January 19th, 2025 - "Epiphany Scripture Surprises: Rations" - Ms. Brooke Tilley

Matt Nelson: Welcome to the sermon podcast from First United Methodist

Church in downtown Bentonville.

If you have questions related to what you hear today or just want to

find out more about the ministries at First United Methodist Church, please

visit us online at fumcbentonville.

org or check us out on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok.

Brooke Tilley: Good morning.

If you haven't met me, my name is Brooke Tilley, and I'm one of the

youths here at FUMC Bentonville.

I've been asked by Pastor Michelle, who obviously isn't here today,

to preach a sermon on a piece of scripture that gave me an epiphany.

And immediately when I heard this, I thought of Jesus feeding

4, 000 people with just seven loaves of bread and a few fish.

So here's that scripture.

In Matthew 15, 29 through 37, in IV, it says, Jesus left there and

went down along the Sea of Galilee.

Then he went up on the mountainside and sat down.

Great crowds came to him bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled,

the mute, and many others.

They laid them at his feet and he healed them.

The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking.

The crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing, and

they praised the God of Israel.

Jesus called his disciples to him and said, I have compassion for these people.

They've already been with me for three days and have nothing to eat.

I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.

His disciples answered, How could we get enough bread in this

remote place to feed such a crowd?

How many loaves do you have?

Jesus asked.

Seven, they replied, and a few small fish.

He told the crowd to sit down on the ground.

Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks,

he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people.

They all ate and were satisfied.

Afterward, the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken

pieces that were left over.

This is the word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

So my human mind read this passage and I thought, how could you be filled,

let alone satisfied, with just a couple bites of bread and a couple bites of fish

and it's four thousand people, so four thousand people on four loaves of bread?

Doesn't make sense.

Not only did they have enough to ease their hunger, but they were satisfied.

I know I just said that, but the word satisfied, if you think about

it, it's more than just being full.

It's feeling fulfilled.

But after mulling it over and growing in my faith, I realized it matters

not how much you put into the world, but what you put into the world.

If the energy you exert is filled with the Holy Spirit, your environment

will begin to reflect that.

So it mattered not that there was so little food, it mattered

that it was a sentiment of Jesus.

And therefore, it fulfilled all who consumed it.

And we all know Jesus has performed much greater things than just

passing out some bread and some fish.

So, why did he give the disciples the bread and they in turn to the people?

This is because Jesus knew that he didn't have to handle that task by himself.

He played what was obviously a huge role in feeding his followers,

but he knew that it was okay to delegate some of it to others.

Even though this example of giving out bread may seem sort of simple compared

to a lot of the things that We humans go through in our everyday lives.

Um, it alludes to the simple truth that applies to every situation.

You never have to deal with anything alone, no matter how big or small it is.

You have friends or family or some kind of community to share the

weight of being human with you.

And even if you don't have that type of community, you will always have

God, and God will always have you.

As I'm sure many of you also are, I'm what you'd call a people pleaser.

I drain myself of my energy and deny my needs to fulfill

the wants and needs of others.

Recently I had a friend who was struggling and needed my help.

I helped her as much as I could and I kind of held her hand

through life for a little while.

And I probably exerted more energy than I should have and I didn't

conserve any of that for myself.

Worrying about my friend along with other teenage things we all go

through, will go through, or have gone through, it began to take a toll

on me and I started to struggle too.

My life became sort of like an ocean, just like that song they just played.

That worked out real well.

That was an accident.

Um, well, nothing's an accident with God, but, um, it's a God thing.

I had God trying to lift me up out of the waters, and I had my family

and friends supporting me, but I was worrying so much about other things

that that small weight was still just bringing me all the way down.

And I was really struggling to keep my head above those waters.

Eventually, I realized that I couldn't swim out without some energy.

As I began to need more energy for myself, I felt like my strength to

spread the gospel and be God's willing volunteer was kind of decreasing.

I prayed about it at every opportunity, and I eventually

got an answer to my problem.

God pushed me to believe that I could make an impact on just one person, and it would

still be way more than enough for him.

So I spoke to my friend, and I told them, Look, I care about you, and I

will always support you, and I will do everything that I can to help you, but

I need some energy from myself, too.

I can't be your only support system.

And I can't be enough for you right now.

And I understood.

As I placed boundaries on harmful parts of my life that were weighing me down

and keeping me in those waters and under those waters, I started to feel like

maybe I wasn't even in the water anymore.

Maybe the water wasn't even there.

And, so I realized that if I prayed for my friend, and the words I spoke to her were

to the best of my ability, filled with the spirit of God, then I was fulfilling God's

will to help her, and to help everyone.

Even though, I was helping myself too.

It will always be okay to conserve your energy, as long as the rations of it

you give are full of the Holy Spirit.

Um, because as we learned in today's scripture, the Holy

Spirit will always satisfy.

And from the moment you drew your first breath, God gave you bread.

Sounds weird, right?

You're not a baby eating bread.

