Loaves & Fishes

Good morning. Thank you. My name is Mark. I'm one of the pastors here. And for me, I got to be between Adrian and Trent. It's not a real favorable comparison with me in the middle, but I could imagine someday in heaven you'll sound like these two guys. So that was really cool. We have been away for several weekends. You may or may not have noticed, but the fact is some of us are meeting for the very first time as our church starts to draw people, more and more people back into in-person services. And so, hi, nice to meet you for the first time, if that's the case. So glad that you're also joining us on our live stream and wherever you are, either in this room or somewhere else on the planet, we're glad that you could gather with us here this morning.

Sadly, we've been away because we've been attending to an unfolding tragedy, which resulted in the loss of a 17-year-old young man who is very, very dear to us, as well as his family. And I may share more about that in the future, but if I were to try to do that today, it would likely reduce me to tears. And so, rather than that, I want to begin with this question. Where do you need Jesus to make a difference in your life? Perhaps like my family, you're also in a season of grief, and in addition to the sadness, you also have concerns about those who are most closely impacted by it, or maybe you have health concerns for yourself or someone that you love. That could be that there's a relationship on the rocks, a financial problem, a job problem, an addiction problem, could be any number of problems.

But the bottom line is this, you are not able to fix it. And so, you're hoping, praying, that Jesus will do for you what you are not able to do for yourself. We're going to explore all of this and more as we continue with our series "Seven Signs." Seven miracles in John's gospel that really help us understand who Jesus is, what He's about, and why we would want to trust Him with our lives. Today's sign is the miracle of the loaves and fishes. And this sign was such a big deal that other than the resurrection of Jesus, it is the only miracle that appears in all four gospels.

My hunch is that this is so because it's so basic to all of us. It's really universal because food is life. Food points us to God's provision and our utter dependency on Him, which is why later in this same passage, Jesus is going to recall Himself the very bread of life. And so again, I want you to think specifically, where do you need Jesus to make a difference in your life? Do you have something? Good. I want you to hold on to that as we go through today's passage, which is John 6:5–15. And you can find it in your Bible or about Bible app. The verses are going to be on screen. They're also in your notes.

But I want to begin with a little bit of context. The other three gospels tell us that just prior to today's story, the disciples had been sent out in pairs to preach about Jesus. They even performed miracles. And now they've regrouped near the Sea of Galilee. And while they were away doing ministry, Herod has had John the Baptist executed, the cousin and forerunner of Jesus. And so no doubt there's a mix of emotions there, somewhat exhilarated because God has used them in a powerful way. And yet at the same time, they've got to be tired and also very sad over what has happened to John.

And so when they get together with Jesus, he says, "Hey guys, let's sail to the other side of the lake where it's more remote. And let's just have a time where we can rest, just us." Well, in the meantime, John tells us just before this that the Passover is just days away. And so no doubt there are all sorts of people traveling through Galilee on their way to Jerusalem. Plus the news about Jesus is spreading to more and more people. And so when these folks hear that Jesus has crossed the lake, they actually traipsed around the shoreline so that they can catch up with Jesus and the disciples, effectively crashing the little getaway that Jesus had planned for just him and the 12th.

So let's pick up the story beginning at verse five. It says, "When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, 'Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?' He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do." Now, before we go any further, I want to just stop here and mention something that is very important for us to see. Notice how Jesus says, "Where shall we buy bread?" Now, why does this matter? It matters because from the very beginning, God's intention has been to include us in what He is doing in the world.

Just think back to the creation narratives. In Genesis 1, God tells Adam and Eve, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, not just with other human beings, but fill it with culture and civilization and beauty and books and art and all sorts of good things." Because what He's saying is, in a very special way, you are participating with me in this creation. In Genesis 2, God has Adam name the animals. Well, why didn't God name them? Because once again, crazy as it sounds, God has always intended for us to partner with Him, which means God didn't create a terrarium just to fill it with pets. Our calling is to actively share in God's purposes.

And even though human sinfulness throws a massive wrench into this, God has not abandoned this project. In fact, we are restored in Christ, and this call is reissued in our lives, which is why Jesus turns to Philip here and says, "Where shall we buy bread?" Something similar, I think, happened here at Twin Lakes Church several years ago. It's as if Jesus said to this congregation, "Twin Lakes Church, where shall we find food for the people in Santa Cruz County who do not have enough?" Because as you may know, now one in three people in our community face what's called food insecurity. That includes people in our church right now.

