How many opportunities to be a blessing to others do we ignore or turn away from because in order to offer our service we would have to overcome obstacles? I’m sure you don’t have to think back all that far to remember a time that you saw a chance to help in some fashion, but the challenge associated with the task caused you to come up with an excuse to justify your inaction. In chapter 6 of John’s gospel we see Jesus disciples behave in just that way.
Just before the events of John chapter 6, Jesus had been confronted by his enemies for healing a crippled man on the Sabbath, the day of worship. Jesus’ opponents believed that Jesus broken their rules for what constituted working on the Sabbath day. Jesus had done no wrong. What he did was show loving kindness by healing the body of this man with the simple words, “Pick up your mat and walk” (John 5:8).
After that confrontation Jesus was tired. He was also tired from ministering to the crowds that had been flocking to be healed by him and hear him teach. Jesus wanted to get away; he and his disciples needed a little rest. They got in a boat attempting to sail to a secluded area. However, word got out that Jesus was sailing across the sea, people ran on foot around this large lake. When he came to shore Jesus saw this large crowd and his heart ached for them. He saw people who were desperate. He saw people whose bodies were physically broken. They came because they heard of the miraculous signs that Jesus had been performing, and Jesus would heal them. He didn’t miss this opportunity to serve these people with what they needed. What they needed even more than physical healing was the spiritual healing that comes with the news that God was following through on his promise to save the world from their sins.
As Jesus was ministering to these people it was getting late, just about meal o’clock. Jesus asked Philip, his disciple, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat? 6 But Jesus was saying this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do” (John 6:5-6). Philip looked at this same crowd that Jesus’ heart ached for and desired to serve. Philip may have seen the same spiritual needs that Jesus saw in the multitudes that were crowding around them. Philip also saw something else; he envisioned the massive amounts of food that it would take to feed these people, Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to have just a little” (John 6:7).
Philip was missing an opportunity. These people were in need of having their stomachs filled with bread. What Jesus wanted Philip and the disciples to see was that while these people’s tummies might be grumbling for a meal, what this crowd had been spiritually wasting away on was a junk food diet of religion that had taught them that they had to earn God’s favor. What Philip was too focused on was that 200 days worth of wages wasn’t going to be enough to feed these people.
Look at our community. You will see people that you know, people that you’ve been friendly with before. Look at the needs of this community, and the needs of your own family. When you look at these groups and you see their need do you purposely avoid getting too deeply involved with some of them because you don’t want their drama? Do you think that they might be a drain on your time, or God forbid your wallet? People who are struggling are used to people trying to brush their issues off on somebody else. What if someone bothered to show them care. Think of the opportunities to serve those who are often neglected with the gospel when you show love to their surface problems. Pay attention to an opportunity like this and don’t miss it.
Our Salem RISE campaign is one way that we can show our community that we see their needs, and we care. We see their need for a good school for their children. We see their need for a safe place to gather as a community. But most of all we see their need for a Savior, and their need to hear about how he won for them forgiveness from sin and a home in heaven. Don’t turn your eyes away from this need, we have been given an opportunity to serve!
When it came to Philip being too focused on the personal cost that he thought it would take to feed this crowd, what happened was fear had crowded out his faith. Philip had faith in Jesus as his savior from sin, but fear of not being able to provide for this crowd had caused him to forget that he had been taught to pray to his heavenly Father for daily bread. He should have trusted Jesus, who he had come to trust as the Christ. He had seen that Jesus had already shown power over nature by turning water into the best of wines, that he had been healing crippled and sick people in mass already. Philip should have known by faith that securing bread for this large crowd was going to be no problem for Jesus. Yet another one of the disciples doubted Jesus, “One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what is that for so many people?” (John 6:8,9).
Jesus had known all along what he was going to do. This great Good Shepherd, who had been leading this crowd in the green pastures of God’s promises, directs the disciples to have the people sit down in the green grass so that they might fill their stomachs. In this very orderly fashion Jesus proceeds to feed this crowd that John tells us was about 5,000, and in Matthew’s account of this same miracle we hear that 5,000 was the number of men. On top of that there were women and children. It’s not unreasonable to estimate that this crowd was actually 10,000-15,000 strong. Jesus fed all of them by multiplying the meal of 5 loaves and 2 fish that one young boy brought as his lunch. As the disciples were gathering the 12 baskets with pieces of the barley loaves that were left over I’m sure they were thinking over how this miracle had confirmed to them that Jesus is the God of all of creation and that trusting Jesus is better than giving into fear when presented with an opportunity to serve.
God knows what you need for daily life, Jesus tells you to pray for your daily needs. Your Lord doesn’t want your worry over not having enough so that you will stop paying attention to opportunities to serve. We understand that Jesus provides for more than just our physical needs. He doesn’t just provide you with food so that your body can go on another day, but this Jesus gave up his own body for you. He did this so that you, your body and soul would be spared from the suffering of hell. “Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him?” (Romans 8:32).
When we take advantage of opportunities to serve others and trust Jesus that he will provide us with what we need for this life as we help others we need to realize what it is that we have to offer that is more important than anything else. It is good for a church to offer blankets to those who are cold, and to feed those who are hungry. There are any number of acts of service that Christians can do for others, but we need to be clear that the goal in doing any of these deeds is not simply to provide for physical needs. After all we serve God whose Kingdom is not of this world!
After Jesus fed the crowd they knew what had happened. They knew that this Jesus had fed them with a young boy’s sack lunch, and they rightly identified him, “This really is the Prophet who is coming into the world” (John 6:14). But they were confused about what his role as God’s chosen prophet was – they wanted a God who was going to make their current life easy and one of abundance. “15 When Jesus realized that they intended to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself” (John 6:15). Jesus was clear that if necessary his followers should be willing to leave behind all they have to follow him! There are far too many Christians who look to their possessions as a measure for how much God loves them. If God has blessed you with much, then he expects you to be generous with others! God wants us to look for opportunities to serve others with the real Jesus. The real Jesus does not want to be a God that we turn to when we want more things. He is the God we turn to to forgive us for the times when we selfishly think of serving others as inconvenient. He is the God who unselfishly gave up his life so that we would be forgiven all our sins. Now there will be some who don’t want the real Jesus we offer them, then we might need to do what Jesus did and leave them, showing them that they’re looking for something that Jesus doesn’t promise them.
You know people that are struggling and have real needs. Jesus shows us how we can use opportunities to serve the physical needs of people to give them what they really need, the news of a God who took their sin on himself so that they could one day live with him in his heavenly mansions where they will have no worries.
