A Day of Good News: Part 1

Well, it's Thanksgiving weekend, and many of you probably come here today with many things to be thankful for.

Certainly the families who brought new babies, new children might be feeling a sense of gratefulness, thankfulness, and yet I'm aware that many of you come, and this year, for whatever reason, you say, maybe I have some things to be thankful for, but I have a lot of things that I wish were different, that I wish were not like they are.

And so wherever you are as you come here today, there's a need to hear good news.

But let me just ask you a question.

As you consider the news that you hear in our world, not personal news, but news in our world, do you feel like you hear more good news or bad news today?

I mean, chances are most of you would probably say, it seems like there's more bad news than good news.

Like there's more stories about what's not right with the world, what's wrong with the world, how things should not be, than there are stories about how things should be.

I experienced a moment of uh good news not long ago.

I was at a hockey game, and the pens were playing, and and I was in a section, and and they had one of these promos where I forget what it was exactly, but if something happened in the game, one of the sections would all get like free hot dogs.

And and and I watched it because the the whole game was going on, and all of a sudden the the event happened that gave this section free hot dogs.

And the section just erupted, they went nuts over the free hot dogs.

And I was thinking, you just paid a hundred dollars a ticket to be here.

You you paid to park, you're probably full, and yet you're going, free hot dog, like you just hit the lottery or something.

Free hot dog.

And they were so excited because they got a free hot dog.

And here's what happens if you have kids, especially young kids, you see this.

Sometimes kids can't distinguish between what's really good and what's just kind of good.

Like you tell a two-year-old, a three-year-old, we're going to Disneyland, and they're like, Yeah, whatever, and you say, We're going to McDonald's playland, and they're like, Yeah, McDonald's playland.

Awesome.

And today we're going to look at a story that's really a story about good news.

It's a story of a miracle that Jesus performed.

It's the only miracle, if you don't count the resurrection of Jesus Christ as a miracle that Jesus performed, but instead as a miracle just on its face, that appears in all four gospels.

The Gospels being Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, four different accounts of Jesus' life.

Here we get a story, a miracle that's told in all four gospels, meaning this is something that all four gospel writers thought was so significant that as they told the story of Jesus' life, they told this story.

Now, if you've been around church or maybe not around church, you've maybe heard this story.

You heard it read just a few moments ago.

And the story is really simple, and that is there are people who are hungry, and Jesus takes the fish and the loaves of some little boy.

The little boy whose mom packed him a lunch when everyone else forgot.

And the little boy gives up his lunch, and because he gives up his lunch, everybody gets to eat because Jesus does the miracle.

And and sometimes, if you've heard this taught, you've maybe heard lessons like be prepared, be like the little boy who always has a lunch, be willing to give up your lunch if Jesus asks, and and these kinds of things.

And that's not bad.

But I think there's a lot more going on in this story.

And so this weekend, we're going to look at this story from the view of the people who gathered.

Next weekend, we'll look at it from the view of his disciples who were traveling with him.

But this is a story about good news.

But what we see is that the people had something that they wanted, they had something they needed, but then they received something.

And to really understand the good news, we have to understand each of these things.

So here's what we'll do very simply.

We'll look at what they wanted, what they needed, and then ultimately what they received, and hopefully draw some parallels to your life and my life.

Here's the first thing that we see, and that is what they wanted.

And I'm going to suggest that what they wanted was revolution.

Now you may say, wait a second, where is that in this text?

Like I just heard the text read, and it doesn't say anywhere that they wanted revolution.

All it says is that they were hungry and that they needed some food.

But here are some of the hints that what they wanted was revolution.

First of all, when it says that there were 5,000 men, one of the parallels says that there were also women and children, but the reason that they numbered the men, and each of the accounts says 5,000 men, not just 15,000, 20,000 people, whatever it was, is because the men were considered the people ready to fight.

Now they were also out in the wilderness, which means that they were in an area that was notorious for the resistance to an oppressive regime.

In other words, this was a group of people who had come together because they wanted to topple the government.

We also believe that this is true because there's this little detail that's included here in Mark's gospel where it says that they sat down on the green grass.

