The feeding of the 5,000 is one of the best-loved stories in the New Testament.
Great crowds followed Jesus wherever he went. And he felt compassion for them and healed their sick. On one occasion, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food." But Jesus said to them, "They don't need to go away; you give them something to eat!" In essence, he said: "There's plenty for all."
The disciples were befuddled. "We only have five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered. And He said, "Bring them here to me." And he directed the people to sit down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, Jesus gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave the food to the people and they all ate, and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve baskets of leftover broken pieces. There indeed was plenty for all. Matthew records that "the number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children."
Many great sermons have been preached on this story. You are familiar with most of the themes that have been derived from it:
If today you are worried or anxious about something, if you are just on the edge of being overwhelmed, then Jesus' way can become for you "the way, the truth and the life." That's what he said he would be for us and he can be that for you. As we trust right now in a power far greater than ourselves and live in intentional ways, great things begin to happen.
There is abundance all about us. There is enough for us and everyone. Why do we become so anxious? So troubled? So angry? Why are there those in the world who become so violent like the poor fellow in Atlanta this past week?
Perhaps it is a problem of faulty thinking. We see lack rather than plenty. We think of scarcity rather than abundance. Why do we do this to ourselves? Perhaps the problem is just that we are but human, and we can see only that which is rather than that which can be. The disciples of Jesus were like that in that they always were worried and anxious. Granted the disciples had cause to be concerned. There were 5,000 hungry people and they needed to be fed. "What will we do?" They said to Jesus. But too many times this was the way they approached every problem. They were Nervous Neds. They saw a cloud to every silver lining. They lived by fear, not by faith.
Do you see what we lack rather than what you have? The Apostle Paul in writing to the Romans in the 9th chapter says "I grieve over you for you are so blessed and yet you do not see-to you belong "the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the law, the worship, the promises, the patriarchs, and of our race, The Christ."
We are adopted children. We have received the covenant-the covenant made to Abraham and Sarah, to David, to Jeremiah "And God said: If you will be my faithful people, I will be your God." Paul points out some of the promises:
An everlasting relationship, to rescue the people from the Land of Egypt and Exile, to provide a Kingdom of Justice and Righteousness." The Bible could be called a Book of Promises and you a people of the promise. You have received so much and you hold it so tight, as though you think someone will snatch it from you. Have the mind of Christ, which sees plenty rather than scarcity.
Sammy Sosa, who leads the National League in home runs this year, said in a recent interview concerning his coming to America-"It was a lucky break." You also have gotten a lucky break – so stop worrying and start living.
We worry most when we over look what is already ours. Consider your blessings: your faith in God, your salvation has been bought and paid for by Jesus' death, your sins are forgiven when you come with a humble heart:
"If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:9) "If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."(I John 2:1-2)
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28)
"I am the Bread of Life."
There's plenty for all. Why are you anxious, perplexed about so many things,…
Some unknown author put Christ's attitude toward life in a little poem:
When we see the lilies spinning in distress, Taking thought to manufacture loveliness; When we see the birds all building barns for store, 'Twill be time for us to worry, not before.
One of the things Jesus must have loved about Peter was that he was willing to risk everything for the Kingdom. He was a doer--a man of action! "Come, follow me " Jesus said and Peter left his nets and followed Jesus as a disciple. "Come, to me" he said, and Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But the wind kicked back up and taking his eyes off of Jesus, Peter grew afraid and he began to sink. He cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said to Peter, "Why did you doubt?" And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then the disciples who were in the boat and witnessed this turn of events fell down and worshiped Jesus, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
Risk-taking, we call it nowadays. And everyone does it, even though some of us may not admit it.
Of course, some people go to extremes.
Kenny Rogers bungee jumps in Australia.
George Bush dove out of a Texas airplane in celebration of his birthday recently. Was it his 75th? "No fool like an old fool."
Do you recognize the name Anna Taylor? It's just as well. On October 24, 1901, Anna was the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel and live, that's too much risk-taking for most of us.
