5-18-14 The miracle of the little boy

Scripture:   John 6:8-9, 27, 43-45, 51, 66-69

Look Who Asks for Your Help

John 6:8-9  Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, But they will certainly not be enough for all these people."

A picture of a Farmer’s bank and a child’s bank with coins.

          The 12 disciples had a problem. Thousands of people had come for lunch. Can you imagine trying to feed 5,000 people? The disciples knew they needed help. They did what we should do when we have a problem. They went to Jesus and explained the situation. Jesus asked the disciples what they could do to help the 5,000 people. They didn’t have enough money to buy food for everyone. But they did find a boy who had his own lunch – five loaves of bread and two fish.

          You know how the story turns out. Jesus takes the bread and fish from the boy and blesses it. Then He feeds the 5,000 people. They all had enough to eat, and they collected 12 baskets of leftovers.

          Did you ever wonder why Jesus bothered with the boy’s few pieces of bread and fish? If He could make that much food out of so little, why did He need the little? An example from today; If you 5,000 people coming for dinner, you would worry. If the only money you had was in this bank (shake it), you know you couldn’t buy enough food. But if the owner of this bank (show the picture) said you could have all the money you wanted, you’d have no problem. In fact, you wouldn’t even bother opening this little bank. Why fool around with dimes and quarters when you need thousands of dollars? Especially if the thousands are available.

          But Jesus didn’t think that way. He could have fed the 5,000 without using the boy’s bread and fish. But He asked for the boy’s help. Jesus and the boy were hosts for the dinner. Sometimes we call this story the miracle of the five loaves and the two fish. But we should call it the miracle of a little boy and Jesus. They shared together and a miracle happened.

          Jesus still works the same way today – and miracles still happen. Though His power and love are like this bank and our power and love are like this kid’s bank, He still lets us work with Him. He asks us to be His partners.

          Jesus asks us to help Him save the world. He died to pay for everyone’s sins and rose to give us all a new life that lasts forever. And He asks us to tell others. We can receive His forgiveness and share it by forgiving others. We have His love; so we can love others.

          He asks us to be His partners in many other ways too. He gives us food and asks us to share with others. He gives us time and abilities and asks us to share with others. He gives us time and abilities and asks us to use them to help others.

          We may wonder why Jesus doesn’t do everything Himself. He could do a better job. But He loves us. He wants to work with us. He wants us to share in His joy of loving others.

 Plan for a Life That Lasts

John 6:27   "Do not work for food that spoils; instead, work for the food that lasts for eternal life. This is the food which the Son of Man will give you, because God, the Father, has put His mark of approval on Him."

A sandwich and a credit card.

          When you are hungry, you want something to eat. You don’t want a promise of something to eat later. Suppose you asked for food and I gave you a choice. You could have this sandwich. Or you could have this credit card. Which would you take?

          Of course, the sandwich is food. The credit card isn’t. You couldn’t eat this plastic card. So for hunger, you should take the sandwich. But before you decide, you’d better think about it.

          First of all, if you eat the sandwich now, you’ll be hungry again in a few hours. Even if the sandwich were big enough to eat some now and keep some for later, it would soon spoil. Then you’d have nothing to eat.

          On the other hand you could use the credit card to buy food. You could get what you needed today – and tomorrow and next week. The food wouldn’t spoil because you could get what you needed each day. But you have to depend on the credit card. You have to trust that whoever’s name is on it will pay your bill. If the card is no good, you’ll have nothing to eat but a piece of plastic.

          Before you decide listen to what Jesus has to say. “Do not work for food that spoils; instead, work for the food that lasts for eternal life. This is the food which the Son of Man will give you, because God, the Father, has put His mark of approval on Him.”

          Jesus says we should forget the sandwich. Reach for something that lasts. Of course He is not talking about food and credit cards. But He is telling us how to plan our lives.

          Often we have two choices. We must choose what we want right now and what is better for our total life. It is easy to choose what we want now because we think about today’s needs first. But sometimes what we want for now hurts us later. Or at least it does us no good later. Instead we should pick those things which will last – the things that help us not now and later. Jesus is not talking about insurance policies, investments, or houses. Those things will last only as long as we live on earth.

          But Jesus wants us to have a life that lasts forever. Sure, God wants us to have the food and other things we need for today and as long as we live on earth. But He wants us to have more than that. He tells us to live on His credit card, to depend on Him for a life that will never end. Jesus tells you that you can trust in Him because God the Father has put His mark of approval on Him. That mark of approval is the resurrection from the dead. Jesus died and rose again to give us eternal life.

          Plan your life knowing that you will live forever. Don’t let the problems of today destroy your hope for the future. Don’t let the joys of today make you forget that even greater joys await you in heaven.

Look at Both Sides

John 6:43-45        "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me."

A large poster with the words “This Way” and an arrow pointing left on one side and the same words with an arrow pointing right on the other.

          Suppose you ordered a sign made to point the way to that door. When the sign arrived, you put it up. But look… (Show the side that points the wrong way.) You wanted to direct people toward the door, but this arrow points the wrong way. You could turn the sign upside down. (Do it.) Then the arrow is right, but the words can’t be read.

          You might complain to the person who painted the sign. But the sign-maker would tell you the sign is correct. See. (Turn the sign over.) It is made to point either way.

          Some people who listened to Jesus grumbled about what He said. He had told them He was the Bread of Life. They thought He was like the sign – that He pointed the wrong way. They wanted Him to show them the way of God. Instead He showed them the way to Himself. They didn’t like that.

