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Bread and Water
January 16, 2000
Series on the Gospel of John
Pastor Dan Baumgartner
We
come again to the gospel of John this morning. John has
been our teacher for a number of sermons now, and will
continue to be. John is a great teacher for us.
He
majors in the identity of Jesus…at every turn, he
deals with who Jesus was and is. And he minors in the ministry
and relationships Jesus had. And that combination together
provides for us with some astounding implications for our
lives. As is the case with many good teachers, we can see
something of a pattern in John. You may have noticed it
already. It is not a perfect pattern, but it is quite strong.
It’s this: John tends to give us a story of Jesus
in action…and then follows it with a block of Jesus’ teaching.
For
example, in the last chapter, chapter 5, there are two
stories of Jesus’ healing two different people…followed
by the long discourse that we looked at last time where
Jesus talks about his inseparable connection to God. Today,
we are back at two stories of Jesus’ ministry, and
next week Jeff will talk about Jesus’ teaching which
follows. Let’s read together, starting with the beginning
of John chapter 6.
John
6:1-21
This
first story, the feeding of the 5000, may be extremely
familiar to some of you. In our family, we have a book
of kids’ Bible stories that all three kids have gone
through as they have learned to read, and this story is
in there. I think I may have read it …umm…about
5000 times. But the scriptures are so remarkable, they
just never run dry. I found things this week again, that
I had never seen before.
In
this story, the feeding of the 5000, Jesus comes into a
situation where there is simply not enough. It is very
clear…there is just not enough food, not enough
bread, not enough resources for all of these people gathered. “What
in the world are we going to do?” would have been
my first question, if I was a disciple. Now, in my better
moments, I might have sat and thought for a moment, surveyed
the crowd…and eventually said… “We’ll
just have to disappoint them. Send them home empty-stomached.
They’re not starving to death or anything.” But
most of the time, I would be right with Philip: “What
can we possibly do in this situation?”
Jesus
has traveled north from Jerusalem, to the north end of
the Sea of Galilee, and as far as we can tell, has crossed
from the northwest side of the lake to the northeast side,
so that he is just outside the village of Bethsaida, which
means “house of the fishermen.” A small fishing
town. We’re told that the Jewish Passover Feast was
near…the time to celebrate God acting in the lives
of His people, freeing them and leading them across the
sea to safety. This reference to Passover helps us see
John’s parallel of Moses, the early leader and liberator
of the Israelites…and Jesus, the ultimate liberator
of all.
Already
Jesus has “liberated” people from sickness
and disease…and as he sits with his disciples not
far from the sea, a great crowd comes to him. If the Passover
was near, there were many pilgrims on the road. Some of
these pilgrims, from Northern Galilee, would choose to
take the longer route to Jerusalem, east around the north
end of the lake, then south, and cross the Jordan over
towards Jerusalem later. This would allow them to make
the journey without having to deal with the hated Samaritans.
The point is, there are many extra people in the area,
and word of Jesus’ miracles had spread like wildfire.
And Jesus looks up, and sees this great crowd arriving.
Now
Jesus had many disciples there with him, but he chooses
Philip, one of the 12 to ask: “Where should we go
to buy bread?” Philip was a good choice…we
know from chapter 1 that he was from the town of Bethsaida…he
was a local. He would know where the local Safeway was,
or which bakery was the best. Jesus is probing Philip a
little…and the text tells us this is a training
session for the disciples…and therefore for us as
well.
Philip
responds exactly how I think you or I might respond. Thousands
of people are arriving, the bank account has just a few
dollars in it, and Jesus asks this ridiculous question… “Where
do you think we should buy bread?” Not “DO
you think we should buy bread,” not “What is
the balance in our account,” not “What can
we afford”…but “WHERE should we do it?” Jesus
has already moved beyond whether or not it can be done…to
HOW shall we do it. And Philip probably thought, “Hah!
Are you nuts? Even if we had LOTS of money in our checking
account, AND if there was a cash machine readily available…we
couldn’t afford to serve appetizers, let alone provide
a meal….What are we going to do?!” Philip
is overwhelmed, paralyzed, actually…by the impossibility
of it all. Who wouldn’t be?
