Sermon for Laetare Sunday (Lent IV)

Jesus Asked You a Question

Based on John 6:1-15 Jesus Feeds the Multitude

In the Name of the Father, & of the Son + & of the Holy Spirit

Grace to you and peace from the One Who Is & Who Was & Who Is to Come!

It is fun to look at old television programs from the 1950s on through today that predict what the "world of tomorrow" will look like. Some of them were pretty accurate. I'm still looking for my jet pack and flying cars, though. The more modern ones promise dirt-cheap energy through fusion power is just twenty years away. But it has been twenty years away for nearly seventy years, so that one has never been very accurate. We even have marvels the futurists never saw coming! You don't even realize that nanomaterials are in many of the products you buy, manufacturing processes that seem almost magical, making the devices we take for granted possible. The list is as endless as our own creativity. It also produces a lot of garbage.

We have become a throwaway society. Technology has allowed us to make things so cheaply that it is less expensive to get a new whatever rather than fix it. In fact, most items cannot be repaired. You have to throw it away when it breaks. In fact, we're going to soon run out of room to bury all our garbage because the miracles of technology have not extended to new recycling methods that are both cost-effective and practical. The bottom line is, we waste a lot of stuff.

God has blessed us with a planet full of resources that seem almost inexhaustible, though the writing is on the wall for some of them. As we revel in our own genius at making such fantastic toys, we do well to start learning how to be better stewards of our resources. How do you return thanks for our many blessings when we throw so many of them away? Now, look at how Jesus works with what He has!

God will, at times, test us. “After this, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 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?" He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.”1

A multitude followed Jesus out into the middle of nowhere, where Jesus had gone to rest with His disciples and teach them. Jesus knows many are following Him simply out of curiosity or for selfish reasons. Still, they have come a long way on foot to see Him. Jesus had compassion on them because they, like "sheep without a shepherd," had come to hear Jesus but did not think to pack a lunch. Jesus questions Philip to test him. The purpose is to increase Philip’s faith in God’s care and provision for His people. These verses show that God tests in order to exercise and thereby strengthen the faithful and to separate them from the unfaithful. God often tests us with all manner of difficulties and situations, with the intent of building us up in our faith and our reliance upon Him, as St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”2

Philip, unsurprisingly, thinks he is in an impossible situation. Jesus has given him a task for which it seems he has been set up to fail. “Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”3 Two hundred denarii would be nearly seven months' wages. Let’s Do the math in today’s money. We have five thousand men, plus women and children, so let's be generous and call it an even nine thousand people. If lunch for each were a very cheap five bucks, that would be $45,000! A hopeless situation, indeed!

How often are we tempted to think a situation is impossible or hopeless? Probably about as often as we have seen miraculous healing take place as we have seen in Jacob Miller, or someone who loses a job seemingly has an even better one appear for them. We might grow despondent over a looming debt or sudden considerable expense, only to find help in our time of need. God’s provision is all around us! When confronted with the seemingly hopeless, we do well to remember the words Gabriel spoke to Mary: “For nothing will be impossible with God.”4 God does not intend to throw us away but to save us and provide for us.

Jesus does so in surprising ways. While Philip seems to have failed his test, “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?’”5 Andrew has found something remarkable. A small boy was willing to share what little he had. We have something to learn from him. When we see someone in need, we should be ready to share what we have because what we have is a gift from God – it is not really ours to begin with. God can make a little go a long, long way. Isn't it interesting that with all the tiny details the evangelists record, John does not say one word about this boy grumbling about his lunch being taken to feed this mass of people? He is glad to let Jesus use this small offering as He sees fit to satisfy the crowd.

One of those small details is the next verse. “Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.”6 Is there significance to John mentioning there was a nice lawn for the people to sit down on? Maybe not, and we shouldn't read into scripture to find meaning where there is none. But in the context of this miracle of Jesus, doesn't grass bring to mind "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever."7 Which is kind of the point of all this. Where human efforts end, God is just getting to work. Compared to that, we are just an Ohio lawn around Thanksgiving time.

“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.”8 Jesus begins His distribution by offering a "eucharistic" prayer – a prayer of thanksgiving. "Eucharist" is a Greek loan word for thanksgiving, which reminds us to receive all gifts of God with thanksgiving, be it the Sacraments or even lunch on the lawn. All good things come from His hand and should be received with thanksgiving, as David taught us: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”9

First, the loaves, then the fish are distributed by the disciples, after first being blessed by Christ, to five thousand men plus women and children. "And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.”10 In Jesus' hands, what we find to be insufficient becomes not only enough but more than sufficient. The more Jesus gave of the loaves and fishes, the more there was to give. Nothing is wasted, but everything becomes a blessing for many. This is how God “richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.”11

Though at times we care only for ourselves, as we are still sinners and refuse to release what we can to his use, He does not withhold anything from us. That includes sacrificing His only Son on the cross to die for us in order to forgive our selfishness and self-centeredness. He has provided for your deepest needs and invites you to show thanks in service to your neighbor.

Jesus also desires that nothing be wasted. Twelve baskets, one for each disciple, were gathered. These baskets were called a κόφινος - kóphinos - a small basket for a traveler’s provisions. From it, we get our word “coffin.” Because of our rebellion against God, our alliance with the devil’s desires, and following our throwaway society, we are wasted and destined for eternal ruin, with decaying leftovers buried in a coffin our legacy.

But Jesus does not want one of His children to be wasted or thrown away. He said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”12 and “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”13 Jesus gives us the heavenly food that leads to eternal life. When you eat a picnic on a nice manicured park lawn, you will be hungry again soon, maybe by the time you get home. The food Jesus offers is His flesh and blood for the life of the world, served upon the cross. The life He offers in exchange for His is eternal. We travel in the coffin of life in this world in the assurance we will arrive in the life of the world to come.

“When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 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.”14 Many of that multitude wanted Jesus to be the king of bread, ensuring their bellies were full and their other earthly hungers satisfied. Many today are teaching the same. Serve God faithfully, they preach, and He will grant you whatever earthly rewards you ask for. That's called the prosperity gospel, and this false teaching has infected American Christianity to its core.

It is God who has served you faithfully, and your reward is given to you as a free gift, but it is not of this world. This world is wasteful, but God wills that nothing He gives should be wasted, including you. Jesus asked you a question. Where will you get what you need? Answer: In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

1John 6:1-6 (ESV).

2Romans 8:28 (ESV).

3John 6:7 (ESV).

4Luke 1:37 (ESV).

5John 6:8-9 (ESV).

6John 6:10 (ESV).

71 Peter 1:24-25 (ESV).

8John 6:11 (ESV).

9Psalm 23:1-3 (ESV).

10John 6:12-13 (ESV).

11Small catechism. Meaning of the first article of the Apostles’ Creed.

12John 6:35 (ESV).

13John 6:51 (ESV).

14John 6:14-15 (ESV).