Free Lunch

And that's why it's biblical to do Mother's Day. And I want to make it clear. I know not everybody can be a biological mom, and so we want to say Happy Mother's Day to all the biological moms and the adoptive moms and the foster moms and the mothers-in-law and the grandmas and the aunties who function as moms for all the kids in your lives and all the other moms I'm leaving out. Give it up one more time for the wonderful women that do so much for us. We love you all so much. God has blessed us with you.

I'd like to invite you to grab your message notes that are inside the bulletins that have this logo on them. We're going to continue our series Meals with Jesus, looking at all 10 of the meals with Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. You can learn so much about Jesus and even about yourself from watching Jesus at these different meals. And today I want to focus on just two stories. And these stories intersect. And I want to show you how they illustrate the same principle. And it's a principle that could really change your lives. And so listen closely first to story number one.

One day, not very long ago, a man walks through these gates, the gates of Little Flock Children's Home near Chennai, India. And this man is troubled. He's crying. And he's holding a little barely four-year-old girl. And her name is Pavithra. Now we saw this because we happen to have one of our Twin Lakes Church dental and medical teams at the children's home at that very moment. And so as one of them snaps this picture, the man begins to tell his story.

The day after this little girl, Pavithra, was born, her mother, her biological mother, abandoned her. And so a kind-hearted hospital nurse looked around for a family to adopt her and found a family that couldn't have children, a family there right in the village near the hospital. But when Pavithra was just a few years old, her adopted mother gets sick and dies. And this man, her adopted father, is essentially a slave. He's in bonded labor, working at a job hundreds of miles away because he has to pay down the debt of Pavithra's adoptive mother's medical bills.

And so Pavithra suddenly is all alone there in her village. And she begins begging for food, just wandering doorway to doorway, sleeping in those doorways at night. She becomes almost feral because her adoptive father isn't there with her. And finally, the word gets to him that his wife has died and Pavithra is living this strange life. And he comes home. And yet the pressure of the debt mounts and he realizes that he has to work off the debt or he'll go to prison and he can't find anyone to take care of little Pavithra.

And it's in this heartbroken state that he walks through the gates of Little Flock Children's Home, unannounced. And as our team listens, he says, "Please, please, can you raise my little girl?" Now at the time Pavithra has sort of a perpetual scowl on her face. She refuses to speak, won't say a word, not one word. And she won't make eye contact. She won't look anybody in the eye, keeps her eyes always averted for not days, but weeks.

Can she speak? Will she ever look anybody in the eye? Well, some members of the team that were there are here this morning and they've reminded me that when the caretaker had to make a split second decision and he said, "Yes, yes, yes, we will take care of Pavithra here." The other children in the orphanage, all of whom come from absolutely horrific backgrounds, all of them led up a cheer and they reached out for Pavithra and for probably the first day Pavithra's feet never touched the ground. She was just passed from one other orphan to the next as they just loved her and loved her and loved her.

And the love she was shown has changed her because I want to show you something. One year later, one year, when our team returned, we were amazed at the transformation because this is the Pavithra we saw then. The scowl turned into a smile and the silent girl became a little girl who loves to sing, a happy, healthy little girl who exudes the confidence of someone who is absolutely sure she is loved. And so she just radiates love in return.

Now that's the story of just one of these kids, but the story of Pavithra has been repeated in the lives of dozens and dozens and dozens of children so far that I've had a privilege to meet when visiting Little Flock. And each one of them have a story that's just as dramatic as Pavithra's, but now they found a home there at Little Flock. And I want to say something, as a member of TLC, whether you've been there or not, you are part of being a mom and being a dad, being an uncle, being an aunt to these very children.

But just 12 years ago, this children's home was non-existent. It was not even a dream. So how did it come to be? Well, it came to be because of a principle taught by Jesus. It's a principle that has inspired people for generations. It's a principle that can empower you to do far beyond what you imagine you can do. And I believe God brought you here today to learn this principle or be reminded of this principle in order to empower you to make an even greater difference in the world that he loves so much.

