God of the Impossible: Jesus feeds the 5,000

All right.

I want to return to our collect of the day.

I was really moved by this.

I think the Holy Spirit's active right now here.

And I just want to pray this.

Let's pray together.

O God, whose never-failing providence

orders all things both in heaven and earth,

we humbly beseech you that during this,

the preaching of your word,

you would put away from us all hurtful things

and give us those things which are profitable for us.

May only the truth be spoken

and only the truth be heard

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

I'm just going to move this

until my mic comes out.

Then I'll have to use it.

I'm still in cottage mode.

I don't know if you can tell.

I'm just kind of like,

whew, okay, here we go.

Amy and I got back yesterday.

My head's still a little bit in the clouds.

I was crying when I put my boat away into the garage.

I'll get it out.

I swear I'll get it out again today

or this year before I have to winterize it.

There's a time in ministry to down tools.

There's a time to get away and to do the things

and just enjoy creation, enjoy our families.

But then there's also a time in ministry

to clear our heads,

slam it back down into gear,

and get to work.

And that's kind of where we are now as a church.

And it can be a little bit jarring.

I was talking actually with Gary Graber,

who's the academic dean of Ryle,

and he was saying he was kind of feeling the same thing

getting back from Phoenix, from his holidays.

It can be very jarring.

And the reason I say that is

when we look at the feeding of the 5,000,

which I'm going to be focusing on,

Luke 9, 10 to 17,

there's a Bible down here for you.

If you don't have one, it's our gift to you.

Basically, Jesus is trying to get the disciples

to shift into gear here

and to start really taking up their ministry.

And as you're going to see,

for the disciples here and after,

throughout Luke,

he's just dragging them along here,

trying to get them to get along with a program,

get along with business.

It's a little bit jarring for them.

Other than the resurrection,

the feeding of the 5,000

is the only miracle

that is found in all four Gospels.

So that says something to us.

That speaks to us of the importance of this story

for the early church

as they sought to share the Gospel

in an alien world.

So I really think it's important for us

to park there and focus on it,

especially as we get into a season

where we're revving back up for ministry

here in Ottawa.

There's a whole host of themes

from Jesus' life and ministry

that all come together here in this story.

We see compassion.

We see his control,

his sovereignty over creation.

We see how he provides for his people.

We see Old Testament themes

that actually are woven into this passage.

End times themes

that we're going to see in Revelation

when you read there.

They're actually woven through here.

Now, I can't go through all of that stuff.

We'd be here all afternoon.

But it's important for us

to realize that those are there.

That these things exist in the passage.

Because Jesus is bringing it all together

and he's trying to challenge his disciples

to up their expectations

for what is possible in ministry.

He's just trying to get them

to up those expectations.

Last week, we were in Luke 7.

Obviously, after that,

we're flashing forward a couple of chapters

and we're in Luke 9.

When we left Jesus last week,

he was ministering around the north part,

kind of the north part of the Sea of Galilee,

popping in and out of some small villages

of about a thousand people.

His miracles, though,

are getting just a little more profound.

And by the time that we come to Jesus now

in verse 9,

he's moved down to the southwest

of the Sea of Galilee.

And as he's gone there,

his message is starting to pick up momentum.

And then he's gone across the Sea of Galilee

to the east side.

So he's just,

he's surrounding that whole region

and something's starting to stir.

As I mentioned,

Amy and I were at,

and that's where we're picking him up,

Amy and I were at camp for the last while.

I love to fish.

I always try to talk about fishing in my sermons.

It's just something that I grew up doing in Halliburton.

And one of the,

you know,

where we are in Bancroft,

the water is often very serene on Faraday Lake.

There's hills all around us

so that the way,

the wind very seldom kicks up too much waves.

And so I can stand,

I'm in a little 14 foot boat with a flat bottom.

I can stand there

and I can just do my thing

and kind of have my Zen moment with the Lord,

bringing in whatever it is

that he deigns to put onto my hook.

And it's a wonderful moment

until about two o'clock in the afternoon

when the camp starts taking kids on their tubing rides

in their 300 horsepower ski natique.

And it's a big round bay.

And while I'm there,

I can hear it start up

and they start with the kids

and then they start going around.

And I don't know if you've ever seen a boat that big

and the waves that come off it,

they're pretty large.

And they don't just have one of these boats,

they have two of them.

And so the boat starts

and when this one gets here,

the next one starts.

And for two to three hours,

they're just having a blast

going around and around in that bay.