The comedian who tells redneck jokes, Jeff Foxworthy, recently asked: "Do you know what the last words of a redneck are? "Hey, guys, watch this." Some risk-taking is just plain dumb. And yet some people, by their very nature, are risk-takers.
But don't discount all risk taking for Without People Who Try to Walk On Water, The World Would Never Move Forward. No one would ever get married if we took risk-taking out of life or have children or invent new ways of doing old things.
All of us in some way take risks. We would never have anything if we did not. No new relationships would be formed. No new businesses would be started. No new homes would be built.
Helen Keller got it right when she said that, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky put it this way, "You miss 100 % of the shots you never take." Mark Twain waxed poetic when he wrote: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did.
Not long ago, I just happened on a day off to go by this motorcycle place. I grew up riding a cycle, and like most bikers have the scars to prove it. I was just walking around dressed in day clothes of a tee shirt and a ball cap, and this salesman noticed me looking at this beautiful Honda 750. He came over and began to talk about his product. He talked about speed, acceleration, excitement, the attention-getting growl of the pipes, racing, risk. He talked about how the good-looking girls would be attracted to anyone riding on such a cycle.
But one thing led to another and finally he asked what I did for a living. I told him I was the minister at First Methodist Church. Immediately the salesman changed his language and even the tone of his voice. He spoke quietly and talked about good mileage and visibility. It was indeed a "practical" vehicle.
Now a lawnmower salesperson is not surprised to find a clergyman looking at their merchandise, but motorcycle salespersons are. Why? Does this tell us something about clergy persons and about the church? Lawnmowers are slow, safe, sane, practical, and middle-class. Motorcycles are fast, dangerous, wild, thrilling. Is being a Christian more like mowing a lawn or like riding a motorcycle? Is the Christian life safe and sound or dangerous and exciting? The common image of the church is pure lawnmower--slow, deliberate, plodding. Our task is to take the church out on the open road, give it the gas, and see what the old baby will do!
Is our church a lawnmower church or a motorcycle church? Maybe it's time we took more risks for God. Maybe Jesus was testing Simon Peter when he encouraged him to jump out of the boat. Maybe this is why Jesus made Peter the leader of the tiny Christian fellowship. He needed somebody willing to walk on water. Jesus didn't need a lawnmower church two thousand years ago. He needed a motorcycle church. Whenever the church has had an impact on society it has been because it has traded in its lawnmower for a motorcycle.
When our own denomination was formed, there were people willing to step out on the water and Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke walked across the water of the Atlantic from safe haven in England. In l821 Alexander Talley walked across the water of the Mississippi and came to the wilderness of Northwest Florida and established our church and worked with the Indians then living in the area. In l997, beginning to feel the possibilities of the Claim the Dream program, we launched the Noah's Ark Program which was a new children's program. It was a full time and part time pre-school program and an after school program for elementary school children. Today the program has over 50 children involved with an operating budget of over $75,000 dollars. There are 10 employees of the program. And the needs of families and children for sanctuary and a place to learn and play is being provided here in the heart of the city.
With year round schools, there will be an even greater need for special camps for the children in the city. There is much yet to do, if we will get out of the boat. It makes me realize how safe and secure we have become in the church of today and made the Christian faith. There was a time when our church was challenging its young people to go out as missionaries all over the world into lands that were hostile and foreboding and they did it. And young people by the thousands traded in their lawnmowers for motorcycles. During the Civil Rights movement there were Christians who risked their lives to promote the notion that all people are created equal. Some were beaten, some were ostracized, some died. Where is the battlefield today? Where is the challenge? Has the world gotten that much safer, that more loving, that more just, that more like Jesus--or have we Christians retreated into our own safe little habitat? May God have mercy on our souls. The loss is ours. Because only as we attempt great things for God do we experience how great God truly is. Only as we attempt to walk on water do we feel God's strong arms holding us up.
