Let God Provide the Rest

Matthew 14:13-21

About four years ago our church was going through a rough financial period in part due to the construction which led to less giving. During this time I was serving as an active elder. At one of our session meetings Will Howie came to share with the session a new mission project called “Living Waters.” Many of you may remember that he recently led us in worship while Dave and Chris were out of town. He presented to the session a unique way to build a water filtering system for small villages in countries where clean water was not available. The system was put together by individuals from a mission group who carried all the materials in foot lockers to the site needing clean water. All that would be necessary for the village would be an electrical source, a water collection source and someone willing to maintain the system. It sounded like a great way to help people in need of clean water. So many diseases are prevalent in these small villages simply because they do not have clean water. The problem for our session was “no money.” How could we fund the project? There just didn’t seem to be a way. However, after much prayer we decided to do what we could and let God provide the rest.

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Our text today is familiar; it is the feeding of the 5,000. This event is the only event to be recorded in all four gospels outside the passion of Christ. If you have your Bible with you turn to Matthew 14. We will begin reading the text from verse 13. Just before this passage of Scripture Jesus had been rejected by the people of his home town, Nazareth, and just received news of the death of John the Baptist.

Listen to the Word of God as it comes to us from the gospel of Matthew. “Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.” Thanks be to God.

When I read this passage, it causes me to reflect on other events in the Bible where God provided food and the Lord’s Supper that we enjoy today. One such occasion happened after the miraculous deliverance of the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. They found themselves in the wilderness with no food. The people complained to Moses and God had compassion upon them and provided bread in the form of manna. This bread was provided daily; bread from heaven, a miracle of God. Some of that manna was even placed in the Ark of the Covenant in order to remember what God had done for His chosen. Later in the history of the Israel nation, the United Kingdom of Israel split into a Northern and Southern Kingdom. God sent Elijah the prophet to the Northern Kingdom and a great drought was sent upon them by the Lord. During this drought Elijah asked the Widow of Zarephath to feed him a bread cake with her last portion of flour and oil. In doing so the widow surrendered all she had so that Elijah might have food. In return God made sure she never ran out of flour and oil for bread until the drought the Lord had brought upon the land ended. God provided for her needs daily.

In Matthew’s account of the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus has just found out that John the Baptist has been put to death. He looks for solitude in that moment; one could suppose that he required time to grief the death of John. Whatever solitude he enjoyed was short lived as the people came to him from the cities and the towns so that they might be made whole again through his ability to heal their infirmities.

The people had need of not only his healing power, but as the day came to an end they were in need of food for their physical hunger. Jesus had compassion on them and asked the disciples to get them food. The disciples, forever underestimating the power of Jesus, could not perceive that there was a way to feed all these people. Jesus told them to gather what they could find but according to the account in John 6 there was nothing among the people there but five loaves of small rye buns and two small dried fish and it was a young boy that offered his lunch to the disciples. The disciples still could see only the impossibility of the situation. There was only enough for one small boy. How could this possibly feed the over 5,000 gathered here? What could be done?

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Today, we who live in America, enjoy excellent health care and an abundance of food so that our bellies are hardly ever empty because of an inability to obtain food. Still our society goes to and from work or other activities each day passing by people who hunger for food and shelter from the elements of nature. Maybe we choose to ignore a woman in torn and tattered clothes pushing a shopping cart around with all her earthly possessions in the cart. She may never look up and she is so common in the landscape that we have begun to not see her at all. It is if she doesn’t exist. Or, maybe there is a man standing at a corner that we pass each and every day. He is dirty and like the woman with the shopping cart his clothing is disheveled and dirty as well. He holds a sign; “Will work for food.” We ignore him trying not to make eye contact. He too is a part of the landscape of today. Is he really hungry? We ask.

We turn on the television and there is a child with his belly swollen and flies hovering around his face. He sits listlessly in the African dirt with no water or food to nourish his weakened body. We have seen the pictures before. This is not something new. It is an infomercial wanting me to support this child or a child like him or her for pennies a day.

We see people each and every day that have found themselves for whatever reason in need of the basic necessities of life. They are without food, without water, without shelter, without clothing to protect them in the outdoors and without hope. We get so used to these disenfranchised people so that they blend into our surroundings. We no longer see their distress. We even fear them or judge them for the condition they now own. Our hearts are hardened. We become like the friends of Job. We say, “They must have done something to bring such a condition upon themselves.”

Have we lost compassion for these people or are we so caught up in our own lives that we fail to notice them? What if I did reach out to help? I am sure that I alone cannot make a difference. We may assume, “someone else will help them, or tell ourselves that the Holy Spirit did not gift me in that way, or I will say a prayer for them.”

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In His day, Jesus was always being followed by people who were in need. It seemed as if he never found time for solitude. When he did find respite from his ministry it was always short lived. Jesus had seen this before; people hanging around, looking for a free meal, looking for a word of hope. He could have hardened his heart for such needy creatures. But he did not. Jesus had compassion. In Mark’s gospel account of the feeding of the 5,000, the reason for this compassion is more clearly stated than it is in Matthew. Jesus saw their famishing souls that carried them into a desert place with such zeal. These people were looking for a shepherd. He was so moved by their need that he did not spare himself even though he was fatigued and almost worn out by uninterrupted toil.