          But Jesus told them to stop grumbling. He reminded them that the prophets told them, ‘Everyone will be taught by God.” The people knew they had not always listened to God when He taught them. God seemed too holy, too far away, and too difficult to understand.

          But Jesus came as a person – like the people He was teaching. When He pointed toward Himself, ads He often did, He was pointing to something they could see and understand. As the people got to know Him, they discovered He was God also. Jesus is like this sign. Because He is a human being, He points to us – He is the way God came to us. Because He is God, He also points to our Father in heaven. He is the way we go to God. He tells us, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him to Me.” And, “Anyone who hears the Father and learns from, Him comes to Me.”

          Sometimes we also grumble if we see only half of Jesus. IF we see Him only as God, we grumble that He is far away, and we can’t understand Him. If we see Him only as a person, we grumble that He has no power to help us. But if we look at both sides of Jesus we have no reason to grumble. Jesus points us to Himself; so He can point us to God.

          When we see Jesus as a person, we know He has shared in our lives. He is a part of us. When we see Him as God, we know that what He has done has power to save us forever. He tells you that when you believe in Him He will raise you up on the last day.

Eat Your Cake and Have It Too

John 6:51  

Jesus said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

 Two decorated cupcakes, each on a serving plate.

          Have you ever heard anyone say, “You can’t eat your cake and have it too”? Some people want two things when they have to choose one or the other. For example, a student may want good grades and also want to watch TV or play instead of studying. Or you might want to save your allowance for a vacation but also want to spend it for treats this week. In either case someone might say, “You can’t eat your cake and have it too.”

          Here there are two cupcakes. See how pretty they are. I’ll give one to Sherry and one to Will. Will, you look at yours and think how good it will taste. So you eat it.

          Sherry, you look at yours and think how pretty it is. You want to show it to your friends. You want to think how nice it will be to eat it sometime; so you keep yours.

          Will and Sherry each had a choice to make. He ate his cake. She kept hers. Will has already enjoyed his cake. Sherry wants to enjoy hers later.

          In our Bible reading for today Jesus calls Himself bread not cake. People in His day didn’t eat cake. They were glad to have bread. Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eat this bread, he will live forever. The bread that I will give him is My flesh, which I give so that the world may live.”

          Let’s compare Jesus as the living bread to the two pieces of cake. Jesus is like bread because we need Him to live. Just as we must have food for our bodies we must also have food for our spiritual lives. Jesus is that food. First, we can say that Jesus is like the cupcake that was on Wills plate. Jesus was here. He lived for us. He gave His life when He died on the cross to pay for our sins. Because Jesus gave His life for us, we can no longer see Him. (Show the empty plate.) He is like the cupcake that was eaten. Jesus’ life was taken from Him.

But Jesus is also like this cupcake that we can still see. He gave His life when He died for us. Yet He returned to live with us, He is a living bread. He is with us today.

          We do not have to make a choice between a Savior who will die for us and one who will live for us. Jesus does both. In Him, and only in Him, we can have our cake and eat it too. In fact, we cannot choose one or the other. We need to know Him as the Savior who dies for us. We also need to know Him as the Savior who lives for us. In Him we find the living bread that gives us life that lasts forever.

Give and Take

John 6:66-69        From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.   So Jesus asked the Twelve disciples, "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

Six 3 x 5 cards (messages in text below) and a sack of candy.

          I’ve asked Carol to play a game of Put and Take with me. For the game I have this sack of candy and a stack of cards. Carol will take the top card and do what it says. Then the next card and the next. She may quit at any time she wants. Before we start I want to show her what the bottom card says. See, I will tell you, “take all the candy.”

          Now we start the game. Take the first card and read it. (The cards in order say, “Take five pieces of candy,” “Take three pieces of candy.” “Give four pieces of candy to a friend.” “Put two pieces of candy back in the sack.” “Eat one piece of candy.” “Take all of the candy.” As the child plays the game give her the opportunity to quit after each card. If she considers stopping, remind her of the bottom card which she has seen.)

          During the game of Put and Take you gained some and you lost some. But as long as you knew what the bottom card was, you knew that you should continue the game. In some ways being a Christian is like a game of Put and Take. The life of a Christian always starts by God giving the first gifts. First we take. But God also asks us to put. He asks us to use the gifts He has given us. Some people want to quit the game when God asks them to give away what He has given to them. However, we should always remember that God has shown us the last card. It is God’s invitation for us to go to heaven with him.

          For example, in today’s Bible reading we hear about some people who quit the game before it was over – and some who refused to quit. First, Jesus gave many gifts to a large crowd of 5,000 people. He fed them all they needed to eat. Some have been healed. All heard the message of love and forgiveness. Then Jesus told the people that they must share in His life, that they must eat His body and drink His blood. Many of them didn’t like that; so they left Him.

          Jesus then asked His disciples, ‘Would you also like to leave?” Peter remembered the last card. He answered for all the disciples when he said, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. And now we believe and know that You are the Holy One who has come from God.”

          But we have to answer for ourselves. Think of all the things that God has given to us. Starting with our baptisms, He has given us His love and mercy. Each day He forgives our sins. He also asks us to give – to give love, money, attention, forgiveness to others. Sometimes we are like the people in the Bible reading who did not understand what Jesus was saying. At such times we must always remember the bottom card. Jesus who asks us to give to other is also the One who has eternal life for us. Stay with Him.