God SUPPORTS

Sermon for Sunday, July 26
Scripture: John 6:1-15
(Part 2 of a 4-part Sermon Series on Igniting God's Vision at West Newton UMC)

Each Gospel writer tells this story of the feeding the 5000 a little differently. For instance, consider how it begins. Matthew has Jesus healing the sick, and Mark and Luke have Jesus teaching the crowds. John however, has no healing or teaching by Jesus. In the Gospel of John, the feeding of the 5000 is the only thing Jesus does. So here is Jesus, welcomed ashore by an impromptu crowd, and he gets an idea. Let’s break bread together. Let’s have a meal. For John, it seems, there is no purpose for Jesus feeding the 5000 other than having one huge picnic. If Jesus had landed on the shore of New England, they’d have an all-day clam bake. If he had landed in North Carolina, it would be a barbecue. And if he came to Chicago, they’d share some deep-dish pizzas. In the region of Galilee, it’s a picnic of bread and fish. The point is, John wants us to notice that Jesus is simply suggesting a shared meal, a big dinner party at the beach.

The feeding of the 5000 is the only story found in all four gospels. So naturally, it has come to be one of the most well known. We’ve taken a cue from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, holding it up as one of the essential stories of our faith. If they all insist in telling it, then it must be important. And it is important. It is well known. So well known, in fact, that this story plays out often in the life of congregations near and far.

A crowd has gathered. They’ve come to experience the work of Jesus Christ in their lives. They’re all locals, and they rushed to make sure they were here on time. And now, this man they call Jesus has entered into their presence. Now, the all-important administrative council meeting may begin.

The story begins with the crowd gathering around a common goal – to experience Jesus. And Jesus suggests this picnic ministry – let’s feed everyone! How nice would that be? Whaddya say?

“Okay, administrative council, help me out,” Jesus says. “Let’s figure out how we’re going to do this.”

Philip, the finance committee representative, speaks up. “JESUS CHRIST! We don’t have the money to do that! We’re barely able to pay the bills as it is!” He’s not alone in doubting the church’s ability to perform Christ’s ministry.

After some discussion, the shy, pimply-faced, teenager finally musters up the courage to speak up. “Uh, excuse me, but, um, well, I was just wondering…is there some way I can help? It sounds like a neat idea – having a big picnic for everyone. I work at Giant Eagle, and I can get us a discount on some fish sandwiches.”

“Calm down over there, Junior,” says Andrew, representing the missions and evangelism committee. “Philip’s right. We’re going to need more disciples showing up on Sundays, and a whole lot more tithing, if we want to feed ALL those people! We can’t possibly afford such a big picnic. Maybe we could just have a small one, you know? I like the idea, but we need to be realistic here.”

Haley Neumiller is a five year old girl from Washington state. One day, Haley caught her parents watching a documentary that was talking about health concerns in Kenya, one of which is the disease of malaria. Haley told her parents she wanted to do something to help in the fight against malaria, and asked them to help her start a business making bracelets to “raise money for malaria.” Almost every night, she makes homemade bracelets and sells them to support Nothing But Nets. Her business, “Haley Fights Malaria,” has already raised over $1000 – 100 bed nets!

John is the only Gospel writer who has the loaves and fishes offered up by a boy. Perhaps he knows just as well as we do that children have a tendency to dream bigger than the rest of us. Haley Neumiller is a kindergartener that dreamed of making an impact halfway around the world. What would’ve happened if her parents had said, “C’mon Haley, be realistic. Maybe someday, when you’re all grown up, you can help. But not now – you’re just a kid.” Had Haley not had parents willing to dream big with her, there would be 100 less people with bed nets in Africa right now.

Sometimes, we treat our church like a child. Maybe once the church gets to the right age, starts making money, and has enough saved up, then she can do the ministry to which she’s been called. Maybe someday – but not now. I mean, who ever heard of such a thing? Who ever heard of 5,000 people being fed by 5 loaves and 2 fish? Let’s be realistic – we don’t have the resources!

I wish I could tell you that I’m a big dreamer, but I’m not. I’ve always been a bit of a realist myself, using money or lack of resources as an excuse to not be in ministry:

“Man, I’d love to get involved with that campus outreach, but I just don’t have the time.”

“You know, it’d be nice to go on that international mission trip, but I’m in high school. I don’t have the money to do that!”

The disciples in this story are motivated by doubt and fear. They doubt that there are enough resources for ministry to occur, and they fear that Jesus’ picnic plan might fail. But as the text tells us, Jesus “himself knew what he was going to do.”

Jesus was not concerned about whether or not the ministry event would take place. He was only interested in HOW it would take place. And while the disciples are looking at their own resources, Jesus points to the resources of the father. He takes what little bread they have, looks up to his Father in heaven, and before you know it, everyone’s fed and satisfied – by a very small amount of food!

The disciples are busy looking at their own limited resources, but Jesus knows that there are resources in abundance. God the Father has resources beyond our wildest dreams! God has placed the disciples in this setting for a purpose, and he’s just waiting to bless them with extravagant, abundant, copious amounts of food! This is the miracle of the feeding of the 5000. God took what scarce resources there were, and turned them into abundant resources that made extravagant ministry possible. The disciples were motivated by doubt and fear, which prevented them from being in ministry with the crowd. They had what Paul would call a “spirit of cowardice.” But Jesus was motivated by love and compassion. He had a “spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.” Jesus knew that God had enough power, resources, and love, to make all things possible.

If we can just get our heads clear of human doubts and fears, and look up toward heaven, we might find the abundant resources we’ve been seeking all along. If we stop thinking about our plans for ministry and start thinking of God’s plans for ministry, then we will have the chance to experience the glory of the Risen Christ, who can equip even a poor, 12 member church to do what seems impossible. “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and love and self-discipline.” Will we live in doubt and fear, stubbornly insisting on being realistic about what we can do for the glory of God? Or will we trust that God can do more extraordinary things through us than we could do ourselves? In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.