Now, why is that significant?

If you've ever been to Israel, there's not green grass anywhere except at one time of year, in the very beginning of the spring.

And what would have likely been happening is that they were gathering in spring, the men in the wilderness, to try to take the government down.

And they wanted Jesus, this miracle worker who they had seen, to come and lead them so that he could restore order.

Now you might think I'm making too much of this, but here's what we see in these verses just before what was read, and that is that Jesus saw them, this is in verse 34, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

Now, when you and I hear that phrase, we don't necessarily think a lot about it, but in the Old Testament, uh a shepherd was certainly one who cared for sheep, but the allusion to sheep without a shepherd was often a military analogy.

You can see this in Numbers chapter 27, verses 16 and 17, where when Jesus says they were like sheep without a shepherd, he's saying they want something, but what they want, they can't necessarily get.

Numbers 27:16

And then if you're still not convinced that this is about revolution, here's probably the most compelling piece of it.

John chapter 6, verse 15, again told in four different gospels, says this.

John 6:15

In other words, they wanted a revolution.

This is not just a Sunday school picnic where Jesus does a magic trick with with fish and loaves.

What they wanted was they wanted a new social order.

They wanted something that would change the world.

And what happens for many of us is we look at God, we look at Jesus, and we say, Why is the world the way it is?

Why is there so much bad news?

And if I'm going to be part of God's economy, God's kingdom in any way, then I want a world that's different.

I want a world with better news.

I want a world where Jesus does something.

Now, when Jesus, by the way, does miracles, they're never just naked displays of power.

They're always a reversal of something that's broken in the world.

In other words, Jesus does these miracles to say, I'm going to restore things to the way they should be.

And as Jesus gathers with this crowd in the wilderness, he realizes that what they come to him for is they come to him saying, We want the world to be different, we want you to lead a change, and we want something that you can give to us.

Now, it's fascinating to me what Jesus does, because if Jesus' agenda had been societal change, social change, he could have very easily at this moment said, Yes, I'm going to bring about social change, and I'll do the whole salvation thing too.

But what Jesus does is he realizes that they come wanting something, revolution, but he also comes recognizing that they need something.

And this is the second kind of category today, and that is there's something that they wanted revolution, but there's something that they needed.

And I'm just simply going to say food.

Because it gets late in the day and they're hungry, and the disciples say, send them away to the villages, because now there's 20,000 people.

This is that moment.

Have you ever been in a moment where you were at a conference and everybody gets kind of dismissed to go like eat at the same time, and you're trying to fight for the restaurant spaces around the conference?

This is that time something because there weren't a lot of places to eat or buy bread.

And the reason that so many people were probably there without a lot of food was because they were thinking that they were marching towards some kind of a revolution and now they're hungry, and Jesus recognizes their simple need.

Now, before we dive into this too far, what's true at this moment is that as Jesus recognizes their need, he says, I want you to get everybody in a couple different rows here.

And here's what's true about need.

And that is a lot of times we don't even know what we need until we need it.

And a lot of times God will take a simple need in our lives in order to show us our bigger need.

Some of you might come here, maybe you're the person who says, you know, Thanksgiving was awesome.

I could just thank God for all the good things in my life.

And you don't feel like you have much need.

Others of us come here and we say, I know about need.

I need some things in my life right now.

I need clarity about direction.

I need to find a romance or love.

I need to have something resolved in my business.

I need something in my relational world.

And we come with these needs, but what God often does is he takes those needs and maybe he'll meet them, maybe he won't.

In this instance, he does, but he also, in this instance, meets their physical need to show that he can meet their ultimate need.

And what Mark hints at, John makes explicit because what John does is John says, very simply in the dialogue that follows, Jesus says, I am the bread of life.

So he feeds all of these people.

And then he basically says, I am the bread of life.

Now, Jesus took and he had the people sit down.

He took the bread and the fish and he basically said, Now take and distribute this.

And however this happened, we don't entirely know.

But we know that everyone ate, and Mark says, and they ate until they were satisfied.

Notice Jesus had a couple options here: bread and fish.

It was a keto-friendly diet for those who are there.