I call this morning's message Free Lunch. It's in Luke 9. It's about the feeding of the 5,000. And this is where you find this life-changing principle. This story is one of the most famous miracles that Jesus did. It's in all four gospels. And to show you how much this has fascinated people throughout the ages, archaeologists digging in the ancient village of Tabqa near the Sea of Galilee in Israel found an ancient mosaic. This is one of the earliest pieces of Christian art ever found. It's the loaves, two loaves. I'd rather the five loaves and the two fishes. They say this is at least 1700 years old, at least 1700. And it may be older than that. It shows you people have always been fascinated by the miracle we're going to look at this morning.

The question is why did Jesus do this miracle? Why did he take those five loaves and two fishes and miraculously feed over 5,000 people with it? Why is this strange story even in the Bible? Why did all four gospel writers think it was really important to include? It is not just a story about the fact that Jesus can do miracles. It's a story that relates to your life today. And to understand that, I want you to look at the context of Luke chapter 9. That's the place in the Bible where this miracle happens.

Luke 9 starts as the disciples are sent out to proclaim the gospel with zero resources. And in fact, Jesus specifically tells them, "For this trip, I don't want you to take anything along." Literally no resources, zero. And when they get back, Jesus decides to take them away for a debrief because Luke doesn't report any great results from their ministry. So Jesus takes them away for kind of a little staff retreat. But he goes into the wilderness and pretty soon there are literally thousands of people who have heard that Jesus is there and they crowd around to catch a glimpse of him and maybe hear some of his famous teaching, maybe see a miracle.

And what started as a staff retreat for 12 people has turned into the Coachella Music Festival. There's just thousands of people there. And that gets to be a real problem because there's no food trucks and there's no vendors. And verse 12, "Late in the afternoon, the 12 original disciples came to Jesus and they said, 'Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages in the countryside and find food and lodging because we're in a remote place here.' And he replied, 'Well, you give them something to eat.'" What? It's like a joke, right?

Now the gospel of John was there. And so he gives a few more details to this same story. He says that Jesus asked this only to test them. For he already had in mind what he was going to do. So this is completely an object lesson that I believe Jesus is doing to teach them something about the short-term mission strip that they were just on. Watch this. "And the disciples stopped. They look at each other. They go, 'Jesus, that's crazy.' They answered, 'We have only five loaves of bread and two fish, unless we're going to buy food for all this crowd.' Like, and that's impossible because about 5,000 men were there. We only have a little and the need is so big.

But what Jesus is trying to get the disciples to do and you and me to do is ask ourselves three questions that pop out of this story that really end up determining the impact of your life. Page two of your notes. And the first question is this. What do I think is too big for God to handle? If you're really honest, what do you think right now in your life some problem you're facing is too big for God to handle? Maybe it's a change of habit in your life. Or maybe it's your kids changing. Or maybe it's somebody coming to faith and you think that that'll never happen.

The disciples, what did they think was too big? The crowd. It says there were about 5,000 men there and really there were even more than 5,000. The Bible says there were 5,000 men but wherever you have 5,000 men you probably have 5,000 women, probably another 10,000 kids. So there's likely between 15 and 20,000 people here. That is a lot. So the disciples are going, it's literally an impossible need for us to fulfill. It is too big even for Jesus to handle. It is impossible.

True confession time, sometimes I turn on the TV and I see what's going on in the news. Or sometimes I open up the newspaper and see our own local needs here. Gang violence and homelessness. And sometimes I even look at my own life and my own family and my own ministry here and I just despair and I feel like I'm not even going to try to do anything because it's just too big to even start. It's impossible to even scratch the surface.