SUMMARY: How long has it been since you took a risk for God? How about our church? What great risks are we taking for God? God needs people who are willing to leave the safety of the boat, people who are willing to trade in their lawnmowers for motorcycles.
A fellow minister some years ago served the Richards Memorial Church. His name was Walter Albritton, and he published this wonderful little book under the title, "You Have to Get Out Of the Boat to Walk On the Water." And he speaks a truth we need to hear today.
God's grace is for everyone, even you and me!
One of the most beloved hymns of the Church is "Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me."
One of the most recurring themes of the Bible is God's grace:
God's grace is His gift of his undeserved love given to us, the likes of us:
Now Joseph could have been punitive, or Revengeful. "These sorry, no good brothers sold me into slavery." "But no," he said to them: "You meant this for evil, but God meant it for good." He had come over the years to know that God knew a lot more than he knew. "You did not send me here, but God did it to prepare for this day. God knows more than we do because he sees the future!
God's grace is for all and He alone knows all. His grace is with us before we know it - Preveniently. Let me illustrate this in this way. Our children each came to us in unexpected times in our journey and each time it was a good month, or month and one half before we knew that Jane was with child. God knew these children before we knew them. As God knows everything before we know it. That is the nature of his grace.
There was Mary of Magdala, there was a leper, there was a cripple for 38 years, and there was a prodigal son, a mentally ill man whom Jesus found living in the graveyards of Galilee, and there was a banquet to which the people of the street were invited.
God's love is for all------
Augustine, who came from the back waters of North Africa and lived to be 76 years old. His writings greatly influenced Thomas Aquinas, who in turn influenced Martin Luther and John Calvin, leaders of the Reformation. Augustine was the master teacher on grace and so many other things like "free will, original sin and predestination, etc. You can not go anywhere in the theological world without finding the footprints of Augustine. Augustine squandered away his youth in immorality and had a strange relationship with his mother. He started theologically from a perspective of grace, God's unmerited and underserved love.
The other influential leader was a man from Britain whose name was Pelagius. Pelagius was urbane, convincing, confident and liked by everyone.
Pelagius started from human effort and got it wrong. Augustine started from God's grace and got it right. Augustine passionately pursued God, while Pelagius methodically worked to please God. Augustine wrote in the Confessions: "Lord God, our hearts are restless till they rest in thee."
Christians tend to be Augustinian in theory but Pelagian in practice. Always trying to earn or purchase God's love when in fact all we have to do is accept it.
God's abundant blessings come to us in such unexpected ways, often when we do not deserve it, and with such abundance.
God's grace functions in our lives in at least three ways:
And God has done this and is doing this for us, today and everyday. Why you? Why me? We have no answer for we have mysteriously been selected by God to be blessed. Philip Yancey has written a book entitled "What's So Amazing about Grace?" in which he affirms that What's so amazing about it is that God has given his love to the likes of us.
But, said he, one of the great experiences he had leaned was about grace. He said, "Grace is a park Ranger, mounted on a white horse just across the ravine, calling out to me and to my grandson, "I see you, we are coming after you."
That's grace. God calls out to each of us, "I see you, I'm coming after you." That's God's grace and it is available for all.
Overcome Evil with Good
Romans 12:1-21
Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,
Descend on us, reveal your love.
Word of God and inward light,
Wake our spirits, clear our sight.
Surround us now with all your glory.
Speak to us that sacred story.
Take my lips and make them bold.
Take hearts and minds and make them whole.
Stir in us that sacred flame.
Then send us forth to spread your name. Amen.
We live in a world that doesn't seem to get better, but rather worse. Guns in the hands of children, violence on our home television screens, and stalking in our neighborhoods. A man is not as good as his word. Nations and tribes maintaining old admonishes, and even nature itself turning destructive as it claimed the lives of more than 10,000 Turkish people this past week. It would be easy to develop an angry attitude and to nurse old grudges, but as Christians we march to the tune of a different drummer than that of the world, and violence, hate, dishonesty, and revenge is not our way.