And what he was doing was he was saying, I want you to see that I can meet your ultimate need.

One author put it like this: He says, What people want to hear from religion and what they need to hear are two different things.

He says, I want to hear that I'm functionally good, that I'm functionally in control, and that fundamentally I'm on the right track.

I also want to hear that the problems that I'm experiencing in my life are a result of outside forces and can be overcome by following a short number of to-dos, simple steps.

In essence, I want to hear that it's all good and that if I start feeling like something is becoming less good, that I can write the ship.

In other words, what we want in religion is we want Jesus to fix something, to heal something, or to change something about society, and we want to feel like we're on the right side of history.

This is why the campaign that some are on to say, let's be about social justice, which is a good thing, but but why some, it becomes nothing but a self-righteous thing, saying, see, I'm on the right side that says we're going to right the world.

And it becomes religion, saying, I feel good about who I am.

I'm fundamentally right, and God can make everything good in my life.

The author continues, what people need to hear from religion is an accurate diagnosis of their condition.

Wanted religion, and by that he means this idea of what we want, can't offer a profound solution because it refuses to diagnose a profound disease.

Needed religion recognizes our plight and can offer a weighty cure, a Savior who substitutes himself for us.

And what Jesus does in this moment is yes, he meets their physical immediate need, but he points to something much bigger, much greater, where he says, Here is what I'm going to ultimately do.

I am going to give you bread, but it's going to point to something bigger.

And that leads us to a third thing to consider, and that is what they received.

And I'm going to say that what they received was an opportunity.

See, they came saying, We want to have you take this kingdom by force.

They had a real need of physical bread.

Jesus shows them that he can meet not just that need, but a bigger need.

But what they received was an opportunity.

First, an opportunity just to see who God really is, a perspective of Jesus being powerful enough, big enough, caring enough to meet what seem like mundane needs, but also our deepest need.

And maybe as you come here today, your real question is: is God the kind of God who cares about what's happening in my life?

Does he know?

Does he care?

Is he interested?

In Psalm 40, verse 17, I think it is right at the end of the psalm.

Psalms 40:17

The psalmist says, I'm needy and I'm poor, but you, God, you take thought of me.

You are the one who can deliver me.

And what the beautiful picture there is of God saying, I care about what's happening with you.

And what Jesus does in this moment is he doesn't say, look, you send them out, their need is their problem.

What he says is you give them something to eat to his disciples.

And what he's doing is he's saying, I have enough for the things that matter most.

And even that little word that says, and they were satisfied, was an indication that God is where you and I will find our deepest satisfaction.

You see, what many of us do is we'll spend our lives saying, Yes, I'll give some mental assent to God, but we really believe functionally that our greatest satisfaction will be in what we attain, in who we love, and how loved we are, and in the achievements and entertainments of this life.

And what Jesus is doing here is he's saying, in essence, I want you to see that you have an opportunity to find the deepest satisfaction, the satisfaction to the core of your soul.

And here's the problem, and it's true for me as somebody who's been a pastor for years, and that is we all come to a point where we have to say, Do I really believe that my deepest satisfaction will be in God?

Or do I say God's just a nice add-on that gives me hope of maybe another life?

But my best satisfaction in this life will be this, and we fill in that blank with something.

But that thing was never intended to bear the weight of our soul.

And Jesus, in saying, I'm the bread of life, I'm going to feed you, is really looking and saying, I'm about more.

But not only is he giving us an opportunity to see who he is, he's giving us an opportunity to understand his mission.

Now I said the people came wanting a revolution.

Imagine now the good news that they feel when they all get a meal and they all say, Hey, we were hungry and he fed us, but then there's no revolution.

And why is there no revolution?

It's because Jesus' revolution is different.

It's not the way our world thinks of power.

See, our world says, grab power, get as much as you can for yourself.

But what Jesus does is we're told that he looked to heaven and he took the bread and he broke it and he gave thanks.

This is a foreshadow of Mark chapter 14 when Jesus was about to be crucified and he took bread and he broke it and he became the one who was the sacrifice.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

You see what Jesus is doing here is he's playing on different ends of the spectrum.