Don’t
you ever feel that way? Overwhelmed, feeling like you just
don’t know what you’re going to do, feel like
you just don’t have it in you? “God, how am
I supposed to deal with my parents? I get mad just talking
to them.” “Lord, how can I forgive this person…I
just don’t have it in me.” “Lord, I don’t
have the resources to be a parent…I have no patience,
no skills, no discipline.” I don’t have enough
personality to be a friend to someone, I don’t have
enough leadership ability to lead a group, or be a deacon,
or take a job promotion…somebody else would be better
than me.” I know we all feel that way. I definitely
feel that way sometimes as a pastor. “Lord, I can’t
listen anymore. Lord, I’m tired of decisions, Lord
I can’t preach, what would I say? There’s plenty
of people around here more articulate than me, smarter
than me, wiser than me, with more faith than me… Have
them do it. This is impossible for me.”
We
echo Philip, throw our arms up in exasperation, and say
in despair, “This is impossible. What are we going
to do?” Philip has overlooked only one thing. It
is JESUS who is with him there. Not just anyone…but
Jesus.
Now
standing right next to Philip is Andrew. Andrew is also
a graduate of Bethsaida High, also a local boy. He scouts
around, and finds a boy with “5 small barley loaves
and 2 small fish.” Now, the situation is even more
hopeless than it seemed…it turns out barley loaves
were the cheapest, lowest grade, worst-tasting bread around.
And these 2 fish…were not big shining 20 pound salmon
either. In fact, the word for “fish” used here
is a fairly rare one which emphasizes that they are puny
little Galilean sardine-type. The resources available are
decidedly underwhelming. But Andrew, not knowing what else
to do…takes them to Jesus, shrugs his shoulders
and says, “This is all we’ve got.”
And
I imagine Andrew standing there in front of Jesus like
a little puppy, eyes wide open, waiting. He doesn’t
even know what he’s waiting for. But he doesn’t
know what else to do, so he waits for Jesus. Now, we’re
told that Jesus knew at the beginning what he was going
to do…but this is a training session in progress.
Jesus takes what Philip has, even though it’s clearly
obvious that it is not nearly enough…and he multiplies
it. He USES it. Uses it in a way that Philip could never
have guessed. I believe that is exactly like Jesus. He
wants what we do have, what we can bring…he uses
it in ways we couldn’t dream of.
Jesus
takes the 2 sardines and the 5 crumbly loaves, and has
the disciples get the crowd seated. There is a nice, flat
plain there in that area, with thick green grass in the
spring…the kind of place sheep would like. And then
Jesus begins the Thanksgiving. Just like a Jewish father
would do at the dinner table with his family, Jesus takes
the food and gives thanks. The traditional Jewish thanksgiving
would sound like this: “Blessed art Thou, O Lord
our God, king of the universe, who bringest forth bread
from the earth.” Then he hands them the bread and
fish…and the people ate “as much as they wanted.” And
in fact, there was enough left over…to fill twelve
baskets. Just enough, actually, for each of Jesus’ closest
disciples to fill the bottle-shaped basket that any traveler
would have with them. If this is a training-session for
Jesus’ 12 followers in particular, they will learn
that Jesus wants to use what they have…that things
are different when they are with Jesus… That he
is able to turn scarcity into overflowing abundance.
Something
extraordinary happened that day. A “miraculous sign,” John
called it.
We
need to think for a second about miracles. We have already
encountered several in this book, and there are more. We
are skeptical about things that are, by definition, out
of the ordinary, or unexplainable. We try very hard to
ignore them, or explain them away. One scholar I read goes
through great mental gymnastics to explain away miracles
like this. He postulates that everyone had food in this
crowd, but that no one wanted to share it, so that Jesus
miracle was to change their attitude. It’s a warm
and fuzzy thought…but it doesn’t fit the story.
Nor does it fit the reaction of the people.
Something
so extraordinary, so miraculous happened here that people
wanted to force Jesus to be their king, to take them on
perhaps as a guerilla army to have a go at their Roman
oppressors. They saw this new Moses had power. Jesus had
the power to heal. Had the power to create food out of
thin air like manna in the desert…why not the power
to lead an army to victory? But Jesus wasn’t that
kind of king, didn’t choose to use that kind of power.