Here's another big problem for you. Let me get back to that other story, the story of Little Flock. V.G. Kamov, the founder of Little Flock, you might know her story. She was born and raised in Chennai, India. Moves here to UC Berkeley to go to college in the 70s and there she finds Jesus. Don't you love that? She finds Jesus at Berkeley in the 70s. Miracles still happen apparently.

In fact I asked her, I said, "V.G., what was it about Jesus that appealed to you?" She really hadn't heard much about Jesus before she moved here to the States. And she told me, "René, in a word it was grace." I wrote down what she said. She said, "For me, grace meant Jesus conquers karma." She said, "When I discovered that I could reap eternal life, even though it was Jesus who sowed it, that rocked my world and that's grace." So V.G. becomes a follower of Jesus because of his grace and she earns her doctorate and she falls in love with the California guy and they marry and she moves to the Oakland Hills.

And then one night in 2004, she watches a movie about a child who grew up in the slums of India, a gut-wrenching movie. And inspired by that movie, she does some research about poverty in her home country, which somehow she had never really thought about or researched before. And she discovers there are 12 million children in India who are orphans. And V.G. is so stunned at this number that she starts crying and she says, "I just felt overwhelmed and overloaded and like the task was impossible, I thought it is a huge problem." She thought, "Too big for anybody to solve. There's literally nothing I can do." And so she decided to try to forget about it.

Do you ever feel like that? Just overwhelmed with the needs of the world. And then especially when you look at the needs of the world compared with your own resources, your money or your time or your talent and you feel like there's nothing I can do to make a difference. I feel like that too. And that's the second question that's brought out in this story. What do I think is too little for God to work with? Too little for God to work with. Be honest. I want you to think about this for just a second. Maybe yourself or maybe your own talents and abilities just frustrate you.

You have a vision, you have a dream and you feel like, "I just can't do it." Or there's not enough time, there's not enough money, there's not enough energy, not enough talent. I'd like to do it, but it's just not enough. You know what? If you feel that way, I'm not going to tell you, "You're wrong. You are the man. You're the woman." I'm going to tell you, "You are probably right." Because actually the lesson in this story is not, "Don't think like that. You are awesome. You are powerful. You have infinite capabilities." The lesson is, "You're probably right." The need is huge and your abilities are so small and so few.

The lesson is just start with what you have and watch what God does, right? Start with what you have and watch what God does. Throughout the Bible, again and again and again, the lesson is start with what little you have. Look at David with his five smooth stones. Look at Hannah dedicating her little boy Samuel who grows up to be the great prophet Samuel. The point of Scripture is, "I can do nothing but God by his grace saves." And it happens when I want to serve him too.

It happens here. The disciples say, "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish." Now stop just a second. Let's check their math. Just look at the sentence. "Were they right?" Read this out loud with me. "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish." Is that all they had? They only had five loaves of bread and two fish. Is that really all they had? They were actually forgetting one thing. Think about it for just a second. What else, what other resource did they have? Oh yeah, Jesus. Jesus, the guy who they'd seen turn water into wine. The guy who'd healed countless people by this point. The guy who raised the dead. Oh yeah, we have five loaves, two fish, and one Jesus.

Somebody said, "Sometimes they really are the duh disciples." You know, because they just seen him do all these miracles. So look at what this one Jesus does. He said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about 50 each, and the disciples did so, and everybody sat down. And then taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them." And by the way, have you ever done that when it feels like there's not enough resource in your life to give thanks, even though it seems like there's not enough? That's a powerful prayer. And that's a prayer that'll change your perspective.

"And then he gave them to the disciples, still only five loaves and two fish, gives them to the disciples to distribute to the people, and they all ate and were satisfied." Thousands of them. But it gets better. "And the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over." So Jesus doesn't just adequately supply, he abundantly supplies. Write this down somewhere. Where God guides, God provides. That's the principle. Where God guides, God provides. Would you say that out loud with me? Let me hear you say this with gusta, like you mean it, like you believe it. Where God guides, God provides.

