Among the wonderful privileges of being a minister of this great Church, is that you have the opportunity to be present at some of the most significant of all the events in the lives of the human family. In particular, you stand beside young parents to celebrate and voice prayers of thanksgiving for the birth of their children, and beside a family upon the death of a loved one. This year we have had 12 births in the church family. We have experienced 14 deaths in the family. These are times of sublime mystery. Tears fill your eyes and the deepest of emotions well up beyond overflowing on both occasions. One is an arrival and the other is a departing. One is a coming and the other is a going. One moment is one in which a person is not present and then they are present and the other an experience where they are present and then they are not. One moment there are no eyes looking at you and then they become bright blue agates and in the other the eyes are looking at you and then they are unfocused and staring beyond you. Sheer mystery, these coming and going of ours. And the mystery is captured in the eyes, which come focused within and then open in our birth and which in our death, retreat again to that focus within as they close to the things of this earth. On both occasions, birthing and dying, this coming and going, you are struck with the awareness that human beings travel very light on the biggest occasions of our journey. At the juncture of the most important events we are not distracted by excessive baggage. It is true, we bring nothing into the world and we carry nothing out of the world.
All the things of this earth which become so important to us during our life time, all the things which you worry about and accumulate and some fight over, are of total insignificance at the times of greatest significance our birth and our death our initial beginning and our final ending. We travel light on the most important days of all the days of our life journey.
On one occasion, early in Jesus' ministry he sends the disciples out two by two to do their work of ministry. They are to preach the good news of God's liberating love and they are to heal the sick. They are to make visible God's love and presence. Israel was a conquered people and the nation was controlled by a foreign government. And the people, who were angry and frustrated, longed for freedom. Jesus told the disciples, "Tell the people that the truth will set them free." He tells them that he has come to bring life to them and life in abundance.
He further tells them to travel light. "Carry only one change of clothes, one pair of shoes, and no provisions, "For the Lord will provide for you." On another occasion he tells them, these human disciples who seem to worry about everything, things like who is the most important, things like what are we to say. They are instructed to pray and to trust that God will provide for them. The issue for Jesus was that we should not waste our time worrying about the things of this earth, when we should simply trust God who is with us before our birth and with us after our earthly death.
How many of you worry? How many of you worry a lot? We do not travel light. We carry a lot of baggage, and you can interpret that psychologically or physically, or any way you desire. Some of you are packing up already to go to school in the fall. Others are packing to go on a vacation. Now that is always an interesting experience. Most tourists who travel end up packing far more things in their suitcase than they actually need. We want to be sure that we have enough clothes so we have clothing for casual and formal occasions, for warm and cold weather, for rain and sunshine. Many will over pack, extra clothes, an umbrella, extra medication and a parachute.
During the summer most families take some kind of trip to break up the routine or to claim some special vacation fun. Listen, there are people all across America today who are packing to come to Florida, and there are millions of others who wish they could. And what do we do? We pack up and go to the mountains. This week Jane and I will travel to the Smokey Mountains where I will be a delegate to the Jurisdictional Conference at Lake Junaluska, and where we will elect new Bishops for the church. It is an event that takes place every four years and is always very interesting. We need good leaders and we will most likely receive a new Bishop in our geographical area.
You may have, or will take some kind of trip in the course of this year. Trips of all sorts make you think. What do I need to carry with me? The American tendency is to carry too much stuff. In the journey of life, let us be aware that ultimately we carry very little. The amount of stuff we bring with us in our birth, and the amount of stuff we carry with us when we die gives us a clue as to a proper perspective of the things of this earth.
I have often wondered what our loved ones carry with them into death. My conclusion is that they have carried with them the following three dimensions of life:
1. We carry only our memory and we carry our love for God and for family. Through our eyes we see in two ways. Through our human eyes, we see the surface things around us. But through the eyes of our mind, we link to the past. This memory travels with us even when we have no hands to carry the things of this earth. Upon our death, we carry no bank balance and no debts. You don't carry your money, but you do carry your memory.
Jane Goodall has given to the world a wonderful scientific study of the chimpanzees in Tanzania. Her studies have taught us a great deal about ourselves and all of humanity. In her spiritual autobiography entitled, "Reason for Hope," she writes: "Each one of us matters, has a role to play, and makes a difference." Goodall is a poet of sorts and has written a particular piece I would like to share. It illustrates the lingering power of memories. It is entitled "Five Herons"
Five herons flying past, low above the water,
Long necks tucked back: flying between the golden shimmering sea
And the gray and golden clouds of the sun's rising.
Behind, in sky of palest blue
Above the palm fronds,
The yellow moon sinks slowly to her rest.
Oh golden flying moment, snatched from time,
Valued above all price,
With loving care laid in the treasure house
Of memories and taken out, as now,
To feed my soul when all around is drear.
