| November 5, 2006
You are welcome to reflect on this message Dr. Dan Ivins, preaching
But Jesus acted out of a sense of plenty. Lord, what a difference! He looked at the same things his disciples saw, or didn’t see. But they’re thinking “not enough,” he saw “plenty, and then some.” Because he knew where there’s plenty of God, there’d be plenty of everything else! So instead of running the people off, he lays it back on his disciples. “Send them away? No, don’t do that. Just give them something to eat!” I wish I’d been there, to see their faces when he said that. “Say what? Us? What can we do? All we can scrounge up is 5 loaves and 2 fish. What’s that among so many?” According to their mind-set, it’s overwhelming. But typical of God’s church, which always seems to be in over its head. And too often the solution has been to run somebody off.
What Jesus proposed was nonsense. But he had a 6th sense that made more sense than the disciple’s common sense. In spite of their pragmatic protests, the crowd was miraculously fed. Jesus is more interested in us participating in a miracle, rather than waiting on one. “Just give them what we have,” there’ll be plenty to go around. “But we don’t have anything to give.” A sense of scarcity. “Bring it to me,” he said. Always a good thing to do, as he challenges his followers' fear and lack of faith. They balked at not having the wherewithal to answer his challenge.
And Matthew’s got us right where he wants us. They don’t have what it takes! But then ... Jesus does. That’s what Matthew wants us to hear. “Fields are white unto harvest,” and our resources are so small. So much to do. So little to do it with. Yet Jesus was there and their “no-can-do” thinking prevented them from seeing He was all they needed. five loaves and two fish to feed 5000 people, not counting women and kids. Impossible. Except Jesus said, “Bring it to me.” To their credit, they did. And he blessed it and charged them with passing it out. And before it was over, everybody had more than enough!
I remember my Mamma coloring Easter eggs. When the dye was poured in clear water, for a while nothing happened. But soon the water started to blush. And a little at a time, it was tinted with bright colors. A little package of dye doesn’t look like much till you put it in water. Matthew’s point is when the disciples “brought what little they had to Jesus,” channeled through his sense of plenty, little by little their faithful efforts became much more than what they started with. Seen from his perspective, their resources took on new proportions. And what little they had to offer was not only enough, it was more than enough.
In modern math, two plus two always equals four. But with God’s algebra. five loaves plus two fish equals five thousandfed! And a ruddy-faced shepherd boy named David went up against Arnold Schwarzenegger. Didn’t stand a chance. But his can-do courage made him “a man after God’s own heart.” And Goliath lost his head! Moses led the exodus, with the odds were stacked against him. Pharoah’s army bore down on them mercilessly. But God parted the waters of the sea. And the only thing left to hold them back through the wilderness was their own fear!
The Apostle Paul was Mr. Can-Do. He said, “I am ready for anything through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). And the reason Jesus himself said, “For mortals, it's impossible, but not for God. With God all things are possible” (Mk. 10:27). So says the Fourth Gospel: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Apart from me...you can do nothing. Abide in me as I abide in you” (Jn. 15:4-5). A sense of plenty can work wonders. Left to our own resources, life without God looks pretty bleak. But our calling is to trust in Christ and offer what we have. Then our outlook changes from “there isn’t enough to go around,” to “12 baskets left over.”
Abraham took his son Isaac up on Mt. Moriah, with some wood, a knife, but no sacrifice. When Isaac inquired about the offering, not knowing it was him, Abraham said, “My son, the Lord will provide!” And a “a ram was caught in the thicket.” A sense of plenty. Trusting God to provide is not easy to do, because it means we’re not independent, a terrible thought to self-sufficient Americans. Why do you think it’s so hard for the elderly to give up their driver’s license? We don’t want to have to depend upon somebody else to take us places.
