him, “Father, I recognize that You have the right to do anything You want with the money I have in the bank because it really all belongs to You.”
4. Talk to the Father about your money.
- v. 41 - “. . . He looked up to heaven. . .”
- Understanding the Lordship of Jesus over our money, we then need to begin to consult the Father about our finances. As Jesus takes the bread, His eyes first look toward God. As we think about the use of our money, our eyes should first look toward God.
5. Seek Jesus’ blessing on your money.
- v. 41 - “. . . blessed it. . .”
- The Greek word that is used here for “blessing” is “eulogeo,” which means “to speak well of.” As we talk to the Father about our money, we acknowledge that we want to use it in a way that Jesus will “speak well of,” in a way that Jesus is ready and willing to bless. Of course, a key to our money having a dynamic and extensive impact is that Jesus chooses to bless it and so it’s impact is multiplied.
6. Expect brokenness.
- v. 41 - “. . . and broke the loaves. . .”
- Sometimes people think of the relationship between God and our money as simply being that God is to supply us enough money for us to have whatever we want. But the truth is that God has promised to meet our needs, not our greeds.
- We live in a society that is so materialistic that the lies of materialism may have sunk deep into us. God may have to break us of our materialistic spirit in order to be able to begin to bring greater blessings into our lives. Because of that, when we commit our financial lives to God, we need to anticipate that there may be some brokenness involved. It’s not that God can’t provide enough money for us to have everything we ever wanted - it’s that that isn’t what God wants us focusing our lives on. In the process of giving God the financial gifts He deserves, we may have to break off some pieces of our little fiefdom. It’s part of us deciding that God is our highest priority, even higher than our material comfort.
- Further, as we give to the Lord, we remember that we have been called to sacrifice. The money we give to God in tithes and offerings is money we could have thought of a lot of ways to spend. But we give it to God as a sacrifice. “I will not sacrifice to the Lord something that costs me nothing,” David said.
7. Relish the opportunity to be a channel for God’s blessing.
- v. 41 - “. . . and gave them to His disciples to set before [the people]. . .”
- One of the interesting things here is that Jesus is the one who provides the miraculous power, yet it’s the disciples who get the fun of walking around through the crowd giving out the food and seeing the expressions of joy and wonder.
- In our lives, as we give to the Lord as He’s called us to, whether it’s through the specific gifts that we’ve given and how they touch lives, or whether it’s through blessings that God opens up because of our faithfulness, we have the privilege of being a channel for God’s blessing. It’s not like the money was really our’s - as we said earlier, everything we have is from God and belongs to God. Yet, in His grace, God gives us the joy and wonder of seeing how our financial giving impacts lives for Jesus Christ. Be have the honor, joy, and privilege of getting to be a channel of God’s blessing.
8. Anticipate abundance from God.
- v. 42-44.
- What Jesus’ miracle provided was enough for all 20,000 there, with more left over than they had to begin with. As we honor God with our money, we should anticipate that God is going to pour out abundance into our lives. Sometimes it is financial in nature (but not so that we can live the high life but so that we can further bless others). Often God is even more generous that that by bringing even greater abundance (relational, spiritual, emotional, etc.). But one thing is sure: if we put Jesus in charge, abundance is not going to be a problem.
- My wife and I have tried to faithful to God financially and at times it has been hard but we have persisted. One of the things we’ve both always had on our hearts was the desire to adopt a child. We’re blessed with three boys of our own, but the thought of children growing up without a family has broken both of our hearts. As we looked into international adoption, the cost was just too steep ($25,000) on a pastor’s salary. Last spring, my wife was picking up the boys from school when someone approached her and asked, “So, do you want to go to China?” My wife asked what this person meant and they explained that they had been watching a program on orphanages in China and it had broken their heart, but they were not in a position to able to adopt themselves. “I was praying about it at the sink,” this person went on, “and God told me to go talk to Jim and Karen.” Karen responded that, even though we had never talked about it publicly, we had always wanted to adopt but that we didn’t have the money. This person said, “If you want to adopt, I will pay 100% of the expenses.” That’s $25,000! We are anticipating traveling in November to China to bring home our daughter. Isn’t God amazing? The point is simple: anticipate abundance from God!