And in my little fishing boat,

I'm no longer standing.

It's undeniable.

The waves are crashing off each other,

which is part of the point when you're tubing.

And everything's getting churned up.

You know, I still might be trying to relax,

but I'm not standing anymore.

In contrast to last week

where Jesus is kind of just in a small area,

his ministry and his reputation

is spreading out all around the sea.

He's just circling the Sea of Galilee here,

like those boats.

And his waves are just crashing off everything

to the point that the royal family,

if you just look back in 9-7,

you know, the royal family

is starting to take notice

of what Jesus is doing here.

There are very few people

in that entire region

that aren't aware of Jesus at this moment

and aren't trying to figure out

who it is that he is.

And his parables are starting to pick up momentum.

I just commend you from 7 to 9

to start reading some of those parables.

They're coming very pointed

at the people, at his disciples,

at the leadership.

And also his miracles

are becoming more and more astounding.

Last week he healed over a distance.

He didn't even need to see

the centurion's daughter.

He's raising people from the dead.

So things are,

his ministry is just really starting

to pick up at this moment.

And here he is across

on the east side of the sea

and his disciples are just,

you know, they're hanging on for dear life.

And then he turns to them

and he sends them out

with the same power and authority,

he says, that he's been using.

No details are given,

but we are probably,

they probably have the same experiences

of healing and ministry

that they have in Luke 10, 17.

But that's where we pick up.

That's what they're returning from

and what's going on.

When we read,

on their return,

the apostles told him

all that they had done

and he took them

and withdrew apart

to a town called Bethsaida.

Following the report,

right away,

we see the compassion of our God.

We see the compassion of Jesus.

He cares for how hard this ministry is.

And so what does he do?

He takes them to Bethsaida

to get away.

So he's on the east side,

I've said,

of the Sea of Galilee.

Now they've actually,

Mark says,

gotten into a boat

and they've crossed the 13 kilometers

to the Sea of Bethsaida

and they put in,

so they're trying to escape those crowds,

they put in

and they find themselves

a desolate place.

Somewhere quietly,

verse 12 says,

you know,

on the outside of town

in a desolate place

for some time away together.

And then we see

when the crowds learned it,

they followed him

and welcomed him

and he welcomed them

and spoke to them

of the kingdom of God

and cured those

who needed healing.

We're not sure

how long they were there,

but we get the sense,

you know,

that they were ultimately foiled.

That they ultimately,

the crowds found them.

If Mark is indeed

talking about the same instance,

Mark says,

you know,

they looked,

they saw the direction

he was going

and they must have gotten

in the bigger boat

or had more guys paddling

and they made it there

before him

and were actually waiting

for him

when he got there.

And we see some,

some heroic patience

in Jesus here

at this moment.

Now,

when I'm done preaching

and doing communion

twice

and we've,

we've enjoyed fellowship

together,

when I get home

in the afternoon,

it just goes better

for everybody

if you don't disturb

the NFL

and NASCAR for me.

You just,

it draws,

ministry can just

draw that out of you

and you just need

that time

to down tools.

And so that's

where they are

and that's the mindset

they're in

and they get there

and there's people.

And what does Jesus do?

Passage says

that Jesus

welcomes them.

And the term

that it is here,

there's a certain

kind of welcome

it's talking,

it's not,

this is not the welcome

of a teacher

on the last day of school.

This is the welcome

of a teacher

on the first day of school.

He welcomes them

gladly

with open arms.

He preaches

and He heals them.

They crossed

13 kilometers,

that's roughly

from town

out to the junction,

out to the

Bayshore Mall.

They paddled that far.

They don't have

a 300 horsepower boat,

they have 12 disciple power

on paddles.

And they went that far

to get away

and Jesus welcomed them.

That, friends,

is patience.

Thank God

that's the patience

that the Lord

has for us.

Now I might be projecting

and I probably am,

but I hear some exhaustion

in the disciples

when they say,

now the day began

to wear away

so He's been doing

this all day.

The disciples

are just standing there

and the 12 came

and said to Him,

send the crowd away

to go into the surrounding

villages and countryside

to find lodging

and get provisions

for we're here

in a desolate place

where they put in.

You know,

to be honest,

they're making sense

logistically.

They're His interns,

they're His disciples.

It's their job

basically to think

about the small stuff

so He can focus

on the big stuff.

So they're doing

their job.

There is interns

learning ministry

from the ground up

and what do they see

when they look

at the people

that are there?

What they see

are people

who aren't locals.

