Have you ever been asked to do something that seemed WAY too big for you?
How do YOU respond to “big asks”? Say I asked YOU to do something that would cost the best part of your annual earnings? What would YOU think?
- Eish… that’s a bit cheeky?
- There’s no ways I can do that!
- You’re crazy!
Today we have an unusual lesson in maths: I call it “GOD MATHS”. You may call it “WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH!” You’ll see what I mean as we go on…
Please turn to John 6…
Reading from verse 5:
5 When 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?" 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
8 Another 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?"
10 Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11 Jesus 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. 12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
Here we have a classic test of faith from Jesus. He casts a vision for his disciples: “let’s buy these people lunch!”
Good idea? Absolutely! It was a fantastic idea! How noble to feed all of these people at the end of a great time of ministry!
Just one snag – it was not a practical idea. They did not have that kind of money!
The “facts man” steps up to the plate… Philip.
Now Philip is a bright guy. He has an aptitude for arithmetic. He’s already done some mental calculations… it doesn’t look good. So he steps up to sound the “wake-up call”… “I’m all for this, Lord… but I did the sums. It would take eight months’ wages just for a nibble – much more for a decent lunch. It’s a great idea, but it’s simply not practical.”
Then the “action man” steps up – Andrew. He hasn’t done the sums – maths isn’t his thing – but the idea has gripped him. He’s come to love Jesus’ way of doing ministry – plus, Jesus has a track record of making everything work. So if Jesus wants us to do something, we must get going!
So he asks around… who has brought a lot of cash or food with them?
A kid steps up. “Do people need food? My mom packed me the best lunch ever… said you never know who will forget to bring lunch… here it is – five loaves and two fish!”
Andrew is floored by the kid’s faith and his generosity – but it’s nowhere near what they need. He looks around to see who else has something to contribute. Everyone looks away, not wanting to make eye-contact in case Andrew asks what they have in their bags!
Andrew is stuck… what we have is way too little… but we have to do something…
So he comes to Jesus… “Lord, this is all we have – this boy is offering us five small loaves and two small fish… what a great kid! You have to applaud his heart! …But what good is it when there are thousands of people?”
Jesus sighed… “Pity… it would have been really great to feed them… oh well, I guess they’ll have to fend for themselves…”
NOT!
Jesus graciously accepted the boy’s gift.
Then he gave thanks for what had been given.
And then he took what wasn’t enough and made it enough – he fed the people – and generously too, there were leftovers!
This is GOD-maths! 1 kid (who doesn’t know it can’t be done J) + 5 loaves + 3 fish… PLUS JESUS… = lunch for more than 5000 people!
It was an amazing miracle… so amazing that he did it again on another occasion! J Not to show off, but to make sure that we learn the lessons he taught through this!
The most obvious application of this lesson right now is probably the building project – so let me deal with this first.
15 million more… it’s still a lot of money! I suspect that most of us here don’t have a few million spare! For most of us, this is a HUGE amount of money.
I do hope you’ve already given this project some prayerful and careful consideration as to what your part is in this… if you haven’t yet, I earnestly ask you to do so. We, the COGS of 2011, have the privilege of doing something truly great – let’s not miss the opportunity!
So we look at what we can give… and, chances are, a number of us will think, like the disciple Andrew, “But how far will this go? This seems too small to make a difference.”
Andrew thought that about the loaves and fish – “but how far will they go among so many?”
And Andrew’s mindset could have caused him to say to the boy, “don’t be silly, kid, what you have there is insignificant… its way too little – rather keep your food.” If he had written off the boy’s small offering, this spectacular miracle would not have happened – there would have been no gift to multiply.
The loaves and fish were unquestionably inadequate in the physical – but they were more than enough in the spiritual – because he put his “too little” in the hands of the one who is more than enough!
Thousands of people were blessed that day because of the faith-full giving of a boy who didn’t seem to have enough to make a difference.
Thousands of people have been blessed over the last 40 years by the faith-full giving of those who financed our current facilities.
Thousands more will be blessed because of our faith-full giving. Who knows what God will do through us? One thing is for sure, he can do TRULY GREAT things!
So I urge you… don’t think your gift or pledge is too small to make a difference. Bring it to the one who is able to do something magnificent with it!
Last week someone said his to me about the contribution they want to make: “I know it’s not much compared to what is needed, but I do hope it helps.” The lesson from Scripture is crystal clear!! IT DOES!!
Let’s not be like Philip, say “it’s too big a need and too small a gift”, and miss out on a miracle! Let’s rather be like Andrew who would say “Thank you so much! Let’s bring it to Jesus!”
But this incredible miracle speaks into much more than our building project. It speaks into every one of our personal lives. It says that every one of us can play a significant part in the Kingdom of God.
That boy was little. His gift was little. Everything about him seemed insignificant. But that boy impacted thousands of lives in one day as he stepped up to make himself and his resources available to Jesus. And he has probably impacted hundreds of thousands of lives since as his story has been re-told for over two thousand years!
He could have kept his lunch bag to himself.
He could have just shared it with one or two people around him.
But he didn’t. He stepped up in faith and brought his little to Jesus.
The rest is history!
You may think of yourself as a small person in a big world. You may think of your gifts, your abilities, your resources, as insignificant. You see yourself as a small person with small resources – and you conclude that you have small potential.
Folks, some of us ARE “small”! Some of us DO have very limited resources! But this does NOT mean that you have small potential!!
I wonder how many of us would like to make a difference – in our families… amongst our friends… in the places we learn or work… in our small groups… in our congregation… maybe even in our city and nation?
We would like to… but we see ourselves as too small… so we only do “little” things.
Friends, I hope that this boy’s example inspires you, challenges you and stirs up faith in you!
You can keep yourself, your gifts and your resources, to yourself, believing that it is all too small to make a difference. And you can live a life of relative insignificance and low impact.
Or you could just share yourself, your gifts and your resources with the few people close to you, believing that you are too small to do more.
Or you could bring yourself, your gifts and your resources to Jesus, saying “Here I am, please use me for your glory and the advancing of your Kingdom.” If you do this, the rest, as they say, could be history!!!
Here is God’s maths for you: you + yourself, your gifts & resources + JESUS = a high-impact life!!!
I urge you – decide today – bring all of you to Jesus – little as it may look to you – AND WATCH WHAT HE DOES!!!
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