In one sense, he's looking back and saying, as Moses was your deliverer in the wilderness and you were provided for, I am the new deliverer.

But he's also looking ahead and saying, But it's not going to be the deliverance that you think it will be.

My revolution is not of this world because I'm here to subvert power.

Here's how one author put this as he wrote about this.

He said, secularism makes people selfish, individualistic.

And he says, Why not be those things?

Who's to say what's right and wrong?

Religion makes people self-righteous and tribal.

But the gospel, the message that Jesus died on behalf, that he took bread and broke, that he went to the cross on our behalf, the gospel transforms you on the inside.

And then it turns our lives outward to a life of service, even to people that you don't like or don't believe what you believe.

See, what Jesus does is he says, yes, there will be a revolution, but it isn't the revolution that you're thinking of.

What I'm going to do is I'm going to work in people's hearts.

I'm going to bring about change from the inside as people change throughout the world.

And then Jesus basically gives people an invitation, an invitation to his mission.

Because what he does is he sends them out.

There's no commission here.

There's no statement of saying, now go and do likewise.

What Jesus simply does is he gives them this radical act of revolution.

And he says, now go.

So here's the question today.

For you, for me.

You hear this story?

One, you can say, well, it sounds like just kind of a Sunday school fairy tale.

And certainly that's one way to look at this.

I don't think it's the right way to look at it, but it's one way.

But but the real question is whether you say this is an absolute miracle and this is how God works, or you have some doubts about it, what Jesus was doing at a minimum was saying, saying the way to be satisfied in this life is not the ways that you typically think that it is.

And the causes that you want to fight are not the causes that will necessarily win out in the end.

But he offers something.

He says, But I'll give you satisfaction and I'll give you a cause that's worthwhile.

And he says, here's where it's at.

It will be found in me, the bread of life.

So the question for you, for me, is what am I looking to to gain my sense of satisfaction?

What am I looking to to say, this is what I believe in most?

And does it align with the things of God?

Or am I trying to fill that space in me with something else?

And then as a as a group of people, and call Orchard Hill their church home.

Are we people who live counterevolutionary kinds of lives?

Part of this laying down of power instead of grabbing it and saying, How do we serve the people in our world?

A little earlier when I prayed over the kids who came here this morning.

One of the things I prayed is, God, would you give each of these kids love for the lost, meaning people who haven't come to know Jesus Christ and the least?

And would you help them to make part of their life's agenda about serving these people?

You see, that's a distinctly revolutionary idea because what most of us tend to think is my life should be all about me, what I can get, how far I can advance myself, and then if there's anything left over, I'll take a little bit of that and I'll use it for some grander purpose.

But what Jesus was doing here was he saying, saying there's a cause that's greater than any other cause.

And that is when people come into alignment with the kingdom because that's what really will bring about societal change, lasting societal change.

You see, there's been revolutions before Jesus and after Jesus.

There's compelling stories of people overcoming oppressive governments throughout history.

But it's Jesus who's endured because he bids people to come and give their lives in the service of the lost and the least, and he says, when you do, you will find the truest satisfaction, because then you've experienced the bread of life and you give the bread of life.

And whatever's happening in my circumstances, see that allows me, allows you to live with grander purpose, greater purpose.

Then how's my year been?

Do I give thanks or don't I give thanks?

But instead to say, I have something more that I live for.

Father, we thank you for just this account of how you've worked.

And God, we ask that we would be people who seek and find our satisfaction ultimately in you.

Father, for those who who today are here and maybe just kind of asking some harder questions, God, I pray that even just this story would point to what Jesus did in Mark 14, where he gave himself so many revolutions, call people to come and die, but Jesus calls people to come and live.

And he dies.

He becomes our substitute so that we can live with confidence and live a life that isn't in bondage to sin, but instead is empowered toward real life.

And God, I pray that each person here, each person listening in another kind of venue or drop of this material would come to a point of saying, I want the real life that Jesus offers.

And I accept Jesus as my substitute.

And we pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thanks for being here.

On your way out, it will help you get home faster if you can turn to the right on Brand School Road.

So if you have that chance, do that.

Have a great day.