The intriguing story of Nicholas and Alexandra, the last Imperial family of Tsarist Russia is reflective of the distorted morality of the world. This young couple, because of their fortunate or unfortunate birth, became in the latter part of the l9th Century the imperial head of the people of Russia. Because of the loss of the support of the wealthy elite and the communist revolution, the government came to an abrupt end with the abdication of the throne by Nicholas, and ultimately the death of Nicholas and his wife Alexandra and their five children. It is an intriguing and very sad story, as are so many stories of this world. They lost contact with the people and their supporters and when you become so aloof or beyond reach, whether you are a President or an average citizen, you in time isolate yourself in a world that will not support you forever. It finally led to the end of an age and the death of the Romanoff dynasty. In this case it meant the death of Nicholas and Alexandra and their five children.
In the diary of the oldest daughter, Olga, there is recorded just days before the death of the family in Ethekatherinburg these sage words: "My father asks you to remember that the evil that is now in the world will be stronger, but that it is not evil that conquers evil, but only love."
This is the message of the Apostle Paul to the church in Rome in Romans 12:
That's the tune of the drumbeat of Christian disciples. It is reflective of the story of our Lord by whose life and death and resurrection verifies as an eternal truth, that love overcomes evil.
Jesus taught: Pray for your enemies. Turn the other cheek. God the second mile. Forgive those who despitefully use you. And even on the cross he forgave those who did not know what they were doing.
It was as though Jesus knew something beyond the known. He could see beyond the visible. He believed where he could not see. He lived in a land not yet born. His vision was that of an age when goodness would overcome evil.
III. The Master teacher, Jesus, the Apostle, Paul, and the oldest child of Nicholas, Olga, were all in touch with the Will of the Creator of the universe. One day the whole earth will coexist in peace according to this standard of repaying goodness for evil.
In the meantime, we will find happiness only when you make peace with this truth. It is not through revenge or repaying evil for evil that you find satisfaction. All you do is perpetuate the problem. Such a lifestyle choice is the old Hatfields and the McCoys mountaineer feuds that go on forever.
For one not in the political world I find it impossible that party loyalties and bipartisan politics render more determinative influence on how a person will vote on any given issue, than truth or right. I was serving as Chaplain of the Day of the House of Representatives in Tallahassee, and a Hispanic was speaking on some subject in strong opposition of a proposal of one of the Democratic Representatives. I sat beside Jerry Maygarden, Republican, and asked, "Is the one speaking a Republican or Democrat?" He said: "He is from south Dade county and Hispanic, and they are all Republicans." "Why," I asked? "They remember The Bay of Pigs and the fact that John Kennedy was a Democrat." I thought to myself, "Thirty years ago and they still remember." This fellow was probably only ten years old when Kennedy withdrew his support of the Cuban rebel fighters trying to overthrow Castro. Here he is trying to pay back the Democrats for something someone did so long ago that no one really remembers what went on, but they still hate and are trying to repay evil for evil.
What has happened in South Africa is a remarkable story of a political government putting into practice the Godly trait of repaying goodness for evil. After Mandella became President of South Africa, ending Apartide as a way of separating the whites and blacks and keeping the blacks out of government, Mandella gave a period of time when someone could confess to political crimes and not be punished. I feared that when the moratorium ended which it did this past year, that a new era of violence would begin. That's not happened. What about those who didn't confess? What about the hideous crimes they did confess? Would family members pay back evil for evil? Would a continent and a country that knows violence revert to its ancient hostilities? Thank God, that has not happened, at least not yet.
Perhaps there is hope for our future. Perhaps as more and more of us take up the cross of Christ and live the way of Jesus, a new policy of restoration rather than retribution will become the norm.
Summary: What if God held on to resentments? What if God remembered our sins? What if God kept a record of our foolish, selfish acts, a scorecard of all the ugly things we have said about someone else? Well, no need to go there because God doesn't do that. He doesn't keep a record of wrongs. He has said: "I will remember your sin no more. I will remove your sin from you as far as the east is from the west." If God forgives and forgets and repays only good for evil, then so can we.
