John 6:1-21

<sup>Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

1Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 3Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
5When 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?" 6He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages[1] would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
8Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"
10Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11Jesus 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.
12When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.</sup>

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning! Our Gospel reading this morning has a very special message for the downtrodden, for anyone who has ever asked a question, "What does it matter what I do? What does it matter if I help or not? I feel inadequate. I wonder if I'm good enough." Oh, friend, if you are like me and have ever asked that question, our scripture has a very special message for us today, because the title of the message is, "Trust the Treasure That Is You."

God can take the mustard seed that is our best effort and make it blossom into a tree of blessings. The Gospel reading that is before us today is such a sparkling beauty. It is one of the most beautiful ones in the Bible. It is the story of the feeding of the five thousand people by Jesus.

One of the things that makes this story so special is that it is one of the few stories in the entire New Testament that appears in all four Gospels. Lots of stories are in common among the first three, the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but very few stories make it into all four. So this must have been very dear to the hearts of the Gospel writers and the people of Jesus's time.

The story is in all four Gospels – Mark, the scribe of Saint Peter, Matthew, the tax collector who wanted to influence the Jewish people for Jesus Christ, Luke, the medical doctor, and John, the evangelist to the Greeks. All of them were fascinated by the story of Jesus multiplying the loaves and fishes and feeding everyone. 

But there is one very special person in this story that I want to lift up for you today. Let's take a look at the story together. Jesus tried to go on vacation. That's where He was heading. He had said to His disciples, "Let's get in the boat and go off to this place where we can rest and pray and take our time." He was on His way to do that. But once again, He came to land, and all the people were coming from every direction to meet Him. He looked upon them, and He had compassion in His heart.

He looked upon them and knew they were hungry. He said to Philip, "Where shall we get enough food to feed all these people?" And Philip said, "Lord, six months' of salary couldn't feed all these people!" Did Philip answer His question? No, he did not. Jesus asked "Where shall we get the food?" Why did He ask that? He said "Where shall we get the food?" because this was Gentile territory, and He was asking Philip, "Where can we find a Kosher deli? Where can we find kosher food to feed all these people?"

And Philip said, "Oh, I'm not even going to answer this question. I'm going to bring up the bill. Do you have any idea how much this is going to cost?" But that's not what Jesus asked.

There must have been a very special someone who overheard this conversation. And this special someone was a child! And the child couldn't come to the Lord – was too scared, maybe. It was a little boy; it might just as well have been a little girl. And the child went over to an assistant, to Andrew, and he said, "Sir, if it helps, here's my lunch. Would you take it to Mr. Jesus?"

And Andrew said, "Ah, okay." And Andrew goes over to Jesus and says, "Master, um, I don't know how to tell you this. There's a little child here, and he has five barley loaves, and you know, those are the lower kind of loaves, Lord, and two little dried fish. But what is that among so many?"

A moment of lightning happens in the scripture right here, a moment of absolute lightning. Jesus doesn't say anything. Jesus doesn't chide Andrew for his lack of belief. Jesus doesn't chew out Philip. He doesn't even praise the child. Something absolutely lightning happens. In that moment, Jesus must have flashed a smile of joy to that child, because the very next words of scripture are the words of Jesus. He has heard what Andrew said, He hears that there is a willing person to help, and He says, "Make the people sit down." Just like that! What does it mean? It means, "Get ready for a miracle." It means "Now I can go to work; I've found one person with faith. One person who believes in what I can do."

Make the people sit down. Sit down at the table, because dinner is coming. And the people sat down. Jesus gratefully received the gift of this little child. It was remarkable, wasn't it? The child simply saw a need and met it. The child did not go home and tell his father to sell the farm and bring it to Andrew. On the other hand, the child did not break off one half of a piece of barley and give that to Andrew. The child said, "I trust. I can do this. Mr. Jesus, here it is. I hope it helps." He trusted the treasure that was him. He trusted the treasure of what he had to give, and he gave it to Andrew in innocence. He said, "I hope it helps." And Jesus saw it, and said, "Boy, does it ever."

Jesus takes the mustard seed of our best and makes it grow into a tree of blessings. And Jesus took the bread and blessed it. He used the traditional words of a father blessing the meal of a family. "Blessed be thou, O God, King of the Universe, who bringest forth the grain of the earth." And Jesus broke the bread, and the boy watched. And Jesus broke the bread, and He broke the bread, and He broke the bread. And suddenly there was enough to feed five thousand people and more.

The disciples gave the food to the crowd, and they ate. They were satisfied, and they praised God, and it made all four Gospels. And then Jesus said, "Go gather up the leftovers." Why did He do that? In those days, the custom was, when a meal was served to you, you did not eat all the meal. You left a portion aside for the server. It was sort of a gratuity. It's foreign to us, but that was the custom. It was an honorable custom, and people were generous. They left a portion of the food for the servers, who were the disciples. The disciples always carried baskets. Jewish people carried baskets when they traveled. There were twelve baskets – plenty for each server.

There was abundance, there was more than enough, because one person decided to be the material for a miracle. He decided to be a blessing.

Friend, I have one simple thought to share with you from this today. Trust the miracle that is you. Have confidence in your contribution, whatever it may be, because Jesus can take the mustard seed you bring and make a tree of blessings out of it.

You ever get to doubting yourself? Do you ever wonder how the small thing you do could possibly matter in the long run? Maybe you love a child. Maybe you do something sweet for some children in your neighborhood. Maybe you work hard and leave the house before the sun comes up and get back after the sun goes down to put food on the table for your family. Maybe you're wondering, "Is it worth it? Is it remembered?" Maybe you've gone past the bell-ringing Salvation Army person and put money in the pot. Do you ever wonder?

Don't wonder anymore. Because when you do something with love, and when you give of yourself with trust, God takes it and multiplies it, and we never know where the goodness ends. So like the child, do your best with all your might. That's all God can expect. And know that God will bless your blessing and will multiply it, and you'll never know where the goodness ends.

Won't you have that confidence this week? When God calls you to do something, something special, I don't know what it will be. Maybe you're a doctor, and maybe in your rounds, you'll take an extra moment, silently or out loud, to pray for a patient. Or maybe you'll say an extra word that will just make all the difference. God will take that and bless it and multiply it.

Maybe somebody has asked you to pray for them. Somewhere you say, "Oh, I wonder if that prayer really counts." It counts, because God sees your willing heart and takes that gift and multiplies it. God blesses and multiplies all that I have, all that I give, and all that I receive. And so it is for you.

Trust it. Trust the treasure that is you. Trust the treasure that is your presence, your love, your specialness. It's a gift.

Closing thought – there's a story told that once a man was walking along the seashore, and the tide had just gone out. There were many starfish left onshore. He walked along and thought, "What a pity, what a shame. All these starfish drying in the sun." And the man saw in the distance another man who was also walking along. And that second man would casually bend down, pick up a starfish, and throw it out to sea. He watched for a while as the man picked up one starfish here, another there, and tossed them out to sea.

And the first man walked up to the second and said, "What are you doing? How can this make a difference? What does it matter?"

The second man smiled, picked up another starfish, threw it into the sea, and said, "It matters to that one."

Trust the treasure that is you. God is sending you into the world to be a mighty blessing, and connected to Him, your blessings will grow and grow, like a penny thrown into a still pool of water. The ripples extend, and you never know where the ripples of goodness from your good acts will ever end.

God loves you. I do, too. Happy summer. Amen.