Okay?

These are people

who it's not going

to be easy for them

to find a place

or food

in the night.

They don't have

one of these

where they can turn

on their data,

Google,

and, you know,

there's a Best Western

with Continental Breakfast

down the road.

They don't know

anybody here.

They don't know Bob

on the other side

of the road

where they can just

kind of stop in

for the night.

It is going to take,

it takes time,

it takes effort,

it's not going to be easy

for 5,000 people

to find somewhere to be.

And so we see

Jesus responds to them

not by saying,

oh, okay, yes,

let's send them off

like, you know,

I probably would have

or you would have.

Instead,

he commissions the disciples

to take up their ministry

and provide for his sheep.

Let's see,

verse 13.

But he said to them,

you give them something.

They said,

we have no more

than five loaves

and two fish

unless we are to go

and buy food

for all these people

away from here, Lord.

You know,

he's asking the impossible

and I really,

they pointed out to him

and I have to say

I identify with this

often in ministry,

friends,

you know,

things seem impossible.

I think about Messiah here.

The Lord says,

go start a seminary.

The Lord says,

go plant a couple churches.

To us as individuals,

the Lord is calling us

to share the faith

with people

for whom Jesus' name

is a swear word.

This seems impossible.

It seems impossible.

It's supposed to.

Our ministry

and our calling

is supposed to be impossible.

It's supposed to seem that way

for one reason.

Same reason was

for the disciples

because it drives us

to Jesus.

Everything

to drive us to Jesus

and stop relying

on our own power.

Verse 14.

For there were about

five thousand men

and he said to his disciples,

have them sit down then

in groups of about

50 each.

Something's about to happen.

Now I've seen

five thousand men

on a parade square.

Every year

in Petawawa

we have a

wonderful

what we call

a gut check

which is a

twenty kilometer

ish

rucksack march

with four thousand

nine hundred and ninety

nine of your favorite

friends

and we sit there

and they

people who aren't

going to walk

twenty kilometers

are going to watch us do it.

Get up and

you know

say all kinds

of wonderful things

about how great

this is going to be

for us

and then we sit there

and we get up

and we go for a walk

and it is a mass

of humanity.