2. We carry our love for God and for others. We carry our memory and I hope you carry in your heart an inner assurance and confidence in God. Do you have the witness of the Spirit? Do you have the assurance? This is the work of the Holy Spirit. I hope that your relationship with God is what it needs to be. I hope that you are saved. You can be you know.. Do you know that? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior?
3. Finally we carry with us the things we have given away.
I find this truth one of the forgotten mysteries of our modern materialistic world. Perhaps you have heard the silly story of this rather selfish fellow who accumulated a great deal of money. When it became evident that he was going to die he went to the bank and received cash, which he carefully stored in a travel trunk. He had two men carry it into the attic just over his bedroom so that when he did die and passed up to heaven, he could pick up his cash on the way up. Well in time he went to bed and did die and sometime later his wife was in the attic stirring around and found the suitcase filled with cash money. She broke down crying and her children heard her and asked why she was crying, and she answered, "Because your Daddy went the wrong way." We don't carry what we possess with us into death, as we are only stewards for a little while.
Summary: We don't carry beyond the deathbed our money, only our memory, our relationships and the joy of what we have given away.
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Introduction: 1. The Apostle Paul wrote almost a third of the New Testament and he spends a lot of time describing and analyzing, considering and reflecting on what God has done for us in Christ:
Once you were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel,
Once you were separated from Christ,
Once you were strangers to the covenant of promise,
Once you had no hope,
Once you were without God in the World.
Once you were far off.
But now, now, in Jesus, God has given us peace made and us one. He has broken down the walls of hostility.
Now, we are no longer strangers,
We are members of the household of God.
We are fellow citizens with the saints.
We are joint heirs with Christ.
We are together a Holy Temple.
We are the dwelling place of God!
2. If today you have come to church and you are truly looking for God; if you are searching for a peace that surpasses all human understanding and desire the assurance of eternal life, then listen up for God's word tells you what He wants to give to you today. He wants you to no longer be a stranger or a visitor, alienated and without hope, but He wants you to be a member of the family, a holy vessel unto God.
3. Let me tell you about some individuals who have been brought close to the divine mystery. Let me contrast the beauty of their lives by sharing in this way:
Have you ever known anyone who was always angry, constantly in a fight with someone, being opposed to anything and everything for no reason? Have you known someone who had an opposing opinion on everything? Often times such individuals will start drinking and overeating and jumping in and out of one relationship into another. They are into getting more than giving, grabbing more than sharing. As far as I can tell it is because when you have nothing inside of you that is fulfilling, you keep trying to fill the void. And then when the family is lost, and the family is pretty quickly lost for such individuals, they fill the void by working all the time. They sometimes become very successful and fill up their time and their mind, and make a lot of money. That always makes me mad when negative people who destroy other's lives become worldly successful. But the truth is when you are really focused you can do a lot of things, good or bad things, but you can't fill a void, you can't buy peace. Only love and only God can do that. I have known, through the Scriptures, David, who became the King of Israel after Saul. Saul was a mad man, but David was shepherd like and of a gentle spirit. Once Israel was established under Saul and then David, and the leaders of the nation settled in fine homes, David one day said to God, "We live in fine homes. I want to build you a home in Jerusalem." And God said to this man who was growing more self focused than God focused, "You want to build me a house? You who tended the sheep of Jesse want to build me, the one who freed the slaves, parted the sea, who delivered Israel from the hands of the Philistines, you want to build me a house? You don't think you have accomplished all that you have accomplished on your own, do you? Thanks but no thanks. My dwelling will be in a tent, in the heart of the nation, in the heart of my people, in the community of believers, not in a building a King has built." There would come a time when Solomon would build the Temple, God's House, but in David's time, and perhaps because of David's attitude, God said, "Thanks but no thanks."
Have you ever known anyone who was never happy? Never satisfied? Never at peace with anything? Never pleased with accommodations on a trip, never pleased with the amount of food served at a restaurant, never has enough money, never pleased with you? I have known some persons who were like Mother Teresa, who had nothing, but had everything, who possessed little, but owned the world, who knew the sick and poor of India, and in their poverty and in their disease saw the living Christ. What makes the difference is that the Mother Teresa's of the world know Jesus, and they live and move and have their being in Jesus. They are not strangers to the covenant of God. God is with them. God's home is with them.
Have you ever known anyone who acted old but they were young? Old people get rigid. "Who moved the book that I laid down right here? No, I don't like new things. I don't eat new food, and I don't take any risks or go to new places. But I was privileged to have known Johnny Hoefflin, who died in 1997. Alive people though they are gone, live with us forever because they are in Christ, and even death cannot separate them from life and God.
Well, I have known Johnny Hoefflin, Gene Williams, King David, Mother Teresa, but they are all dead. Or, are they? They were and are in Christ. Death has no dominion over their lives. Although changed and passed from this earth, they are in Christ forever more. Do you want to be? Do you want to be in Christ?
