“Can Jesus Have Your Lunch?”
November 5, 2006
Pastor Steve N. Wagers
Gardenview Baptist Church
Jacksonville, FL
“Can Jesus Have Your Lunch?”
John 6: 1-14
Pastor Steve N. Wagers
November 5. 2006
Sermon Outline
1. How to Embrace God’s Will for Your Life!
A) Find His Will Personally
B) Follow His Will Passionately
2. How to Encounter God’s Work in Your Life!
A) We Must Heed to What the Lord Speaks
B) We Must Hand over What the Lord Seeks
3. How to Experience God’s Wonder through Your Life!
A) His Glorious Provision
B) His Generous Portion
In John 6 we find one of the most familiar miracles Jesus ever performed. It is the miracle commonly referred to as “The Feeding of the 5000.” A preacher friend of mine named Tom Hayes refers to this as “the miracle of the saltines and the sardines.” It’s interesting that this is the ONLY miracle of Jesus recorded in all 4 gospels.
I read about the preacher that announced that the next Sunday he was going to preach on Noah and his Ark. The next Sunday he got up to read his text not knowing that some boys had glued some of the pages of his Bible together. He began to read, "Noah took unto himself a wife and she was," he turned the page and continued to read, "three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high." He paused and then read it again. He then looked up and said, "You know, I have been studying the Bible for almost fifty years, but there are still some things in that are hard to believe."
I have heard, read, studied and preached the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 for a number of years and, to be honest, it’s still hard to believe. It reminds me of a Sunday school teacher who was trying to illustrate the danger of drinking alcohol to her class. She filled up 2 glasses, one with water and the other with whiskey. Then, she pulled out some earth worms and dropped some of them into the water, and they had a great time.
Then, she dropped some of those worms into the glass of whiskey; and, before long, those worms curled up and died. She said, “Now, class, what does this teach us?” One little boy spoke up and said, “I know what it teaches us. If you have worms, drink some whiskey.”
As we look to this famous miracle, if we’re not careful, we can easily miss the point. This miracle indicts a lack of faith, and it inspires a life of faith. In the story, Philip looked to the cost, Andrew looked to the crowd; but, the little lad looked to the Christ who took his lunch and did something amazing with it.
The miracle reminds us that if Christ can take and use the little lad’s lunch, then He can certainly take and use your lunch or my lunch if we let Him have it. So I again ask you, can Jesus have your lunch. In order to answer that question, let’s consider 3 things pertaining to this great miracle. First of all, from the miracle we learn:
1. How to EMBRACE God’s WILL for Your Life!
Jesus asks Philip where they could buy enough bread to feed the multitude, in verse 5. Philip immediately pulls out his calculator and begins to count the cost of what it would take to feed this “great company” of people.
Philip tallied it up and came up with the total. He said, in verse 7, that not even “two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them.” In other words, Philip came to the conclusion that even if they had more than 200 days worth of wages, it still would not buy enough bread to feed all of the people.
Philip reminds us of those who constantly look at budgets, bank accounts, treasury reports and weekly offering only to conclude, “It cannot be done.” In verse 6, we learn that Jesus said this “to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.” The word “prove” simply means, “To test.” In other words, Jesus was putting Philip’s faith to the test, but Philip flunked the test.
Notice the statement, “for he himself knew what he would do.” That statement reveals that even before Jesus asked the question, He knew how Philip would repond to the situation.
If Jesus knew that, then before Andrew ever brought the little lad to Jesus, Jesus already knew that he was in the crowd, and He knew that he had 5 loaves and 2 fishes. This tells us that long before this miracle ever took place, Jesus had a plan. Thus, the lad and his lunch were all a part of His plan.
We don’t know anything about this lad. We don’t know his name. We don’t know if he was family or friends. We don’t know where he came from. All that we know is that he had a lunch that consisted of 5 loaves and 2 fishes; but, the Lord had a plan for the lad and his lunch.
This reminds me that God has a plan for everyone of our lives. There is something that God not only wants to do for you; but, there is something God wants to do with you, in you, by you, and through you. There is something God has for you that has no one else’s name on it.
Thus, if God has a will for our lives, then we should:
A) FIND His Will PERSONALLY!
If God has a will for my life, then I should set out to find His will personally. If God desires for me to know His will, then I should desire for Him to show His will. We should never be content to go through life without finding His will for our life. If there is something He wants to do with our life, then we should not settle for anything less than finding His will personally.
A very devoutly religious man, who was also getting a bit overweight, decided to go on a life-altering diet. It was his duty, given that his body is a temple before God. But one of his main problems with his diet was that he would stop for donuts every morning on the way to work.
To make things easier for himself, he changed his route to work to avoid the temptation of stopping. Once he got busy during the day, he more easily could avoid the temptation, he figured, if only he could get past the mornings.
As the weeks passed by, he began losing a great deal of weight and was receiving compliments from his friends and co-workers alike! Then one morning without thinking, he accidentally turned onto the road that would take him by the donut shop again.
At first he was going to turn around and head for safe territory, away from the awful temptation, but then he thought to himself, "Maybe the Lord is rewarding me for my efforts these past weeks!"
So, he said a short prayer, telling God that if this was His true intention, let there be an open parking place available and awaiting his arrival, directly in front of the shop. Sure enough, he found one the 8th time around the parking lot!
I wouldn’t advise seeking to manipulate the will of God. We should find His will personally, and then we should:
B) FOLLOW His Will PASSIONATELY!