It's a feat

of logistical

wizardry

just to provision us

to stand up

with our rucksacks

and walk

just to do that

is

it's almost an impossible

if you took

took group of people

it takes them

a month

just to figure

this thing

out

it's difficult

when you start

talking about

thousands of people

we're talking about

a mass

of humanity

here

and it's pretty

obvious

that

Jesus doing that

for the disciples

he's asking

for the impossible

but in light

of just having

upped their ministry

they've been going

around

he's been

taking them around

on the leash

he seems to be

calling something

out of the disciples

that they don't know

is there

but he does

through him

and I wonder

if God is calling

you right now

he's trying to

call something

out of you

that you don't

know is there

but he does

what is that thing

this morning

at that moment

he grips the situation

he creates some

order out of it

and then we read

in taking the five

loaves

and the two fish

he does the

traditional Jewish

thing

he's offering it

there's actually

a prayer that

he would use

to offer it

to heaven

and he looked

up to heaven

said the blessing

over him

the normal

Jewish blessing

then he broke

the loaves

and he gave

the disciples

to set before

the crowd

and through

their connection

to Jesus

and because

they turned

to him

at this

impossible

moment

the disciples

have enough

more than

enough

everybody

has a full

meal

some interpreters

like to say

that you know

well this is a

ritual meal

and everybody

had just a little

bit

says like

everybody ate

to their full

and there was

baskets left

over

we actually

say read

what the text

says

everybody ate

to their full

and I think

it's a pretty

obvious and

simple message

that Jesus

meets needs

but added to

that God's

provision

comes through

his disciples

his providing

for the world

comes through

his church

and they need

to learn

to take on

the impossible

by engaging

with him

we need

to learn

to take on

the impossible

things

of ministry

in the western

world

by engaging

deeper with him

now why

does this

matter

I think

it's very

easy for us

to get settled

into a human

view of the

church

and human

view of our

ministry

in the last

few years

I've been

taking some

courses

and there's

a lot of

folks from

around the

world

that come

to Toronto

for these

courses

we have

people from

Asia

we have

people from

Africa

we have

people from

Oceania

and they

come and we

all sit

and it's just

an amazing

experience to

sit and talk

about spiritual

things within

that kind of

crucible

and one of

the things we

learn from

those elsewhere

is how they

view the

western church

and they

really see us

as powerless

friends

like when they

come and they

look at the

over and over

again I heard

you know one of

the observations

of the west

is our lack

of trust

in God's

power

we have all

kinds of

trust in our

own power

all kinds of

trust in what

I can do with

my eloquence

not a lot of

trust in God's

power

Proverbs 3

5 says

of course

trust in the

Lord with all

your heart

and do not

lean on your

own understanding

many of my

fellow students

believe very

strongly that

the Holy Spirit

is quenched

here for all

our riches

it is quenched

in North America

and we miss out

or explain away

as miracles

whereas healings

and revival

and all these

things happen

in their home

countries

happen where

they are

and we wonder

why it doesn't

happen here

and they have

very simple

explanation for it

now I'm not

saying that we

all need to

be charismaniacs

for those who

grew up in that

like I did

but what I

submit to you

is that there's

a striking

element of

truth in what

our brothers and

sisters tell us

when they come

here

and this passage

stands in

challenge of

that

Jesus has just

commissioned his

disciples

he's given them

a taste of what

can happen

but spoon

feeding time

is over for

them

in the western

church friends

spoon feeding

time in this

this culture

that's that's

going back to

normal

I mean history

the normal

thing is that

the world's

against us

as Christians

and in the

western church

spoon feeding

time is almost

over if it

isn't already

this passage

speaks to us

at this time

and this place

Jesus is

passing on

his torch

to the

disciples

and he's

passing it

on to us

and if we're

going to take

on this

impossible

ministry

in this

world

that's

turned

against

Jesus

we need

to learn

greater

trust

and as

individuals

in a

church

we need

to be

focused

on how

can we

engage

more

with

Jesus

everything

else

is

secondary

how can

we engage

as a

community

together

more

with

Jesus

do not

fear

but believe

he says

so many

times

in the

gospels

so I

have

our

to do

I

have

us

something

to

consider

I

want us

to consider

something

this week

in

engagement

with

God's

word

I

want you

to consider

whether

you're

a believer

whether

you're

just

here

as a

seeker

this

morning

wondering

about

this

God

thing

do

you

have

a

sneaky

suspicion

that

you

were

made

for

more

do

you

have

a

thought

that

maybe

you've

bought

into

a

vision

of

your

purpose

that

is

smaller

than

what

it

really

is

do

we

have

that

suspicion

together

as a

church

that

we

were

meant

for

more

we

want

to

consider

and

then

as

you

can

see

in

the

growing

in

grace

section

or

what

do

we

call

it

this

morning

growing

in

grace

section

I

want

us

to

engage

with

the

part

two

of

Luke's

gospel

is

the

book

of

Acts

and

I

commend

that

to

you

because

we

see

this

working

itself

over

over

and

over

and

over

again

in

the

book

of

Acts

so

for

your

devotions

this

week

while

while

you

to

know

to

read

read

the

story

of

how

the

early

church

was

just

constantly

called

to

more

and

engage

with

that

that

that's

our

challenge

I

just

want to

leave

that

with

you

and

commit

that

to

you

the

power

of

Jesus

changes

the

equation

of

what

is

possible

stop

this

week

consider

this

week

and

engage

and I prayed about this

and I really feel it's a particular message for us

there are a host of bold ministries

that our board is looking at right now

they've spoken about with us in the spring

they've commended it to us for prayer over the summer

and I really hope we have been

and if not that we're going to start

fervently praying for these things

we're looking at launching into

over the next year or so

ministries, new ministries we have

our ministries we're looking to continue to grow

and I really hope that as a church

we can hold things as they are

right now

because things are great

even though 417 is closed

and everybody from the west isn't here this morning

things are great

so I really hope that we can hold the way things are in our church

with an open hand though

and offer it to God

for whatever he has coming next

considering the ways

considering the ways

that we can take each new vision

that comes to us from our leadership with prayer

considering the ways

that Jesus is calling

each of us as individuals

to more

to more of life

and to more of him

I mean

you know the man rose from the dead

he rose from the dead

three days

in a tomb

dead

alive

anything else he asks us

as a church friends

it's just child's play

anything else he asks of you

and me

just child's play

in his power

let's pray

loving God

I give you thanks for

for the mission that you've given us as a church

I give you thanks for our leadership

for the many ministries

and interns that we have

we just pray Lord God

that you would give our board

give our leadership

a clear vision

and you would give us the boldness

that you would give us the vision

and the power

to make that dream a reality

in Jesus name we pray

Amen