SPEAKER_00: Today we're going to hear this account of Jesus feeding 5,000 men plus an unnumbered amount of women and children in an incredibly miraculous way, connecting his ministry and who he is to how Yahweh always fed his people, fed them in the desert with man and things like that.
SPEAKER_00: But we're especially going to focus in today on this command, this invitation that Jesus gives to his disciples that is just kind of mind-blowing and impossible in a lot of ways.
SPEAKER_00: So I'd like to start out by administering a little bit of a pop quiz that some of you have been subjected to before, but let's see how well you remember it.
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's just one question, and it's true or false.
SPEAKER_00: Can't be that hard, right?
SPEAKER_00: Are you ready?
SPEAKER_00: Alright, I was waiting for somebody to respond.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Alright, true or false?
SPEAKER_00: Think carefully.
SPEAKER_00: The correct answer to this question is false.
SPEAKER_00: Think about it for a second.
SPEAKER_00: Who says that that is true?
SPEAKER_00: Raise your hand.
SPEAKER_00: Two, three, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Four.
SPEAKER_00: Who says that that is false?
SPEAKER_00: Raise your hand.
SPEAKER_00: One, two, three, four.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's tied at four.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, six, seven?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, six, seven.
SPEAKER_00: Some of our.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_00: We just did a lot of that at camp this last week at middle school.
SPEAKER_00: Um, unfortunately, um, the what, 11 of you who chose to participate are not going to be rewarded for that courage because you're all wrong.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that sad?
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's impossible.
SPEAKER_00: Because if you answer true, then you're wrong because it says the correct answer to the question is false.
SPEAKER_00: So it can't be true, obviously.
SPEAKER_00: But if you answer false, then you're also wrong.
SPEAKER_00: Because the statement, the correct answer to this question is false, would then be true and not be false.
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00: Probably not.
SPEAKER_00: That's okay, Stan.
SPEAKER_00: It's not your fault if you participated in what's wrong.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's a problem without a solution.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe those of you who chose not to raise your hand knew that, and that's why you didn't say anything.
SPEAKER_00: Um, this is an impossible assignment that I gave you.
SPEAKER_00: Well, in the reading that we heard today from Matthew, Jesus gives his disciples an impossible assignment, it seems, when he speaks six simple words to them, words that are going to be the focus of our meditation today.
SPEAKER_00: You give them something to eat.
SPEAKER_00: Out in the middle of nowhere, with five thousand plus hungry mouths and no resources whatsoever, Jesus tells his disciples, you give them something to eat.
SPEAKER_00: It's an impossible assignment.
SPEAKER_00: It's a ridiculous and unreasonable command.
SPEAKER_00: And the disciples respond accordingly.
SPEAKER_00: We have only five loaves here and two fish.
SPEAKER_00: Not even enough for themselves, arguably.
SPEAKER_00: But this wasn't the first unreasonable command that Jesus had issued to them, not even recently.
SPEAKER_00: Remember a little over a month ago when we were in Matthew chapter 10?
SPEAKER_00: There Jesus had asked something just as unreasonable of his disciples, if not more so, as he sent them out to the nearby towns to proclaim a message of repentance.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what Jesus said there: Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff.
SPEAKER_00: Our family got back a little over a month ago from a trip to Italy, and in preparation for that trip, months in advance, we had made a list, we checked it off thoroughly as we packed, we planned for every contingency we could possibly think of.
SPEAKER_00: We made sure we had everything packed neatly in our luggage before heading out.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus tells his disciples to set out on this journey with virtually nothing.
SPEAKER_00: He tells them not to pack any bags, to leave their wallets and probably even their cell phones behind.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus won't even let them bring an extra pair of underwear.
SPEAKER_00: If you really think about it, this sounds not only inconvenient, it sounds foolhardy.
SPEAKER_00: Especially when Jesus then makes it clear to them that there will be plenty of people that will not welcome them or provide for their needs, that some won't want anything to do with them.
SPEAKER_00: It was a perilous mission for which the disciples were ill-prepared.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus sent them anyway.
SPEAKER_00: And then, as if to drive this point home, Matthew shares the story of John the Baptist's death right before the miracle we've heard today.
