WEBVTT 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:09.359 A reading from the Gospel according to John. 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:06.959 Chapter 6, verses 1 to 15. 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:21.439 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberius, and a large crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:27.040 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:31.439 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:42.719 Lifting up his eyes then and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:47.120 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:55.280 Philip answered him, Two hundred deneree worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:07.680 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 for so many? 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:11.439 Jesus said, Half the people sit down. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:18.639 Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:29.520 Jesus then 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. 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:38.159 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost. 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:46.479 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:55.919 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world. 00:02:56.319 --> 00:03:06.080 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:08.960 The Gospel of the Lord. 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:12.000 Praise be to you, O Christ. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:21.680 Grace, mercy, and peace are yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:22.639 Amen. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:26.080 Finish this sentence. 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:32.560 I'm not being pessimistic, I'm just being realistic. 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:33.520 Yes. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:39.360 This is the ironclad defense behind which the pessimist hides. 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:53.439 See, the pessimist likes to pass himself off as a flinty, straight shooter, someone who's willing to look the hard truth in the eye without blinking. 00:03:54.159 --> 00:04:03.199 He thinks his pessimism is a virtue of his strength and his character and his resolve. 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:30.240 And I would counsel you to adopt a position of realism or even unabashed pessimism, if we lived in a world where there were no God, and if we did not know the Lord Jesus, and if we had not heard that the scriptures call us to walk by faith and not by sight. 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:55.360 But because there is a God, and because you are of Christ, and because he has called you to follow him, not knowing always where he will lead you, it seems to me that we have to do a sort of gut check on ourselves when those less than optimistic reactions arise in our hearts. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:16.079 In the same way that in today's gospel, I find some of Jesus' disciples, like Philip and Andrew, being forced to undergo a gut check on a day when their eyes were filled with the enormity of the problem before them and the scarcity of the resources at their disposal. 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:18.079 And for good reason. 00:05:18.399 --> 00:05:36.480 For late on that afternoon, Philip and Andrew were standing with Jesus and they were surveying this massive crowd of people, 5,000 plus, coming towards them on the far side of the Sea of Galilee, out in the boonies, far from any sort of sizable city or village. 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:47.199 When Jesus very obnoxiously turned to them and asked them to come up with a plan to serve that entire crowd dinner. 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:57.839 Listen to the pessimism/slash realism in the answers that they give to Jesus when he puts questions to them. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:02.160 Listen to Philip when Jesus says to him, Where shall we buy bread? 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:04.879 And you can hear him tripping over himself. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:10.319 Look, Jesus, I don't mean to be down on this whole idea of feeding the crowd. 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:15.839 It sounds like a great plan, but let's be realistic here. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:25.519 We don't have nearly enough cash on hand, Jesus, to put up a buffet line and serve them all food. 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:36.399 Or likewise, Andrew, who tries to pass himself off as resourceful, if at the same time also realistic. 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:43.600 Saying, look, I came up with a meal, five loaves, two fish. 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:51.040 But, well, realistically, that's not going to go very far, is it? 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:58.800 And if you want to get the full flavor of Andrew's thoughts on this, I should point out that the word that he uses to describe the fish is a diminutive form. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:07.439 In other words, Andrew is not seeing three-foot-long salmon on ice in the grocery store case here, or a hundred-pound halibut being pulled up off the Alaskan seafloor. 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:08.879 They're little fish. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:18.480 This is what Andrew sees: five little barley loaves, two small fish, and a great big crowd of mouths to feed. 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:28.879 We can hardly fault Philip and Andrew for their reaction in the face of this impossible scenario. 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:31.439 I mean, they weren't wrong. 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:38.399 It takes an awful lot of food to fill 5,000 growling stomachs. 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:49.839 And you don't need to be a professional accountant to add up five and two and compare it to 5,000 and realize that it's not going to go very far indeed. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:08:05.839 So faced with this reality, how much was demanded, how little they had, Philip and Andrew retreated into that position of pessimism and despair. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:12.240 There's just no way Jesus is asking the impossible of us. 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:20.000 Now the gospel writer John tells us that Jesus put them in this scenario because he intended to test them. 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:22.399 He wanted to train them. 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:36.879 He wanted to train them what to do when you are faced with impossibilities, with circumstances that are way beyond what you believe that you can handle. 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:45.440 And Jesus' mode of doing this is not to sit down and lecture them and give them an easy five-step plan. 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:55.679 Instead, what Jesus does is to simply proceed with what he already knew that he was going to do. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:11.120 You could think of it like this Jesus already had this matter in his hands, but now he was inviting Philip and Andrew and the rest of his disciples to see it, to recognize that that was so. 00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:23.440 To learn that when you're facing the impossibility, if you look to Jesus, you will discover that he has already taken this matter into his own most capable hands. 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:30.480 And so what Jesus does is he employs his disciples in making it so that there's no escape from this situation at all. 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:33.039 He gives the command to have the people sit down. 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:36.720 That would be the cue that it was about time for food to be served. 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:40.879 Spread the picnic blankets, get the baskets out, it's time to eat. 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:56.720 And it's interesting, isn't it, that though the disciples are frozen in this moment, Jesus isn't at all, and he forces them to overcome that frozenness and to be the very actors that make it so that this entire crowd is now waiting for a meal. 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:01.279 Again, it's Jesus just operating as if it were any normal day. 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:07.039 He looks at his watch, he says, Hey, it's about time for dinner, and so he goes about setting the table. 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:10.320 And after you've set the table for dinner, what do you do? 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:13.440 Well, you say your mealtime prayers, right? 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:21.519 And so Jesus too looks down at the scarce resources at his disposal. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:27.519 In fact, he literally takes those five barley loaves into his hands. 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:31.679 And likewise Andrew's two small little fish. 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:37.679 But when Jesus takes them into his hands, he doesn't see how little is there. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:53.120 In fact, it must be very significant indeed that taking this lunch in his hands, it's enough for Jesus to lift up his eyes and give thanks. 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:56.159 I mean, don't you think that that's significant? 00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:00.240 That Jesus has a single lunch box in his hand. 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:09.679 And this alone is enough for him to lift his eyes and his heart in grateful gratitude. 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:12.240 This is truly astounding. 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:16.879 After all, his are the hands that shaped and fashioned all things. 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:28.559 And it seems that he is quite pleased indeed, not at how little was returned to him, but that anything was returned to him at all. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:45.519 And so those hands that shaped and fashioned all things lift up the loaves, they give thanks, and then they hand those loaves to those same disciples to start breaking off pieces of bread and distributing it to the crowd. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:48.639 And this, of course, is where things begin to turn. 00:11:48.960 --> 00:12:07.519 It couldn't have taken long for those disciples who thought that there was no possible way they were ever going to be able to feed such a massive crowd, to be breathlessly astounded that no matter how much of the loaves of bread they broke off and distributed, there was always more there for them to give. 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:20.960 That Jesus had taken this matter into his hands so thoroughly and so capably that everybody who had sat down there, that great big crowd that day, was going to eat. 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:25.840 Now those disciples were breathless with excitement. 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:48.399 And now at this point, it seems to me that if we have seen Jesus do this, well then maybe the excuse we make when we say, I'm just being realistic, is starting to sound suspiciously weak. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:13:01.440 Could it be that when we use that word realistic, what we really are expressing is our littleness of faith. 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:06.720 I think that that could very likely be the case. 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:19.600 I think that it could be the case that we retreat to our realistic slash pessimistic views because we've taken our eyes off Jesus. 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:25.759 And it seems to me then that this account sets a very clear pattern before us. 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:41.759 If you fill your eyes with the enormity of the problem you're facing, or if you spend your days gazing at the scarcity of the resources at your disposal, you are going to despair every single time. 00:13:43.120 --> 00:14:01.679 But if you lift your eyes up to Jesus, if you see that he already holds all things in his most capable hands, then is there ever really any scenario or circumstance in which you would give up hope? 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:06.159 Doesn't seem to me like that could possibly be the case, could it? 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:08.320 Now let's be clear about this. 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:15.679 I am not suggesting here that this pattern is establishing Jesus as a sort of bottomless ATM. 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:32.240 Or like the people who were fed on that day thought, that Jesus is one who can be corralled and pressed into becoming an on-demand manufacturer of 3D printed food to provide meals for us out of thin air while we do nothing. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:40.000 This is not a recipe for modern alchemy where we can turn brown paper bags into crisp hundreds. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:41.360 No. 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:48.320 But all the same, I wonder what Jesus is after. 00:14:49.279 --> 00:15:00.879 Could it be that with training us to lift our eyes and look to Him, He is teaching us to become different people. 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:12.399 Maybe sometimes when we find ourselves in an impossible situation, Jesus will do what He did here by the Sea of Galilee and throw open the floodgates and do more than we could ask or imagine. 00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:19.840 And maybe sometimes the reason we don't have is because we don't ask, like James tells us. 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:30.720 Or maybe we do ask, but we don't ask with the sort of faith that believes that God would actually be capable of doing anything to help us or would want to or be interested in doing that. 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:44.000 But maybe what happens most of the time is that Jesus is just shaping us, changing us, so that when we find ourselves in impossible situations, we face them as different persons. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:50.320 He's forming a character in us that is marked by faith and trust in him. 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:59.679 Now let me flesh that out with a few actual life scenarios here, so that we can just consider what that might look like for us. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:06.720 Suppose that the impossible circumstance you find yourself facing is a financial one. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:15.600 I mean, gas prices have gone up, groceries have become quite expensive, my property tax bill this year, way up. 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:19.360 Maybe you're facing all of that and more. 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:30.559 And it's come to a crisis, a point where you aren't quite sure if you're going to be able to escape some very difficult things, like foreclosure on your home. 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:34.720 In such a scenario, what might you do? 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:52.960 Well, it seems to me that if you spend your days looking at the problem, adding up the numbers on the bills that keep piling up, while at the same time getting fixated by the small amount of money that is in your bank account and that seems to be decreasing day by day? 00:16:53.519 --> 00:17:00.399 Well, if that's what you spend your time doing, you're going to get pretty down and gloomy on this whole situation, aren't you? 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:12.079 So, what would it look like to lift your eyes up, to look away from that problem for a moment and to look to Jesus, to see that he holds this matter in his hands? 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:24.240 Would it mean that you begin not by seeing how little money you have in your bank account, but by giving thanks to God that there's anything there at all? 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:36.640 Might it mean that when the next paycheck comes in, small though it might seem, you take it in your hands like Jesus did, and you lift it up and you give thanks to God for it? 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:48.079 Might it even mean that you trust Him enough to still give your tithe from that paycheck, even in the midst of a financial crisis? 00:17:48.960 --> 00:18:02.400 Because you really do believe that those gifts given to the Lord bring everlasting rewards and that those who give to Him will lack nothing. 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:12.160 Now that will not make all of your bills magically disappear, but it seems to me that it would make a different person of you. 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:38.960 And it seems to me that it would position you to get through the crisis better if you aren't giving way to despair, but instead you are looking to Jesus and you're recognizing that He has promised your life and all you need for it clothing and shoes, house and home, food and drink, all of those things he has promised, he knows that you need and will provide for you. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:44.559 Lifting up your eyes to Jesus with thanksgiving and gratitude. 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:46.880 Well, then what do you do? 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:52.880 You keep going, chipping away at that problem, digging yourself out of the hole as best you know how. 00:18:53.119 --> 00:19:03.519 The road may be very difficult and hard indeed, but with Jesus, you don't give way to hopelessness. 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:14.799 Or suppose that the challenge you face is that more is being demanded of you than you can actually accomplish. 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:20.079 Every day it seems like your to-do list has 5,000 plus items on it. 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:29.200 And even though in the morning you think you're gonna get a whole bunch of them ticked off by the time the day is over, you haven't made halfway through your list for the day. 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:36.720 And it seems like every one of those tasks screams out for your attention, it has to get done, it has to get done now. 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:43.680 You feel so inadequate to get all of what you need to get done taken care of. 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:57.279 Again, if you focus on the enormity of the problem or the limited time and energy that you as a finite human being have, it seems to me that you will inevitably face burnout. 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:07.920 So, what would it look like in such a scenario to turn your eyes away from the problem and turn them instead to Jesus? 00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:21.599 Might it look like beginning your day with a big long pause where you do nothing at all but simply give thanks to the Lord for another day of his grace? 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:30.079 Might it be learning to appreciate the limitations that God has designed us with? 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:38.480 That we are finite creatures who can only work for so long before we grow weary and need to rest. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:49.440 Might it look like recognizing that while Jesus is capable of miraculously multiplying loaves and fish, we aren't. 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:51.200 And that's okay. 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:55.119 He hasn't asked us to do something like that. 00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:04.079 He just tells us that when we work, we should bake the loaves and catch the fish and then go home and Sabbath and rest. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:14.880 It seems to me that if we were to trust Jesus in that way, it would indeed help us to avoid burning out. 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:29.920 And it might even lead us to a more grateful and therefore joyful and happy life as well, as we contemplate the gifts that He has given us, the time that we have, the abilities that we are blessed with. 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:43.920 So then it boils down to something like this whatever loaves we bake, whatever fish we catch, we hand them over to Jesus with gratitude and thanksgiving. 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:48.319 And then who knows what he will do with them. 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:59.759 But we can go about our lives with the confidence and trust that all of these matters, that even the impossible situations, are in Jesus' most capable. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:01.039 Hands. 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:08.160 And he knows how to extract us when it seems that we are between a rock and a hard place. 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:18.240 And in trusting that he will do so, we don't despair or lose heart or grow bitter. 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:29.039 Our realism about the world, then, is tinged with the optimism of faith and hope and trust. 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:45.680 And then, well then, we might not even be all that surprised if Jesus shows up with a twinkle in his eye and even sees fit to hand us a basket of leftovers. 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:46.720 Amen.