“Bring it to me,” says Jesus. Bring whatever we are, whatever we have to Christ, no matter how small, no matter how little is left because we’re a church for God’s sake! We have to believe Jesus can multiply our gifts creating great endings from small beginnings if we’re going to be a vital congregation. Like the tiny mustard seed grows into a bush; or the scattered seed which bears 100 fold; like leaven that causes the entire loaf to rise; or the five-talent man doubling his resources. God can amplify it's influence beyond our ability to imagine. We are to give of what we have, our offering, our singing voice, our shoulders to lean on, our listening ears, open minds, and willing hearts. Whatever we have to offer. Everybody has something. I don’t care how large and impressive or how small and insignificant. We are to give it to the Lord, in faith. “Bring it to me,” Jesus says. And God will honor our trusting in him.
This story also speaks about God’s table. The elements are plain old bread and juice. But God blesses these common elements with uncommon grace. And while it may not remove our “thorns,” God’s grace is sufficient. We’ll be needing it for the challenges we face. The portions we consume are miniscule, but it's not about size or how little we have. Or even what we share. It’s about Jesus Christ and offering ourselves in faith to follow him. When we dare to do that, somehow in the economy of the kingdom of God we’re satisfied and our souls are nourished. And twelve baskets are left over.
There’s a fable about a mouse who had a recurring dream about an alley cat who was out to get him. He couldn’t live with his fear so he approached a genie to see if he could turn him into a cat, which he did. And the mouse was no longer afraid of the cat...till he met a Doberman. So he went back to the genie and got turned into a pit bull. All was well until he met a lion. So the genie turned him into a lion. But then he was afraid of the hunter. Nothing was working. So this time, when the mouse-turned-lion approached the genie for fear of the hunter, the wizard said: “I’m going to change you back to what you were, because even though you have the heart of a lion, you kept the fear of a mouse.”
Christ Jesus gave his life so the church could be lion-hearted, against which the “gates of hell shall not prevail!” We are heirs of his kingdom and all its bounty. Do we have it in us to believe we’ve got the body of a lion -- so we won’t display the fear of a mouse? Which will it be? To live out of a sense of scarcity and focus on what we’re lacking? No church needs to suffer from a lack of the power of God, but only make sure it’s plugged into the source of his power!
Our world has changed since 9/11 and every entity that depends on charitable giving is facing lean times. But we still dream of what we can accomplish for the kingdom of God this next year. And you know there’s never enough in our kind of world. So why don’t we just trusting God and jettison our mousiness? In place of a comfortable balanced budget sheet, how about a little more trust in Jesus? “Bring it to me,” he said. Whatever God has seen fit to give to us, our role as individuals and a church, is to bring what we have to Christ and believe he can do something with it. Trust God with our little, so he can turn it into 12 leftover baskets.
That and the guts to be who we are? The church in lean times can’t be content with just having the body of a lion, but we must also develop the courage of one. God doesn’t care about how much we have, or even how little. But he cares an awful lot about us growing in our faith. We’ve got to believe! If we provide the bread, God will provide the miracle.
Prayer: (11-5-06)
Too often we come to church like the crowds came to Jesus...to get something. But before we leave this worship, show us again the purpose of coming to church is to give something. Our calling is for us to trust you, but we’d rather have plenty of money instead. Because for us there is never enough, forgive our compulsion to control our destiny instead of living with what you’ve seen fit to give us.
Unkindness and deceit are all around us, and we have sometimes joined in the destructive ways. Look kindly on us when we mismanage your grace, and when we cave-in because it seems like we’re always having to do a lot with a little. Our fear of not having enough to go around makes us long for blessed assurance. Add to our need for security the promise of Christ to “never leave us nor forsake us.” When we stumble, set us back on track. When we take a detour, help us regain our bearings.
Show us when we must stand tall and lend us the courage to believe that we can. Reveal to us the wisdom to know when we should bend. Center our lives through this worship, that we might carry you to those whose lives are falling apart, who are lost in the storms. We pray for the nations and their leaders; for the sorrowful and their comforters; for the sick and their healers; for the dying and their loved ones when we try to share with them our faith in things unseen.
May we leave this place better than when we came in; with confidence in the knowledge that Jesus Christ is all we need. We shall be on our way, with him by our side, in whose name we pray. Amen. |