Food insecurity goes like this. It's where you have to make the decision, "Do I buy groceries or do I take my child to the dentist?" This week, will I spend it on food, medicine, or will I fix the car? Because you can't do all of them at the same time. And so there's this constant stress and apprehension about what might just happen next. And that's why every year we challenge ourselves to raise a crazy amount of food in partnership with the Second Harvest Food Bank. And it's why every week we distribute free food and fresh produce on Wednesdays through our people's pantry ministry to whoever comes, whoever has need.

But sometimes individually or collectively, we can suffer from what you might call need fatigue. Because the needs never end. And that's Philip in this story. Look how he responds to Jesus at verse seven. "Philip answered him, 'It would take more than half a year's wages to buy enough bread for each one of us to have a bite.'" It's like, "Come on, Jesus. Why don't you come up with an actual plan here?" And by the way, Philip has all about four lines in the entire Bible. Unfortunately, this is one of them. But I love it because it's so honest, isn't it? And I'm sure in retrospect, Phil would have loved to have gone back to that moment and say, "Well, I'll tell you. I mean, Jesus, you're that we saw you turn ordinary water into wine. And just a little while back, we saw you heal a guy. He couldn't walk for 38 years. So I'm pretty sure you, Jesus, are where we are going to find the bread." But he doesn't do that. He looks right past Jesus, and all he can see is the size of the problem.

Let me ask you, show of hands, can any of you this morning relate to Philip? Oh, come on, it's church. You can be honest. That's good for the soul. All right. With that in mind, let's make this very practical. Ask yourself this first question. What have I decided is too big for God to handle? Perhaps it's that thing I asked you to think about at the very beginning. And truth be told, you probably wouldn't say out loud that, "Oh, yeah, that problem is too big for God. It's above his pay grade." You wouldn't say that, but what's your general mood? Does it contradict what you would say you believe?

Again, I don't think most of us question God's power, but we may well question his willingness or his intentions. Any of you relate to that? Because let's face it, there are things you have asked God to do. You've asked him to intervene in a certain way. You've probably asked him that more than once. And yet so far, heaven has been silent. You may have even noticed a little detail back at verse 6, because look at this. Jesus already had in mind what he was going to do. So why bother asking Philip? It reminds me of a question I've been asked more times than I can count, which is this. If God already knows what he's going to do, what's the point of prayer? Right? You've asked yourself this question.

And honestly, there are things that I have prayed over for years, pretty much on a daily basis, bringing the same requests to God. And you have similar burdens too. But I want you to follow me here. Could it be that in our unanswered prayers and unrequited longings, and of course it has to be said, it could be those prayers were answered, it's just not in a way that we wanted. So we're waiting for a different answer to come. But in all of this, could it be with these deep yearnings that Jesus is in fact, inviting us to share in his own sufferings, which we were also called to. Participating in the very life of God in a mysterious way.

Let's face it, he could wipe away any problem in an instant. And yet in doing so, our freedom to choose, the freedom to choose of others, our capacity to love, to grow wiser, more compassionate, more Christ-like, wouldn't those things also be diminished, if not lost altogether? If all we ever got was what we wanted. And clearly God has the resources to accomplish his will, and he does. But Scripture tells us in ways we can't even fathom, that in the process, God is working for the good, the bad, the ugly, the tragic. God is working for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. That's the problem, that's the promise of Romans 8:28.

I want you to see how this works out back here in John 6, continuing at verse 8. It says, "Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 'Here's a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish.' Great answer, Andrew." I mean, this guy looks so proactive, he's like, "Here we go, let's start here." Unfortunately, he keeps speaking and continues, "But how far will they go among so many?" Thank you very much, Eeyore. He's like, "Oh, dumb idea. So stupid. I'm so sorry, Jesus, for even mentioning it." He's kind of giving Jesus an excuse, right? You're giving him an out. And so while Philip looks at the problem and says it's too big, Andrew looks at this little boy's lunch and says it's too little.

And most of the time, we're either Andrew or Philip, aren't we? So ask yourself the second question. What have I decided is too little for God to work with? And perhaps the first thing that comes to mind is yourself. I mean, you wonder, what in the world could God ever do with me? I mean, I don't have the right background. I don't have the right family. I don't have the right education. Man, I'm all about way too many liabilities, not enough assets. Or perhaps you actually do have an idea, maybe even a dream, about how God could use you to make a difference. But you think to yourself, "I don't have enough time. I don't have enough money, not enough energy." Your resources simply do not match the need. And you know what? You may be absolutely right.