SPEAKER_00: Following Jesus can be a demanding and dangerous task.
SPEAKER_00: And John's execution shows us that it can even be deadly.
SPEAKER_00: And that's where our reading for today picks up the story.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus and his disciples withdraw to a desolate place to rest and recuperate, a place where they won't be disturbed for a while.
SPEAKER_00: But as often happens in ministry, things don't really go according to plan.
SPEAKER_00: And the disciple's much-needed and well-deserved rest is cut short.
SPEAKER_00: Thousands of people swarm them.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus has compassion on them and he heals their sick late into the evening.
SPEAKER_00: And so it is that his weary disciples find themselves in a desolate, uninhabited place with hungry multitudes as night fast approaches and dinner time comes and goes.
SPEAKER_00: And so they tell Jesus, This is a desolate place, and the day is now over.
SPEAKER_00: Send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.
SPEAKER_00: But the good shepherd can't leave his hungry sheep with empty bellies.
SPEAKER_00: It's a cool song, by the way, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus speaks those six mystifying words to his disciples.
SPEAKER_00: You give them something to eat.
SPEAKER_00: On their mission trip, the disciples had had to rely on getting food from those who had heard the gospel they preached.
SPEAKER_00: And now, ironically, Jesus asks them to provide for those who are hearing the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: But there's just one small problem.
SPEAKER_00: They have next to nothing.
SPEAKER_00: You can hardly blame them for pointing out to Jesus that his request is unreasonable because of how much they lack.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever felt like Jesus is asking of you something unreasonable or even impossible?
SPEAKER_00: I certainly have.
SPEAKER_00: Life's many challenges, be they relational or emotional, physical, they sometimes leave us wondering if we can keep going, can keep things afloat, and prevent it from all falling apart.
SPEAKER_00: And when we look at the world around us to which Jesus calls us to minister, it can be discouraging to say the least.
SPEAKER_00: It can seem like we live in a desolate place, and the day is now over.
SPEAKER_00: Our society is full of hungry people.
SPEAKER_00: And Christ's command to us is the same as his command to his disciples that evening in the Galilean countryside.
SPEAKER_00: You give them something to eat.
SPEAKER_00: But what can we do?
SPEAKER_00: People may be hungry, but they seek to satisfy that hunger with all the wrong things while discarding the Word of God and the gospel of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Fewer and fewer people care what the church has to say anymore.
SPEAKER_00: More and more our Christian worldview is dismissed as irrelevant and out of touch with today's reality.
SPEAKER_00: But worse than the darkness that we see in our culture around us is the darkness we find in our own hearts.
SPEAKER_00: Because there we see that we are utterly infected with sin and its devastating effects.
SPEAKER_00: We find that the natural state of our hearts is one of selfishness and rebellion.
SPEAKER_00: We find that it is not our society or our culture that is the problem.
SPEAKER_00: It's us.
SPEAKER_00: And when we rely on ourselves to do something about it, we discover we are in the exact same boat as the disciples.
SPEAKER_00: Weary, empty-handed, and just as hungry as the crowds of people who press in on us on all sides.
SPEAKER_00: Like the disciples, we find ourselves facing a perilous mission for which we are ill-prepared.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus sends us anyway.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: It is an impossible assignment Jesus gives to us, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Just as it was an impossible assignment that he gave to his disciples that evening when he said to them, You give them something to eat.
SPEAKER_00: But then again, nothing is impossible with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Let's remember that night and that desolate place, and let's hear and see what Jesus says and does for his people.
SPEAKER_00: When it came to the 5,000 hungry men before them, the disciples felt at a loss to do anything.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus shows them that they have more than they could ever ask or imagine.
SPEAKER_00: They've checked their inventory, they've decided that the task is impossible for them to complete, they just don't have enough.
SPEAKER_00: But it is more than enough for the disciples to give the people something to eat, because the bread of life himself is right there with them.
SPEAKER_00: The same shepherd who makes his sheep to lie down in green pastures now makes the people sit down on the grass.
SPEAKER_00: Just as God had fed Israel with manna as they wandered in the wilderness, as God had given to his people everything they needed, so God shows up again in this desolate place to feed his people with miraculous bread.
