I’m sure we’ve all had the experience at some time of giving something to someone and watching with joy at how much it means to them… I’m a little biased but my grandchildren are wonderful at receiving gifts and showing how excited they are – one time Helen had wrapped up some presents in the same paper and when we gave a present to our youngest grandson we realised it had got confused with a present for our niece – now there’s quite a lot of difference in the type of presents a 25 year old young lady might like and what an 8 year old boy might like – but Ryan opened it and gave a big smile and a big thank you before looking to his mum for some sort of advice as to what this might be !
The first response was to appreciate what had been given and it’s always good to see that look of excitement or surprise when you give something to someone. Of course, we may well get a similar response from someone who is desperate for food or a drink and we are able to provide it….
Another gift I can think of is when we went out to the Holy Land one time and went to an orphanage – it’s always good to take some small gifts, perhaps sweets or maybe things like pens or pencils but this time a group had made some knitted cuddly toys and took a load of them out – the boys were so excited to receive these things – small things to many of us but almost priceless to them… Of course, the gifts got even better when they realised they could actually play catch with the cuddly toys as well by throwing them around !
So whether we are the giver or receiver we know that sometimes little things can mean an enormous amount….
Today in our gospel reading (John 6:1-15) we heard the account of Jesus feeding the 5,000. It’s the only miracle, outside of the resurrection, that is found in each of the four gospels… We know well the stories like the Prodigal Son or the Good Samaritan but these are only found once – the feeding of the 5000 is clearly important….
And it’s important because the account contains all kinds of facts about God and about our relationship with him…
Today we’ve heard the account from John’s gospel – Jesus has gone to seek out some peace and quiet but has become quite a celebrity and is followed by a large group of people who had heard about the miracles he had performed…. Jesus knew it wasn’t going to be the quiet evening which he probably hoped for !
Rather than being frustrated about this he immediately thought of their needs – how would they be fed ? Philip was asked and he thought about it and said that 8 months wages wouldn’t buy enough food for all the people – he thought about what they had in material terms and ignored the fact that Jesus was right there with them…
Similarly Andrew came into the discussion and he at least came up with something as he pointed out the boy with 5 loaves and 2 fish, but he didn’t think that would be much use in such a crowd…
Jesus had a plan though – he knew what was possible and with these 5 loaves and 2 fish the people were fed and there was even some left over….
Recognising this miracle some of the people wanted to make Jesus king and so Jesus, not wanting that at all, got away further into the mountains.
The first thing this account teaches is that Jesus meets human need – here he did it in person, now he may do it by helping and guiding his people to support those in need. A gospel that ignores human need in whatever form is not a gospel because gospel means ‘good news’ and that good news doesn’t discriminate…
All around us there is need even in this country where we support foodbanks and things like Baby basics, where charities are desperately in need of support and people struggle to get by day by day…
Jesus meets human need and he calls on his people to help with that task…
Secondly Jesus in this account shows his enormous power – sometimes we under estimate God’s power, equating it with what we might think possible – God doesn’t work to our limits fortunately. He works powerfully as we seek his guidance, as we seek his strength, focusing not on what we haven’t got but on what we have…
And God’s power as well as his love is revealed clearly as he doesn’t just provide enough to get by, but he provides abundantly for those people as we’re told there was even food left over…
And that’s a wonderful example of how God wants us to live – serving others certainly, but also recognising in our own lives that God wants us to do more than just get by, he wants us to live lives to the full – to live our lives knowing that we are abundantly blessed and loved by the God of all power…
Thirdly, at the end of this account, Jesus had to leave quickly because the people who had witnessed this incredible miracle wanted to take him away to be their king – Jesus didn’t want to be an earthly king and he never wants to make people follow him. As he did then he still invites people to follow him but it’s never forced…
Now, in the traditional sermon I was always taught that you have three points but occasionally it’s good to do things a little differently so, the fourth point…!! And I think that this is perhaps the most important point of all…
Jesus, I’m pretty sure, could have used any miracle to sort this problem of a lack of food, but he used a person, and it wasn’t just any person, it was a child... The child who had the five loaves and two fish was willing to give those things up – Jesus uses a child to show a real generous spirit, and look at what Jesus did with the gifts he was offered…
That is the heart of this account – it’s not just that people were hungry and Jesus fed them, it’s not just that he satisfied their needs abundantly, it’s not just that he was happy to turn down any human kingship to show where his motives lay, it is that he was ready to receive small gifts and turn them into something spectacular….
And that’s what Jesus wants of us today surely – to give what we have so that he can use our gifts powerfully and wonderfully. By ourselves we may think we have little to offer, but with God anything is possible. Too often we can focus on what we haven’t got rather than thinking about what we can do with what we have got and God on our side, because God has the power to accomplish what we can’t.
So the feeding of the 5000 is tremendously important – it is an encouragement to us as we think about God’s desire to meet our needs, it is an inspiration as we reflect on what God can do, it is a promise from God of his guarantee to give us abundantly more than we can ask or deserve, but it’s also a challenge as it asks us a question…
Have we given to God our equivalent, whatever it is, of our loaves and fish ? Have we really given ourselves to God, trusting in him, relying on him, serving him; or do we make conditions and allocate some of our lives to God and other bits elsewhere ?
Jesus never wanted to be made a king because he never wanted to force his power on anyone, instead he offers an invitation to follow him – to give our lives in worship and prayer and service of God and other people and to know that we are loved immeasurably by the God who specialises in loving and giving abundantly. AMEN
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