Because the point of the story is not, "Hey, you're the man. You're the woman. You can do anything you imagine." It's not the point. The point is this, start with what you have and see what God does. I mentioned our people's pantry ministry. I remember when it operated out of a closet in the basement of this building. Now it's got its own couple thousand square feet to operate in. And just 10 days ago, Twin Lakes was presented a second harvest heavy lifter award, which goes to the largest contributor. And here's some fellow Twin Lakers. That's Marty and Shelley Hernandez. I think you know this guy, René, his wife, Lori, Willie Elliot McCray, CEO of Second Harvest, my brother, Paul, his wife, Robin, and some lady who's photobombing them from behind. Kidding, that's actually Rachelle Naroyan. She's also of Second Harvest.

But I want to be clear. I show you this not so that we can pat ourselves on the back and go, "Yeah, Twin Lakes, man, we rock." I show you this because it's an opportunity to celebrate and acknowledge how God takes our little loaves and fishes and multiplies them into so much more. In this instance, 1.2 million meals. It's staggering. So I just want to thank you, Twin Lakes Church, for being like that little boy that said, "Well, I don't have much, but you can have what I've got. Take my loaves and fishes and watch what God does." I would be in despair if I didn't believe that God is doing the same thing in the terrible crisis going on in Ukraine right now.

But in fact, Christians around the globe are responding with an outpouring of love and support. In fact, we just received an update from a man named Marty Shaw. Many of you know Marty. He's one of our global ministry partners. He was here just in January for our World Outreach Week. Marty is now on the ground in Poland, coordinating relief efforts on behalf of Twin Lakes Church and many other churches. And I want you to hear from Marty directly. Watch his screen.

This is the Baptist Church where we just loaded up a van. There's a car being loaded up with other stuff. There's apartments upstairs, and this is where refugees will come. Normally, they rent these out, but these are for refugees. We're probably less than 40 miles from the border. And getting across the border has been taking a long time. So by the time they get here, they're totally exhausted. They'll stay one or two nights, and then they'll move on. But in the process, the gospel can be shared. Also, we just took the van out. It has a ton of stuff in it. It is cold here, but that van took off. They're trying to beat curfew to get back across the border to take goods that have been bought and some donated into Ukraine and to help where it's needed.

This is people from the church and people from Ukraine. So this church actually is sending things both to and from Ukraine, people from and goods back in for the people who are still there. This is why we partner with people like Marty. He's an extension of our church in a way because we make a priority of working through local churches, wherever the need is, and providing, again, on the ground coordination when we can, so that you know that when you participate, it's with integrity and that the resources go to their intended purpose.

And if you are already participating in this relief effort, thank you so much. If you would like to, you can simply go to TLC.org/relief for more information. But let's face it, in the face of this crisis, we may just feel like, man, all I've got is five little loaves and two fish. But never forget, we have one big Jesus. And I want you to watch how he works here back in John 6 starting at verse 10. Jesus said, "Have the people sit down. There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down. About 5,000 men were there." Now, 5,000 men, but if you add in women and children, we're talking about, what, 10, 15, 20,000 people.

And Jesus instructs the disciples to have the people sit down. And the word sit down that John uses in the original can refer to sitting in a chair, but more often in their culture had to do with reclining as they would for a meal. They would lay on their side as they ate. And so, it's akin to what we might say, someone comes in your house, you're about to eat, and you say, "Hey, why don't you pull up a chair?" Okay, has a direct connotation. And so, do you see how crazy this is? These loaves, scholars would say, are about the size of a dinner roll. They're flat, they're unimpressive, the fish, probably the size of a sardine. And now, there's this massive crowd sitting down or reclining, salivating, because Jesus has essentially told the disciples to ring the dinner bell.

Verse 11, "Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish." So, you have to just imagine how this rolls out. They're reclining. Jesus says, "Father, we thank you for this meal that we are about to partake of." And people are straining going, "Where's the food?" He's got like a biscuit in front of him. We need semi-trucks for this. And I don't know about you, but if I was one of the disciples, I would just start running at this point. Because if they don't deliver on this food, this crowd is going to tear them apart and have them for dinner. So, the disciples have to be thinking, "Jesus has lost His mind and we are going to die." And yet, the food just starts coming. And there's more and more and more and more until 15,000, 20,000 people are laying on their backs, patting their full bellies.