This scripture affirms that when we offer ourselves to God, we will be used in abundant, significant, and meaningful ways. Here in John 6, we recall the feeding of the 5000. Jesus and the disciples are placed, in most of the stories, in the Galilean region and he has been teaching most of the day, and time has gotten away from him. The disciples are worried about the fact that neither they nor the people have eaten and they ask Jesus "what are we to do?"
I can imagine Jesus, who is saying things like, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled," ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you," fear not, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom, consider the sparrows of the field, and the plants of the earth, they neither toil nor reap, but God provides for them, fear not, his eye is on the sparrow and you are of more value."
The disciples interrupt and ask, "what are we going to do about this problem of no money and no food? We don't want to miss a meal." Jesus, at first is stunned, probably thinks, "Give me somebody to work with," and then takes a deep breath, and says, Well what do you have? What do you have to work with? Do you have any food or money? What do we have to work with?"
And Phillip says, "Look at this crowd, six month's wages wouldn't feed them. Andrew, Peter' s brother does offer an interesting observation. There is a child who has five barley loaves and two fish." I wonder how Andrew knew that? What's in one's sack is privileged information, unless the child had offered or Andrew had asked. Perhaps Andrew believed that Jesus would and could do anything. Whatever, Jesus looks at him and says, "That is enough!"
Now here are the words of a miracle in the making: "It is enough!" John always portrays Jesus as one who when the people ask for water gives them "living water" and now when they come hankering for bread, he gives them "bread from heaven."
Perhaps some of the disciples must have thought he's been out in the sun too long. Perhaps Andrew set this up for a miracle, for after all, he had seen Jesus heal the blind beggar, he had seen the cripple man of 38 years lounging beside the pool of Bethesda spring to his legs and walk; and he had sensed the unusual spirit that pulsated through Jesus. Perhaps the unlimited imagination of the child led to his offering of his lunch. Here's my sack lunch, if it will help. And Jesus says, "It will help, and it is enough!"
The miracle, which we retell today is that it was enough! And more than enough! There were 12 baskets fully left over, when all had eaten. Don't ask me how it was done; although I have seen how a generous spirit will inspire generosity in others. This is a record of a miracle happening, which was stimulated by the offer from a child and used by God. The only thing I know for sure is that I've seen God take our meager offerings and do works of miracles.
Have you ever gone to a covered dish supper at church and not had food left over? Sometimes you have to cultivate a desire for salads or spinach casseroles; but there is always food left.
It is interesting to note that John places this miracle, unlike the Synomitic gospels, in the context of the Passover. Next in the scripture he has Jesus walking on the water and then resurrected from the dead. John's purpose was to communicate the miracle capacity of Christ who could do anything. Sometimes, when I haven't been drawn down by narrow-minded people, sometimes when I'm prayed up and really in tune with the Creator of the Universe, I have no doubts that he can, with a willing heart, do anything.
Karl Barth, a great theologian from Germany in this past century, once observed that people come to church asking, "Is it true?" And perhaps that's what people once came asking, but today, it seems to me that people come asking, "Will it work for me?" Or, how does this impact my life? Or, can he do it again?"
II. The beauty of this Scripture and its lasting value is that it informs us God says to the likes of us that with His power in us there is within us enough to perform great miracles. He gave us enough to accomplish great things. In your life you have the resources, you will be given determination, courage, stick-to-it-ness, the abilities, the contacts, the faith, to accomplish your dreams. To a frustrated worker, remember you have enough, and that new abilities can be discovered.
To a young exhausted mother, you have enough and strength comes. To a student, you have enough and the ability to learn comes. To a working family, hardworking but under-paid, you have enough, and you will discover a way to make all the ends meet. To a successful professional, you have enough, and He sees ways to make good things happen with the money that is over and above what now needs to live.
To a strained marriage, you have enough and new ways of cultivating love opens up for you.
To one left to live life alone after death has robbed your home, you have enough and new and exciting ventures can be discovered.
To a child he said, "It is enough."
I have learned two things from this lesson:
#1 Be very proud of what God has given to you. He has given to just you sufficient grace and unique opportunities. Just you. God gave to a child two fish and five barley loaves and a great opportunity which the child claimed and would tell his grandchildren about the day Jesus and he fed 5,000. Maybe you have only one talent, although most of you in this church have far in excess of one talent. But you waste your time and embarrass God when you protect or hoard what God has given to you. Be very proud of what God has given to you. Cherish, takes care and develop your gifts; stand tall, you are God's child. To you he has said: "All things are possible to him who believes!
#2 Share it, use it willingly and freely. Use it or you will lose it.
He said, "Freely, freely you have received. Freely, freely give, Go in my name and because you believe, others will know that I live." All power is given in Jesus name, in earth and heaven and in Jesus' name I come to you to share his power as he told me to.