SPEAKER_00: And Matthew tells us that everyone there all ate and were satisfied, five thousand men, besides women and children.
SPEAKER_00: And if that weren't enough, there were twelve basketfuls left over, one for each of the disciples.
SPEAKER_00: It's as if Jesus is showing them and us that there are plenty of leftovers in the overflowing abundance of his kingdom for each one of us to distribute generously.
SPEAKER_00: As our shepherd anoints our head with oil, our cup truly does runneth over.
SPEAKER_00: If we can just open our eyes to what he's giving, we will never find ourselves lacking anything.
SPEAKER_00: So let me ask you this.
SPEAKER_00: What gifts do you have from God that are going unused, because you have undervalued them?
SPEAKER_00: What resources could be used to help people in need?
SPEAKER_00: What overabundance of kingdom assets can be found in your basket for the purpose of distribution to the masses who hunger for the truth and life and peace that only Jesus can give.
SPEAKER_00: Now, don't get me wrong here.
SPEAKER_00: I am not saying that Jesus has given us a task that only seems impossible for us to accomplish, but that we really just need to figure everything out on our own in a creative way to find the answer.
SPEAKER_00: We need Jesus, because he is the only answer.
SPEAKER_00: Without him, baskets and bellies remain forever empty.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the one who performs the miracle.
SPEAKER_00: And in the original Greek, the tense of the verbs is significant because it gives the sense that Jesus broke the loaves and then continued to give them to the disciples to set before the people.
SPEAKER_00: One commentary on this text says, the miracle of multiplication occurred in Jesus' hands.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples do indeed give the people something to eat, but they can't take any credit for doing so.
SPEAKER_00: The bread and the fish come from the hands of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And so as we take inventory of the resources Jesus has given us, we place our faith and our trust in Him to supply everything that's lacking.
SPEAKER_00: We might be able to scrounge up five loaves and two fish if we try really hard, but that's not good enough unless Jesus does something with it.
SPEAKER_00: Just as nothing in us is good, let alone good enough, without the blood of Jesus covering over our sins and giving us new life.
SPEAKER_00: You see, we were lost in the desolation of our sin, utterly hopeless and empty-handed, hungering for a righteousness that was forever beyond our reach.
SPEAKER_00: But where we lacked everything.
SPEAKER_00: God lacked nothing.
SPEAKER_00: And he provided all that we needed by giving us his very Son.
SPEAKER_00: The miracle occurred in Jesus' hands as they were driven through with the nails of our transgressions, and on that cross he died, the shepherd and overseer of our souls, the bread from heaven given for our eternal life, to forgive our sins and feed our hungry souls with his very self.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to do that again for us today in just a few moments through Holy Communion.
SPEAKER_00: Like that evening, some 2,000 years ago, here also today in our worship, Jesus comes to us through his compassionate teaching and a miraculous meal.
SPEAKER_00: A meal that is given to strengthen our faith and to forgive our sins.
SPEAKER_00: A meal where Jesus also looked up to heaven, said a blessing, broke the bread, gave it to his followers.
SPEAKER_00: It's a meal funded purely by the compassion of our Savior.
SPEAKER_00: And it's a meal that leads us into our mission, demanding and dangerous though it may be, because it assures us that the Lord of the church provides.
SPEAKER_00: We are a church built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.
SPEAKER_00: And it is Christ Jesus Himself who gives of his great abundance.
SPEAKER_00: It is Christ Jesus Himself who multiplies the bread and gives it to us to feed a famished and spiritually emaciated world.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is multiplying the bread and placing it in our hands.
SPEAKER_00: And so when he says, you give them something to eat, we can't just say, No, Jesus, you do it.
SPEAKER_00: Because his answer is, I am doing it, and I'm doing it through you.
SPEAKER_00: So let's embrace this impossible assignment Jesus is accomplishing and will continue to accomplish through us.
SPEAKER_00: Let's follow Jesus to dark and desolate places and bring the light of the gospel along with us.
SPEAKER_00: It may be a perilous mission for which we are ill prepared, but Jesus is sending us anyway, and he's coming along for the ride, providing everything that we need along the way.
SPEAKER_00: So, people of God, you give them something to eat.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.