SCRIPTURE
John 6:1-21 (NRSV)
Jesus feeds 5000
After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?" He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?" Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost." So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world."
When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
SERMON
I have read today’s Bible passage countless times! I love to read about Jesus feeding the 5,000 people from a little boy’s lunch. There is something so timeless about this story and the miracle that accompanies it. Although I first heard this story as a little child, it continues to amaze and astound me imparting new life lessons for me to apply at every turn.
So, what is Jesus up to in today’s Gospel reading? Well, the Gospel of John says that Jesus was moving about--and around—the Sea of Galilee. As he went, large crowds followed him asking him to heal their sick. Jesus’ Name and Fame had been spread abroad as a result of his teaching and the witness of his disciples and others. People came from far and near to get a glimpse of this man who was doing such awesome things!
As Jesus caught sight of the large crowds he said to Philip, “How shall we feed all these people?” Now, I don’t know about you, but this question cracks me up. Can you just imagine the look of complete shock and panic on Philip’s face as he tried to imagine where they could possibly get more than six months wages to feed all those hungry mouths?
Now with my Holy Ghost imagination, I can just see Philip scanning the crowd. Looking at the 5,000 people all standing around waiting for something to happen. As Philip swings his head to and fro frantically trying to think of a solution, Andrew interjects by saying, “Hey! There’s a kid over here with his lunch pail, but what can we do with so little food?”
Now, dear friends, this leads us to the first lesson from today’s Bible passage. Human beings see scarcity, but God sees abundance! Let’s think on this for a moment. Andrew and Philip were looking at two fish and five loaves of bread and they saw a problem. Jesus looked at the same two fish and five loaves of bread and saw a solution. Andrew and Philip looked at the little bitty lunch and saw a shortage, Jesus looked at the same lunch and saw an excess. Andrew and Philip looked at what they had and felt doomed to failure, whereas Jesus looked at what they had and anticipated success!
Oh hallelujah! Come on now…If you get this lesson it will change your life.
When we look at our problems in the absence of faith, we do not see things as they truly are! We think that we are being realistic. You know one plus one always equals two and that is how things work in the world. But, as Christians, we are not citizens of this world only. We are citizens of the Kingdom of Love and the Kingdom of Abundance and Our Sovereign Lord is named More Than Enough.
Jesus took 2 + 5 and came up with more than 5,000. Now how does that work?
Well, the answer to this question is also the second lesson from today’s reading. In Christian ministry two plus five equals more than enough when you put all of your hope in Jesus as you seek to love and serve the needy within your sphere of influence.
Let me try to break this down. When Philip and Andrew saw all of the people, they perceived a problem. They may have even begun an internal conversation that went something like this, “Who do they think we are? Where do these folks think we’re going to get food enough to feed all of them? Why don’t they just walk into town and get their own food? We’re on a tight budget here! We can’t afford to do good to everyone who asks it of us. We’ve got to think about our own survival! If we worry about all these folks today, what are we going to do tomorrow?”
Now, before we get all frustrated with Jesus’ disciples, let’s tell the truth on ourselves and shame the devil, huh? As church folks, don’t we sometimes operate out of a mentality of scarcity? One of my Facebook friend’s said, “I’m little and often feel like I have little to offer. My congregation feels like that too, sometimes. We all feel like there’s so much to do, and we’re so ordinary, so little, so insignificant. What can we do? But, somehow, by God’s power and abundance, we little people can feed the world [offering] the Word [which is] the Bread of Life.”
Oh glory! When I was a little girl we used to sing a song entitled “Ordinary People” by Dannielbelle Hall. In it she writes, “God uses ordinary people. [God] chooses people just like me and you who are willing to do as He commands. God uses people that will give Him all, no matter how small your all may seem to you. Because little becomes much as you place it in the Master's hand.”
Now come on somebody! If you have spent any time in a church, you have heard stories of God’s mighty provision for those who will exercise faith in More Than Enough. I have heard of church folks who didn’t know how they were going to pay the bills, but then they raised an offering that was More Than Enough. I have heard tell of people who hosted a Vacation Bible School without enough teachers or snacks, but then More Than Enough showed up and all was well. I have heard testimonies about people who welcomed the homeless to sleep in their church basement without enough volunteers scheduled to work, but then More Than Enough showed up in the midnight hour. I’ve heard of tiny little churches doing great things for God because they had more than enough love, more than enough faith, and more than enough joy to light up the neighborhood! I could go on and on, but you have your own stories about how More Than Enough has shown up for you!
And this brings me lesson number three from today’s scripture reading. Jesus is More Than Enough to meet your every personal and Christian ministry need!