Many Christians remind me of the fellow who went to the doctor for a check-up. The doctor came out with the report and said, “You’re fat.” The man shouted, “I want a second opinion.” The doctor said, “Okay, you’re ugly too!”
When it comes to the will of God, we should never seek a second opinion. Once we find His will personally we should follow His will passionately. Once we discover His will, we should do His will.
If you have not yet found and followed God’s will for your life, then it matters not what else you may accomplish in your life. Finding His will personally and following His will passionately is the only key that unlocks the door of success and satisfaction. Learn to embrace God’s will for your life and you will learn:
2. How to ENCOUNTER God’s WORK in Your Life!
In verse 11, we read that “Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.”
We often think of Jesus as a Giver, and indeed he was; however, the scriptures also teach us that Jesus was a Taker. Five times in the New Testament we read of the things which Jesus “took.”
The word “took” is an interesting word. The Greek word is lambano and the same word is used in Matthew 7: 8 where Jesus said that “every one that asketh receiveth.”
The implication of the word “took” is that Jesus received the loaves from the lad. The idea is that He never took them forcefully, but rather He reached out to take the lunch, and the lad willingly gave it to Jesus.
The lad could have done 3 things with his lunch. First, he could have kept it for himself. Second, he could have distributed it to the crowd, and only a handful of people would have received a little. Finally, he could have given it to Jesus, which is exactly what we see him doing.
The word lambano, or “took” informs us that his lunch was not forced from him. He did not kick and scream when it was taken from him; but, he gladly, freely and willingly gave it to Jesus.
The response of the lad demonstrates how we can encounter God’s work in our lives. First:
A) We Must HEED TO What the Lord SPEAKS!
Although it is not recorded, I have no doubt that Jesus asked the lad for his lunch. The idea is that Jesus spoke to the lad, and the lad responded to what Jesus said. Nothing seems to suggest that he argued with Jesus, or even hesitated in responding to what Jesus said.
Could the same be said of you? When the Lord speaks do you respond? Do you heed to what the Lord speaks? If so, do you respond immediately or hesitantly? You see delayed obedience is always disobedience.
Many Christians are like the man who was concerned that his wife was losing her hearing. He shared his concern with the doctor and asked his advice. The doctor wrote out some steps to take to find out if his wife was having hearing problems. When he got home, his wife was in the kitchen preparing dinner, so he thought this was an excellent time to try the doctor’s instructions.
He walked over and stood about 10 feet from his wife and asked, “What’s for dinner?” There was no reply. He moved to about 8 feet from her and asked, “What’s for dinner?” Still no reply. He moved to about 5 feet from her and asked, “What’s for dinner?” Again, there was no reply. He was convinced his wife had hearing problems, so he moved up right behind her and asked, “What’s for dinner?” She turned around and said, “For the 4th time, we’re having chicken.”
Many times the issue is not WHAT we hear, but HOW we hear. The issue is not whether or not God is speaking, but whether or not we are hearing, and heeding what God is saying.
That is why it is so important that you respond to Him if He is speaking to your heart. In just a few minutes, when the invitation is given, I am not trying to get you to the altar to boost my ego that I preached a great sermon. I am trying to get you to hear His voice and heed His voice. I want you to heed to what the Lord speaks.
Secondly, the lad not only teaches us to heed to what the Lord speaks, but:
B) We Must HAND OVER What the Lord SEEKS!
Again there was something that Jesus wanted from the lad. In verse 9, Andrew says to Jesus, “There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?”
In verse 10 Jesus gives a command to, “Make the men sit down.” Then, in verse 11, “Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.”
Jesus wanted the lad’s little lunch. Again the implication of the word “took” is that Jesus asked the boy for his lunch, and the lad willingly gave it to Jesus. There is nothing to suggest that there was any hesitation on the part of the lad. He heeded to what the Lord said, and he handed over what the Lord sought.
Will you heed to what the Lord speaks? Will you hand over what the Lord seeks? Like Abraham, if He asks you for the most precious thing in your life, will you take it to the top of the mountain and be willing to give it back to God?
Like Noah, if He asks you to build an ark, though it had never rained before, and there was no future forecast of rain, would you build it? Like Moses, when He asks you, “What is that in thine hand?” will you throw it down, turn it loose and let Him have it?
It stands to reason that if I am unwilling to heed to what God speaks, and hand over what God seeks then I will miss out on encountering God’s work in my life.
Let me put it this way. If I am unwilling to give Him 3 services a week, or a tenth of my income, what right do I have to expect Him to work in my life? If I only turn to God when things are bad, and turn from God when things are good, what gives me the right to expect God to do something with my life?
The truth of the matter is that if I ever God to listen to me, then I must learn to listen to God. If I expect God to do something for me, then I must learn to do something for God. If I do, then I will encounter His work in my life.
Finally, we see:
3. How to EXPERIENCE God’s WONDER through Your Life!
Many feel that in order to be used of God they must hold a seminary degree in Theology, have all the right credentials, or know all the right people. Yet, none those things qualify a person to used of God. In fact, often those things only get in God’s way of being able to use us.
Someone has well said, “God doesn’t want your ability, only your availability.” You may be thinking, “The Lord could never use me. I have nothing to offer Him. I haven’t been called to preach, or gifted to teach, sing, organize or administrate.” That may very well be true; and, all you may have is a little lunch, but if you will give it to God, He can and will use it in a great way.