Verse 12, "When they had all had enough to eat, He said to His disciples, 'Gather the pieces that are left over, let nothing be wasted.' So, they gathered them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten." Twelve baskets of these leftover barley rolls. No mention of the fish, by the way, because after all, nobody likes leftover fish. But think about it. There's like a to-go basket, one for each of the disciples because Jesus didn't just meet the need, He exceeded it. Just like when He turned the water into wine, it wasn't just adequate, it was excellent. A sign of His generous grace. Like when David would say, "My cup overflows." It's not just full, it's overflowing.

Which brings us to the big idea in this passage. And it's this, Jesus uses the little I have to show how big He is. This is a sign that reminds us Jesus is so much bigger and more powerful and more capable than we imagine. And I want you to watch how this story kind of winds up. It takes a little bit of a turn here starting at verse 14. It says, "After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, 'Surely this is the prophet who has come into the world.'" Now, what are they talking about? Well, they knew their Bibles really well, and they knew their history. And way, way back in their history, Moses makes a promise in Deuteronomy 18:15 where he says, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to them." And so, you see what's going on because just as Moses would lead the Israelites out of their bondage in Israel, he makes this promise that there will be another one who would be seen as the Messiah as the understanding started to unfold about this promise, a Messiah who would lead an even greater deliverance. And this is when they go, "Jesus is that guy." The light bulb goes on over their head.

The question is, "What kind of Messiah will he be?" Back to John 6:15. "Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself." You see, there were a lot of folks in this crowd who were more interested in being delivered from Rome than they were being delivered from themselves. Right? A Messiah they will even later say in chapter 6, "Hey, you know that thing you did with the bread? That's really cool. Why did you do that all the time? Like every single day, just you can be our bread king." And so, Jesus says, "Yeah, that's not why I'm here." Because he's more than a meal ticket. He's more than a genie just waiting on our next wish. He is so much bigger, which is why John begins his gospel speaking of Jesus saying, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God. In the beginning through Him all things were made without Him. Nothing has been made that has been made." And not only that, a few verses later, the Word became flesh and dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only who came from the Father full of grace and truth.

So let me ask you again, where do you need this Jesus to make a difference in your life? And what's bigger? That problem or the one who created the universe? That hurt or the one who became flesh? Who is close to the brokenhearted? Because he knows firsthand what it's like to struggle, what it's like to be in deep pain. And listen, I'm not trying to minimize whatever it is that may be weighing you down today. Far from it. Truth be told, I stand before you deeply wounded today. This young man that I mentioned for all intents his family to us. And so we are struck down, but we are not destroyed because Jesus is still Lord. Jesus is still in control. Jesus is still Immanuel, God with us, even in the deepest, darkest valleys.

And so let's just land on this last huge question. In the view of whatever is going on in your life, good, bad, hard, whatever it is, ask yourself, how big is my Jesus? How big is he? You may not have enough. You probably don't in some way, whether it's financially, emotionally, physically, spiritually, you are out of gas. You are down to your last few loaves, as it were. And if that's you, I just want to invite you along with me to hold that burden, that need before him. As fragile as your faith may be. And then just wait and see. See if over the course of time and in his own way, he doesn't multiply your trust and enlarge your hope, compound your joy, and satisfy you with his love.

Let's pray. And while we come before the Lord in prayer, I'm going to invite the choir to make their way back out on the stage. Try not to allow that to distract you. Let's just focus right now on the one who loved us so much that he would come and live the life that we could never live, and then die a death that ultimately we deserve. And yet, here's the thing, death did not get the last word because Jesus is alive and the tomb is empty, which is our promise that everything sad and evil is going to be overturned, that Jesus has struck a death blow to the grave itself. And the day will come, the day we all yearn for, where there will be no more sorrow, no more pain, no more mourning, no more death, no more want.

And between this moment and that day, Jesus is our daily bread who comes and nourishes us and strengthens us and comforts us and will give us whatever we need in each and every moment. And so, as we look to him this morning as our sustainer, may we all find rest, may we all gladly acknowledge, "Lord, I don't have the resources, but you do." And so, Lord, we come to you asking that you work in our lives in ways that only you can do in countless situations represented in this room right now and even beyond. For we pray these things in the matchless name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And all God's people said, "Amen indeed."