Let us grow in God's grace and reflect the nature of our heavenly father, in whose image we have been made.
The cross is the symbol of our awareness that God has the power to transform what appeared to the world to be an evil instrument of destruction into a visible image of his victorious love. The Cross -- a disguised blessing!
This coming weekend six years ago, an accident rearranged various body parts and my attitude in one mighty blow. Over the past few years in my spiritual journey I have developed a deep sense of appreciation that God will use tragedy and difficulty to accomplish His will. You never know how you will grow and what God will do with sad things until years separate you from actual events. What often appears to us to be evil and wrong can be used by God for greater good. Now, It is not that God sends tragedy into our lives, for He is not the creator of every evil that stalks the earth nor every whirling destructive wind that storms our shores. No! But he will use for his greater purpose things that appear at first glance as tragedies.
There is something wonderful and powerful about the story of Winston Churchill, who after World War II was voted out of office as Prime Minister of England. Down and depressed, his wife attempted to cheer him up by saying to him: "My dear, this is a disguised blessing from God." To which he responded: "My dear, if it is a blessing, it is very well disguised."
The cross is a very well disguised blessing. For it is in the cross of Christ I glory, this instrument of terror, towers over the wrecks of time. It is in the empty cross of Christ I glory, this instrument of death, now the symbol of life. "When the woes of life o'er take me, hopes deceive, and fears annoy, never shall the cross forsake me. Lo, it glows with peace and joy".
Glory with me in the Cross of Jesus, for in the light of its sacred story can you better understand that the difficulties or challenges of your life today. It can in fact be used to build your faith and character and accomplish God's ultimate will. You can never know when difficulty comes what good things God will accomplish. My advice: Never write your opinion of an experience in ink on the day on which it happens.
Lin Yutang, a Chinese philosopher of another day, tells this interesting story which illustrates my theme this morning. There was this old man who lived with his son in an abandoned shack on the edge of the village. One night the old man's horse, the only horse he had, wandered away and his neighbors all came to say how sorry they were about his misfortune. He said: "How do you know this is ill fortune? Could be a blessing!" A week later the horse came home, bringing with him a whole herd of wild horses. The neighbors came again, helped him capture the wild horses and congratulated him on his good fortune. The old man smiled and asked: "How do you know this is good fortune?" As the days went on, the old man's son took to riding the horses and one day he was thrown and broke his leg in three places. The neighbors appeared again, like a Greek chorus, to tell him how sorry they were about his bad luck, but the old man observed "How do you know it is bad luck? In less than a week, along came a Chinese war lord conscripting all able bodied men for his private war, but the old man's son, now cripple, was not drafted. Once more came the neighbors to rejoice with him in his good luck, and once more the old man said: "How do you know this is good luck?"
You never know about all of the events of our life. No event is final, nor can it be properly appraised, on the day upon which it happens. It seemed like a bad day when the old man's horse wandered off. It seemed like a bad day when Joseph was sold by his cruel brothers into slavery in Egypt, but when all the days were in, that became a good day. Some events appear to be tragic, like a cross and the death of an innocent man, but it was a disguised blessing. All history verifies the cross to be today a symbol of the mysterious blessing of God for all time. Challenge and difficulty comes to us all, even suffering, even death. And everything is not what it seems. How many days do you know in your life that were bad when they happened, but the years have transformed them? Give God time and give your self time. My advice based on my observation of the Cross of Jesus and my own experience, lead me to suggest to you the following:
1. Trust in God in all things. "Lean not unto your own understanding."
2. Cherish the blessed days when you are obviously, abundantly, without a doubt blessed.
3. Surround yourself with believers, those with a positive spirit, those who believe in things that can not yet be seen.
4. Do not be afraid in days of pain and great suffering, knowing that pain does not last forever and knowing that sometimes, God disguises his blessings.back to Sermon Archives
First United Methodist Church Pensacola FL
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