The principle is this, Jesus takes what we give and multiplies it. And when you believe that, then you have the confidence to go forward. And then amazing things happen. After V.G. saw that movie about India and saw the huge need, she couldn't sleep for two nights. And finally she falls on her knees and says, "Lord, what do you want me to do? I have to do something. Just what do you want?" And that's exactly what God wants to hear from you and me.

Now, V.G. is a very logical person. She's not one who like hears voices and so on. But V.G. told me that in that instant when she said, "God, just what do you want me to do? I'll do anything." A very clear idea came into her head, "Build a children's home." What? Now, if V.G. had been a "duh" disciple, she would have said, "No way! The need is way too big and I have such little resources. All I've got is college debt. I don't even have any resources yet." But what she says is, "Okay." And here's what happens.

The very first thing she needs is somebody who will actually run the home in India, right? She lives in Oakland, remember? And so she goes to India to look for this person. She has nobody to run it, nobody to staff it. She has no land. She's nothing right now. And so she's in India sitting in an internet cafe and she's writing an email back home where she's basically saying, "Well, I followed God's leading. I'm in India, but I have no idea where I am going to find a man and a woman who can be the first mom and dad for the children's home. I'm looking for people who are devoted followers of Jesus and people who speak the Tamil language and people who are from South India where the children's home is going to be, but how am I going to find him?"

Well, as Viji tells me, in India nothing is private and somebody in the internet cafe is reading her email over her shoulder as she composes it. And she feels this tap on her shoulder and a man says, "I know just the person you need to run your children's home." And through that contact, Viji meets Gilbert and Nalini who become the first leaders of Little Flock Children's Home. Then people start to hear about it. People in Gilbert's network, Nalini's network, Viji's network, funds start coming in, including from Twin Lakes Church. Property is purchased. Construction begins. The first kids arrive in 2006, all of them from just horrific backgrounds. Everyone.

We start sending out dental teams everywhere. Dentists and hygienists go out annually from TLC to care for the kids and the locals. And these kids have not only their physical needs met, they have their spiritual needs met. They learn about Jesus and they hear the story of Little Flock, how it came from nothing but a prompting from God. And so they start understanding how to live by giving Jesus their loaves and fishes. And as I speak, one of the first boys who was part of that first young class at Little Flock in 2006, Satish, is finishing his first year of college. And you know what he's studying? Dentistry. Because he wants to be the next dentist there at Little Flock.

Now, 10 housing units have been built and a kitchen and a dining hall and a short-term workers building. And I am going there. I'm starting a trip in eight days that will lead me eventually around the world to Little Flock in Chennai, India for the grand opening of the new building that we built as part of our 2020 vision program. And all this started with nothing. Literally nothing. Less than five loaves and two fishes. It started with somebody in debt to UC Berkeley saying, "Okay, to the idea." But you know what? When God has that okay, he can turn your little lunch into a catered banquet. But you'll never know unless you dare to take the first step.

Now, I'm convinced God is going to do some profound things coming out of this room in the years ahead. And so I want to pose a question to you. What would you do if you really believed God would provide? You say, "I do believe, René. Okay, then let me put it this way. Ask yourself, what will I do because I believe God will provide? What will you do?" Look what happens next. Luke 10, 1. After this, after what? After what just happened, including the feeding of the 5,000, the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them two by two ahead of him. And Luke says, "When they came back, they all had great reports."

So do you get the context? Chapter 9 starts with Jesus sending them on a short-term mission trip. And they come back and there's not really good report reported. And so Jesus does this object lesson, "Give me your loaves and fishes, I'll multiply." And then he says, "Now let's try that again." And he sends them out again. And just as proof that the miracles linked to this sending, he told them, "Yeah, the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few." In other words, guys, I know what you're thinking. It's just like that lunch and you're right. The task is big, enormous. And the resources are small, totally right. But remember what you learned. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers into his harvest field. You start going. You put your little piece into play. You give me your little loaves and fishes lunch and then watch me begin to multiply.

