Second Presbyterian Church

"With Jesus 5 Loaves & 2 Fish Are Enough!
Preaching From the Gospel of Luke"
October 3, 2004

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Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2004 » Sermons for October 2004 » Sermons from the Series on Luke

#31 in the Series on Luke
The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Exodus 16: 1-8
• 2 Kings 4: 42-44
• Luke 9: 10-17

This particular passage is so important in that it is found in all four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And it can be understood and preached in several ways.

First, this passage can be developed as a miracle sermon. The miracle was that Jesus miraculously fed five thousand people with the resource of 5 loaves of barley and 2 fish. Thus we could talk about how we worship a Savior who will go to no end to supply our needs, physically and spiritually to do His mission.

Second, this passage is an excellent source for a Eucharist, or Communion sermon. The language of Jesus taking, breaking and blessing the bread quotes the language used in the celebration of the Eucharist in the early church.

Third, this passage preaches as a stewardship sermon. And although today is World Communion Sunday, a day in which Christians all over the world celebrate Holy Communion, I would like to focus primarily on Jesus feeding the 5,000 as a stewardship sermon.

Yet, before I do I must mention what this story would stir up in the minds of Jewish listeners. They would first recall the desert experience of the children of Israel who were wandering and grumbling and getting very hungry. It reminds the Jewish reader that the LORD provided bread from heaven, manna, to feed the children of Israel every day during their wandering - 40 years. And it reminded Jewish readers of the story about Elisha who fed a 100 hungry men with 20 loaves of barely and had some left over.

And I must mention how this story anticipated the passion of Jesus Christ. How Jesus' death and resurrection was the offering of the Bread of Life for the redemption of humankind. It anticipated Jesus' act of redemption. It anticipated the two people who, on the road to Emmaus, met the risen Lord and urged Him to stay and eat; but when Jesus broke the bread they recognized him as the Resurrected Lord. It also anticipated the coming banquet of the Lord when all believers shall come together with the risen Lord and feast.

Luke, in short was preparing the reader for the very heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: his crucifixion and resurrection.

But it is also a stewardship message. Let me explain. There simply wasn't enough food to feed the crowd. It wasn't even a drop in the bucket. But Jesus took what was there, he blessed and broke it and had it distributed and all ate and were full. In addition there were 12 baskets of bread and fish left over!

This is a stewardship message because it speaks directly to us about the resources that we have. It doesn't matter how rich or poor you are if you are Christian. It doesn't matter how rich or poor we are as a congregation. What does matter? What really matters is what we do with what the Lord has given us to oversee and use!

No matter how much we have our gifts, talents and our money are not enough to do the work that we are called out to do in the name of Jesus Christ. It is not only not enough; it is barely a drop in the bucket! It is like trying to feed 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and two walleyes! So, if we only look at what we have, if we only look at our resources from a purely human point of view, our mission suffers, because we will base our judgments upon how little we have, rather than on how much our Lord can bless and multiply. When we look only at what we have, then we are not exercising our faith; we are doing the opposite! We are exercising our lack of faith! When we look only at what we have and fearfully use it just to preserve our existence. And once we use what we have just to preserve our existence, then we are no longer functioning as part of the Church of Jesus Christ. We are expressing are decided lack of trust in Jesus Christ to take what we have, to bless it and to use it with HIS sufficiency.

Let me explain this as a three step process.

First of all, we assess what we have. The disciples assessed what they had. One of the most disheartening aspects of ministry is to assess our gifts and resources and compare it to the need that our world has. Jesus knows this. It's no surprise to him that our meager resources are no match for the need that exists in our world. That is why we present our resources to Jesus Christ. Jesus is not demanding us to multiply our resources, and then come to him. Rather, Jesus is inviting us to come forward and to offer what we have for him to bless!

Exactly what are our resources? Let me list them: our lives, our bodies (temples of the Holy Spirit), our intellect, our heart (the love that expresses the love of God in us), our many possessions, and our material wealth. All of these are our resources. What should we do with them? That brings us to the second point.

Second, the disciples brought forward to Jesus what they had so that he could bless it. So should we. We also need to allow Jesus to bless our resources: our lives, our talents, our love, and our finances. They are gifts from God for us to use for the building up of the church. Let's see to it that we present ourselves; who we are; what we have; and offer it to the Lord for his blessing! As Christians we are guaranteed a blessed life. We may not be exempt from tragedy or pain, but our lives are blessed; we now belong to God and we shall be with God for eternity. To me that's a big plus, a big blessing! So all that we have comes from God; all that we have we bring to Christ for His blessing; and all that we have is - well that brings us to the third point.

Third, we go forth and use our gifts in accordance to Christ's will; we take our gifts and use it for mission. Or, we take our resources and we see to it that we use it to promote Jesus Christ and to minister to those who are lost, who are hungry for spiritual food, who are hungry for food, food! This is a complex issue. It is complex because much of our resources are for assisting us to do the mission of the Gospel. Your staff is part of that mission; your programs are part of that mission. Even our plant is part of that mission, IF we stay focused upon that fact that these things (staff, program, and buildings) are to be used so that we can reach out into the world and promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and minister to the needs of those whom we encounter! Gandhi was not a Christian, but he once made a very Christ-like statement. It goes something like this: Bread for ourselves is a material matter; bread for our neighbor is a spiritual matter. I firmly believe that that Lord will provide for us as long as we seek to obey his will and reach out to those around us in His Name! Amen.

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.