See, I believe that it never even occurred to Jesus that God, who is our all sufficiency, would not provide more than enough for him to feed the hungry people. So in response to the disciple’s perception of lack, Jesus simply took what he had been given by the faithful little boy and blessed it and broke it and gave it to all of the people! Listen to me now, Jesus took the bread, blessed it and broke it and give it to his disciples…
Oh, my heart just begins to get giddy when I hear those words! This feast for 5,000 people was just a harbinger of things to come. For another Passover Feast was coming when Jesus would find himself in an upper room with his disciples. At that supper scripture records that our Lord Jesus Christ “took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins…”
Wow! As Jesus broke the bread, gave thanks, and distributed it to the thousands and thousands of people sitting on the mountainside, He must have surely been watching as God transformed two fish and five loaves of bread into “more than enough” for all who were assembled. I love John’s account of the feeding of the 5,000 because he states that all of the people ate as much as they wanted, until all were completely satisfied, and yet there was still bread leftover!!
Isn’t that the way God does us my friends! We are invited to take the little bit of whatever we have and offer it to God as a sacrificial offering of thanks and praise. It doesn’t matter how small we feel. It doesn’t matter how little our gift appears to us. All that matters is that we joyfully and cheerfully and liberally give to God the best of our time, talent, and treasure trusting that God will multiply it, as God sees fit, in order to ensure that there is more than enough for everyone who needs it!
I love the definition of faith found in Hebrews 11: 1 which says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Sometimes, we can’t see how God is going to rescue us. We can’t see how God is going to make a way out of no way. We can’t see how God is going to provide enough to meet our needs, but we don’t have to see the solution nor the provision. All we need to see is our GOD.
The Bible says that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, our mind, our soul, and our strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:30).
As we live into that commandment, we will find that God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we could even ask or think (Ephesians 3:20)!
As we seek to love God and love neighbor through our GOOD NEWS testimonies, God will increase our resources of time, talent, and treasure in order to make the GOOD NEWS available to all who need to hear it!
See, God loves us so much that God gave Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life. Just as the bread broken and blessed on the hill was more than enough to feed all of the people until they were totally satisfied, Jesus’ death upon the cross and resurrection on the third day, was more than enough to reconcile our relationship with God, make atonement for our sin, and grant us life forever in the heavens with our God.
Anyone who seeks this forgiveness and eternal life may have it! There is more than enough for all of God’s children! This GOOD NEWS is not something that we need to hoard to ourselves for fear that God’s love, grace, mercy, and abundance will run out, rather, we should be joyfully, cheerfully, ridiculously, liberally glad to share this GOOD NEWS with everyone we meet!
Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life. The person who comes to me will never go hungry, and the person who believes in Me will never thirst (John 6:35).” Jesus is our “daily bread” my friends and as such, we cannot live without Him. In Jesus, God is revealed to us as MORE THAN ENOUGH. Let us bear the name of More than Enough to all who are hungry and thirsty this day…In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.
Have you been feeling hungry and thirsty in your soul? Would you like to be in relationship with God, who is More Than Enough to meet all of your needs? If so, won’t you please pray with me?
Dear God, I thank you that you love me so much that you gave Jesus to die on the cross to save me from my sin and gift me with eternal life. I pray on this day that you would forgive me of all of my sin and fill me with the Holy Spirit. I believe with all of my heart that God, you raised Jesus from the dead, you are able to forgive my sins and you are able to gift me with eternal life. For you are truly More Than Enough. I pray on this day that I would be empowered to share with my friends this relationship that I have with you. I pray this in Jesus Name, Amen.
SPECIAL NOTE
If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, today, you are saved! I would be so honored if you would let me know about your decision by clicking “Yes” in the poll located at the top/right of today’s devotional! I am so happy for you! Happy Spiritual Re-Birth-Day!
Next steps: In response to what God did for you just now, let me suggest that you consider telling another Christian so that they can celebrate with you! Ask them to help you find a Bible that is easy for you to understand so that you can learn more about your new-found faith! Ask them to help you find a good Bible believing church where you can be baptized and make new friends who will walk with you on your new journey! You are already saved; now let God mature you by faith! Congratulations!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
To listen to audio recordings of Pastor Yolanda's Sunday sermons, please visit http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/57814 or click the widget to the right on this page!
If you would like to put all of your hope in Jesus today, please visit my blog entitled, “Putting All Your Hope In Jesus” located at
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/04/putting-all-your-hope-in-jesus.html
If you have additional questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, "Come to Jesus"
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/come-to-jesus.html
Pastor Yolanda is now publishing another blog entitled, “A Spoken WORD” in celebration of Holy Hip Hop, Gospel/Christian Rap and Spoken Word. Please check it out @ http://aspokenword.blogspot.com/
You are invited to follow Pastor Yolanda on Twitter www.twitter.com/PastorYolanda
Good News has now added a Prayer Ministry. http://www.kindlejoy.com/groups/goodnews
You are invited to leave comments or questions regarding today’s devotional. These comments are public.
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From Pastor Yolanda's blog http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com
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