So what about you? How can you apply this today, right here? Well, do you remember Pavithra? Remember that look on her face? You know, there's millions of kids like Pavithra and not just in India, right here too. So many kids, so many kids who need love. And not just kids. There are grownups like Pavithra too. And maybe they don't look like this on the outside, but this is a picture of their soul. Fearful, joyless, just spent. And Jesus wants to give them abundant life. And he is calling you to help.

Now many of you are already doing amazing things, but let me suggest something. If you're looking for a way to plunge in. One of the amazing ways that we've seen the loaves and fishes principle right here at TLC this year is of course our new children's building. Do you remember how it just seemed like such a big task and our resources to me seemed so small, but you gave what you could give. And Jesus took that and multiplied and now it's real. Look at the inside of it now. Kids are pouring in during our weekend services and we have this amazing facility and now what we need are people to serve in this beautiful building.

And you might be thinking, "Oh no, I can't do it. I'm not good with kids." Well, check it out. The classes are divided into segments. For some of the segments the kids might eat snacks or play games or do crafts and we need people to be with them to play and help with crafts and set out snacks. And then the teaching time is led by our phenomenal children's ministry staff, but they cannot do it alone. We really need you. And I want you to get that this is a huge blessing. And so last weekend I asked some of the people who help out why they do it. And here's some of what they said.

Watch the screen. They're so adorable. They make me laugh. I just love being with kids. I've always loved kids. My favorite thing about working with the kids is getting to see them grow. I started volunteering about three years ago and now I'm actually, you know, an employee here at the Sunday School and it's just where I found my passion for working with kids. I'm a preschool teacher now and I just love seeing how the kids are passionate about learning about Jesus and how much he loves them. My favorite thing about working in the children's ministry is just an opportunity to love on these kids as well as give the parents an opportunity to just spend time learning about the Lord and having time to worship. I love watching a new generation of kids praising and worshiping Christ.

Isn't that great? Hey listen, would you join me in thanking all of our children's ministry volunteers? They're awesome. And I do not want you to miss out on this blessing. Can you give your loaves and fishes to these kids? I want to challenge you to consider this prayerfully and here's how you can do that. You see this insert here in your bulletins that says SOS. We need big people in the TLC children's ministry, bigs to serve the littles, especially this summer. All the details here. Please fill this out if you feel the Lord leading you and I can't wait to see how God is going to multiply this because you know really the key phrase in this whole story is you give them something to eat. Not the guy next to you, you do it.

Jesus Christ is saying just in some way put what you have into my hand and watch what happens. Now I want to be careful about this because whenever pastors try to recruit people to serve in a ministry at the church, people can think that it's from a guilt motivation. That is so far from my mind. I don't want you to do this ever out of a sense of guilt or just obligation even. I want you to do it because like Pavithra you exude the confidence of somebody who knows they are loved and because you know it you just want to shine with the love of Jesus to others in return. Amen?

Well let's pray together. Would you bow your heads with me? As we close today just in a moment of silence, would you just privately consider the meaning of this miracle at this meal to your life? What is Jesus trying to say to you this weekend? Just think about that just in a moment of silence.

You know what I hear God saying to me, "René, Jesus is big enough. Just whatever you're worried about, concerned about, just give it to Him. He created the world. He died on the cross for my sins and He'll help you today. Just give it to Him." Jesus, show your greatness through our weakness. And now as our eyes are still closed and heads bowed, maybe you're not sure if you've ever come to the point in your life that the Bible talks about where you've made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. Why don't you just do that right now? Just say something like, "Jesus, I don't understand it all but as much as I do, I just want to ask you to come into my life and I want to get to know you and I want to have your peace in my life. Forgive my sins and be my Savior." God, thank you so much for the bigness of Jesus. In His name we pray. Amen.