Mark also comments, that Jesus began to teach them MANY things; in other words, he spent a long time in preaching, that they might reap some lasting knowledge during this journey out to the countryside. In Luke’s account Jesus spoke to the people concerning the Kingdom of God, which is about the same as Mark. Matthew makes no mention of any thing but the miracle. As the evening came upon them Jesus asked the disciples to feed the people. As I mentioned earlier they could not comprehend the power of Jesus in their midst. No doubt with sadness in His eyes, Jesus asked them to bring the loaves and fish. He had told the disciples to “give the people something to eat,” never expecting them to feed the people from their own resources or their own power. In asking the disciples to feed the people Jesus was asking them to trust Him. Jesus wanted them to bring what little they had so that they would show their trust in Him to provide the rest.

The disciples’ lack of perspective is overruled by Jesus’ display of power. This could well be the primary focus of the story. The disciples only considered the pragmatic alternatives and did not understand the true power of Jesus. So, the boy having surrendered his small lunch, Jesus then expresses his gratitude to God from whose hand the food comes and the food is provided in abundance to the people gathered there. The fragments that remained after satisfying so vast a multitude of men were more than twelve times larger in quantity than what was at first put into their hands. John Calvin says of this miracle that “In this way all came to know that the power of Christ had not only created out of nothing the food that was necessary for immediate use, but that, if it should be required, there was also provision for future wants; and, in a word, Christ intended that, after the miracle had been wrought, a striking proof of it should still remain, which, after being refreshed by food, they might contemplate at leisure.”

This miracle is sometimes seen as simply an illustration of Jesus’ compassion for human need for physical nourishment, but the compassion Jesus extended to these Jews was primarily to their need for a shepherd and the healing of their empty souls. Feeding the five thousand almost certainly was meant to call to the Jewish mind God’s supernatural feeding of the Israelites with manna in their wilderness wanderings in Moses’ day. Jewish tradition had come to believe that the Messiah would repeat this miracle of abundant provision of manna on an even grander scale as recorded in Psalm 132:15. The miracle of Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath of 1 Kings also provides important background to the significance of the miracle in the eyes of the gathered Jews. The collection of twelve baskets (one per apostle?) may well have been intended to call to mind the twelve tribes of Israel. We see evidence in this event that Jesus is creating a new Israel out of those who will follow him and foreshadowing the messianic banquet.

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Each time that we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we are looking forward to a time when we will partake of a meal seated with Jesus Christ. We look forward to the messianic banquet. There are many reasons to avoid the woman with the shopping cart, the man at the exit of the interstate, the images of world hunger on T.V. and even the person standing outside the local convenience store asking for a few handouts. In some cases we are afraid. Our concern for our safety outweighs our need to act. In some cases we judge. We rationalize that they are only going to buy cigarettes or alcohol with what I give them. In some cases we cannot bear the odor from such a person. What if they want to shake my hand or what if they want to give me a hug? Our hearts have been hardened to such people. We fear, we judge, we find them repulsive. One of the biggest factors in not helping people in such need comes from the thought that I don’t have enough to make a difference. What will they gain from my small contribution? It does seem that their problems are so overwhelming that we cannot begin to approach their need. This is exactly what the disciples experienced when Jesus commanded them to feed the people. We forget as they did that God has the power to multiply what we surrender to those in need. Give as God calls you to give and His power will provide the rest. Yes, God will provide the rest.

I once heard it explained this way. Too often, we think that giving our lives to God is like taking a $1,000 bill and laying it on the altar, saying, “Here’s my life, Lord. I’m giving it all to you.” But the truth of the matter is that God sends us to the bank and tells us to cash that $1,000 bill in for quarters. And then we go through life giving away twenty-five cents here, fifty cents there, and so on. Instead of watching a ball game, we spend some time visiting a lonely person in a nursing home who has no family. Instead of sipping coffee and reading the newspaper, we get dressed and go to teach Sunday school. Instead of playing games on the computer, we listen to a friend tell us about her problems, even though we’re tired and have problems of our own to deal with. These are the moments in which the grace of God can work through us to help another human being, to feed the hunger of the heart and spirit. They may not be spectacular miracles but surrender to God what you have and He will provide the rest.
Often we feel overwhelmed by the needs and demands of the world around us. War in Asia, earthquakes in Turkey and India, hurricanes in the South, and Tsunami’s in the Indian Ocean - We just don’t see how our paltry resources could possibly help, but we bring what we can. And God takes what we are willing to give, and blesses it, and uses it. And it’s enough. No, it’s more than enough.

Conclusion:

Being on that session four years ago when we made the prayerful decision to help provide for those without clean water was an act of faith. We did not have the resources. In the years since, we have sent four mission groups to survey areas for building water filter systems and two have been built. Some how God has miraculously provided just what we needed for each mission group. Now four years later, as we take a step of faith to help these people who need life giving water—God is still providing what we need to accomplish His mission. What do you have to give? Time? Money? Spiritual Gifts? God can bless what you give, use it, and it is enough. It is more than enough for our God. God still works miracles today. Why not let God use you this week in the miracles He plans to perform?

Amen

Let us pray…Heavenly Father, we are often overlook people of need that surround us each and every day. Help us to notice and be sensitive to their needs. Help us to become compassionate like you were. When we do notice we are often overwhelmed by the needs of people around us. We fail to respond to their need because we feel ill equipped to help or we feel we lack resources. Our hearts are somewhat hardened due to the human condition we find ourselves enslaved. Soften our hearts dear God, give us the sensitivity to recognize those around us that are in need. Help us become better stewards of the gifts you have given us so that we may use them in your service to humankind. Give us the strength to respond in faith and join you in your activity toward humankind. Where we are weak make us strong. Where we are strong make us humble. In the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.