You Give Them Something
Mark 6:30-44
Rev. Dr. Will Baez
7/19/15
For Jesus, there was nothing more
important than preaching and teaching the gospel message about the Kingdom of
God or Kingdom of Heaven. Where is this
Kingdom of God or Heaven? It is
near. It is here, right now, within our
reach, within us and among us. And what
is this Kingdom of God or heaven? It is not a place. It is the reign, the realm, the rule and the
reality of God. It is a way of living
and of being human that is spawned by God.
It is the very consciousness of the mind of God; a way conceiving or and
perceiving life as God does. This
Kingdom message was so important that Jesus sent his apostles out to preach it
and teach it. It was their primary
task. Everything else they did was
secondary to this Kingdom proclamation.
And people couldn’t get enough of this
teaching. They wanted to understand the
way, the truth and the life that lead directly to unity or oneness with God;
the way, the truth and life that Jesus demonstrated for them to live. They weren’t interested in correct belief;
they were pursuing a way of living in concert with God, where they were in God
and God was in them. Jesus and his
Apostles needed a break from their teaching, because their teaching took a lot
out of them because they were giving of themselves and their knowledge or
experience of God to others. They got a
way for a little while and got their rest and renewal but the people pursued
them, even arriving ahead of where Jesus and the apostles were heading next.
Now, when Jesus saw the great crowd
gathered, he didn’t complain about his workload. Rather, Jesus had compassion for the crowd,
because the members of the crowd were like lost sheep, lacking a shepherd to
lead them, and in particular to teach them about this Kingdom of God way of
being. They were hungry for God’s word
and he fed them by preaching and teaching what they needed to know to have a
right relationship with God and other people.
But after a while the people would need to eat, return home and sleep.
Before we continue, I want to make
something perfectly clear; learning the word of God and preaching and teaching
it is the most important thing we do as Christians. Everything else we do supports the
proclamation of the gospel of the Kingdom of God and the transformation of
people’s lives and world such that their ways are God’s ways. Whether or not we know it or other people
know it, it is what we hunger for and seek after more than anything else. And when we realize it and others realize it;
when the kingdom of God or Heaven becomes part and parcel of our lives we know
it. We are transformed. We are new people. Our worlds are transformed. Our worlds are new worlds. We discover the power of God in our lives to
bring relief, redemption and renewal to others.
But at times we don’t realize the power
we have in our experience of the Kingdom of God. When the disciples saw that they were going
to be faced with a problem of feeding 5000 men; really 5000 men plus their
wives and children, they went to Jesus and told him to send them away so they
got obtain food for their trip home. But
Jesus didn’t buy into their limited belief about what they were capable of
doing. He said to them, “You give them
something to eat. You feed them.”
The apostles were incredulous. “What!
Where are we going to get the food.
We can’t afford it. It’ll bust
our budget.”
Jesus knew that his apostles didn’t get
it. They didn’t know what they were
capable of. He had them check their
inventory. How many loaves of bread did
they have? They had five. And how many fish did they have? They had two.
What must those disciples been thinking!
What is he going to do with five loaves of bread and two fish? He gave the apostles instructions to seat the
disciples in groups of hundreds and fifties.
Then he took the bread, looked up to heaven, blessed and broke it and
gave it to the disciples to set before the people. Then he did the same with the fish. And everyone, not just the 5000 men, but
their wives and children ate until they were full. And when they were done they had left over
twelve baskets of broken pieces of bread and fish.
Now, it was Jesus’ intention that his
apostles feed the people, first spiritually and then physically. But to do this the apostles had to believe
they were capable of doing what Jesus had told them to do. Jesus’ actions demonstrated for the disciples
what they were capable of.
I have no doubt that if you believe
what Jesus believes you are capable of that you can fill this church and need
to build a bigger one. By studying,
learning and applying God’s word in your life and sharing with others what you
discover about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and yourself you’ll make it so that
I, and perhaps some of you. will be preaching and teaching and we’d have to,
instead of send people way to get lunch after church, feed them before they go
home, so not only are they fed spiritually (through God’s word), they are fed
physically (through food) and socially (Through interacting with you). Nobody will want to go home so much will the
Holy Spirit be moving among us.
So, here’s the thing. Repeat it after me. Jesus has called me (repeat). Jesus believes in me (repeat). God will speak to me through scripture,
prayer, visions and dreams (repeat). The
Holy Spirit will inspire me (repeat). I
am as capable as Jesus says I am (repeat).
If Jesus tells me to do something I can do it (repeat). Will you say Halleluiah with me! Halleluiah!
Let it be so!
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