But, um, not only in a literal sense that he uses his creation to naturally

bear fruit and milk and meat that is made for humans to eat, but that you

have something to bring to the table.

God calls each of us to do incredible things in this world, and that

calling is different for each of us.

You may not be called to the pulpit, but you may be called to show love

and grace and mercy to your neighbor.

You may not be called to work for the church, but you will

always be called to work for God.

The world is hungry and we are the rations God has to give.

A bite may not be enough to fulfill someone, anyone, but when each

type of food comes together, it creates a full, fulfilling meal.

If we as God's rations work together, we will feed the hungry world.

As we take communion, our body consumes a blessing and a manifestation of God.

We do not receive an entire loaf of bread and cup of juice.

But it holds a heavy meaning in our hearts.

God is there for us within the single bite of bread and sip of juice just as much

as he would be if we had a whole feast.

One bite of bread outside of church may not do much to fulfill you,

but when we put things within the context of appreciating the Lord, we

see even the ordinary as a blessing.

The words spoken in a sermon may be simple words, but they weigh heavier on

us because they are for and about God.

So, Jesus did not give each of his followers a feast, even though I'm

sure they would have liked that.

Not because it was impossible, as we know nothing is impossible for God, but

because he knew that a bite of bread and fish would be a blessing to them.

As we comment things on social media or send texts, we do not often stop to think

of them as fulfilling the will of God.

However, if we speak words uplifting the Holy Spirit and praising our God, then

we are filling our world with blessings.

Wouldn't that be a beautiful thing?

I've heard a lot of people stop and say, I just wish this world was fair.

I just wish this world was nicer.

I just wish these people would treat me better.

So let this room start that.

Think of God in your every word and every action, and you will begin

to see Him in all that is around.

God is always here.

You simply have to look.

The Hebrew name in Exodus for God is Yahweh, which means

the sound of our breath.

As there are a multitude of babies in this room and, um, I'm sure a lot of us

have seen like those cute little videos of babies on social media and they yawn

and we go, Oh, that's such a cute sound.

Because it is.

But we make that same sound forever.

And that sound is Yahweh.

God is there for us from the second that we draw our first breath, from

the second that we exhale our last.

This has always fascinated me so much, because it means that in every single

thing, every little stone, every little pebble, every little breath, God is there.

The one who created this world has an endless presence in

it, and he knew it needed you.

He planned you to do something special.

The same God who created the mountains and the seas looked at his creation

and thought, this is missing something.

And he knew that the something that our world needed was each and

every one of you, individually, to work together as a group.

His child.

You are his child.

No matter who you are, if you are 7 or 70, you are God's child.

God is always looking for an opportunity to use each of his

beloved children to bring him into the conversation, into the room.

So we have to be his willing volunteers.

Be a beacon of Christ.

You don't have to give a million dollars to every person you see.

That'd be really nice though, you're all seeing me right now.

Um, you don't have to start a charity.

But simply a smile is enough.

Smile at somebody who walks past you.

Smile to the person you're sitting next to.

Simply including the excluded is enough.

Giving people space to feel and know God is enough.

Any way you choose to spread the love of God, will always be more than enough.

It will always, not just fulfill, but satisfy.

Conserve your energy, but make sure that the energy you give off into

the world around you is something our loving God would be proud of.

Rest and take care of yourself, for you are God's precious child, and any

energy you devote to Him is enough.

You are enough, no matter who you are.

Allow yourself to embody the Spirit of Christ, and beautiful

things will surround you.

You know the saying, what goes around, comes around?

Think of that in every interaction.

If what goes around is God, what comes around is God.

If what goes around is being nice and loving and graceful,

that's what comes back.

Even though it may not always feel like it.

Think of that saying in every interaction and center yourself around God.

Be vulnerable as God's willing missionary and the world will reap the benefits.

Please bow your heads with me in an attitude of prayer.

Dear loving God, Thank you for allowing us to be a beacon of your blessings.

Thank you for allowing us to be places of peace, love, and satisfaction through you.

Please let each of us leave this church and base our every action in you.

God, let us never leave your sanctuary, even as we leave this building.

Please use each of us to satisfy your will on earth as it is in heaven.

Amen.

Thank each of you for giving me the opportunity to be God's willing

missionary and his portion today.

Thank you.

Matt Nelson: Thanks for listening to the sermon podcast from First United

Methodist Church in downtown Bentonville.

If you would like to let us know you were here, follow the link below to connect.

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FUMC Bentonville welcomes all.

Because we believe the communion table is God's table, we invite

everyone into our church family.

We welcome and celebrate every race, gender, gender identity, sexual

orientation, marital status, age, physical and mental ability, national origin,

economic station, and political ideology.

We come together in action and outreach, aspiring to follow Jesus' example of

radical hospitality, love, and grace as a transformative movement in our community.

Please join us for worship on Sunday mornings at 9 and 11 a. m. both

in person and on Facebook live.

All are welcome, and we'd love to have you with us.

Grace and peace.