If
the first picture one of scarce resources (not enough food)…the
second is one of having too much. Too much wind, too much
water, too much fear for the disciples.
The
disciples get in a boat at the lake, and head west back
over to Capernaum. The wind was blowing, probably hard
enough to put a little knot into the stomach of even these
hardy fishermen. And it was black. They rowed and rowed,
but the other gospels tell us that the wind was keeping
them from making much progress. It was too much, it was
overwhelming. And Jesus comes to them, walking on the water … something
that can’t be done, of course. And they are terrified.
Absolutely frightened to death, overwhelmed until Jesus
speaks: “I am.” “It is I.” It is
Me, Jesus. The Good Shepherd, come to care for his sheep. “It
is I,” or “I am here.” Jesus, not a ghost.
Even
with magnitude of miracle of walking on water, it is not
the miracle itself that John focuses on…it is the
presence of Jesus, and the result. Later in John, these “I
AM” statements will begin to stack up, and they will
time and again bring us back to Jesus’ unique intimacy
and identity with God: “I AM: the bread of life,
the light of the world, the door of the sheep, the good
shepherd, the resurrection, the way-truth & life, the
vine.” But not yet. Here, the miracle and Jesus “I
AM” signifies the most important thing for the moment:
Jesus’ presence. “I am. It is I. I’m
here. Don’t be afraid.” It is the most consistent
message of God throughout all of the Bible. “I will
be with you. Don’t be afraid.” Moses, Joshua,
Elijah, Isaiah, the Psalmist, the apostles, Paul, Peter,
John, and on and on.
They
are not so different from you and me. Constantly, they
found themselves in difficult situations, and the voice
of God came through them and to them to say “Don’t
be afraid. I will be with you.” Nowhere is it promised
that our lives will be easy or protected from physical
death or difficulties. Everywhere is God’s voice
saying “Here I am.” One of my biggest fears
in life, I think is the “What if?” What if?
What if I didn’t know that God cared, that God would
stay with me, that I didn’t have to be alone? That
blackness would be terrifying. Each of us, I think has
those times in our lives when we feel at great distance
from God. We need to hear again and again “It is
I. Don’t be afraid.”
My
old professor at Princeton, Tom Long, tells the story of
a former student who called to tell him a secret. She was
a woman who was married, with a seven-year old daughter,
and she was calling to tell Dr. Long that she was pregnant.
She said, “We know two things about our child: first,
it’s a boy. And second, he will have Down’s
Syndrome.” Dr. Long said that he immediately thought
of how he would feel in her place. “Why is life this
way? Why must there be such pain? Why cannot God do something
to fix this. If I were God…” But she said
simply, “We are trusting in God to help us.” A
few months later he received a Christmas letter in which
she wrote:
“After
nine long months of unmitigated discomfort, at four in
the morning…I knew the magic moment had come. At
last, at 10:55 AM, Timothy Andrew took his first breath
and let out a hearty yell. He was whisked off to neonatal
intensive care where he spent the next three days before
coming home. He’s strong, alert, beautiful. He has
the sweetest disposition. He shatters daily our images
of handicapped people and special needs. He may need special
help, but already he is no slouch in giving us special
love. We are blessed. Kate (their 7 year old) is Tim’s
champion. Hearing our concerns about how well Tim might
be accepted by other kids, Kate informed the kids on our
block, “My brother has Down’s syndrome and
everybody’s going to play with him, or else!” One
evening we overheard her talking to Tim:
“I’m
so glad you’re here, Timothy. I will always love
you, I’ll never leave you, I’ll always be nearby.”
“Don’t
be afraid…I am here, I’ll always be nearby,” Jesus
said. If you’re here this morning, and you hear that
but are in a place where you can’t feel it…grab
ahold of someone around you…grab ahold and don’t
let go. Let someone remind you, let them point out his
presence, let them believe even on your behalf… “Don’t
be afraid. I am here.” He says it still today. When
we are overwhelmed by our lack of resources, Jesus comes
and multiplies what we bring. When we are overwhelmed by
too much water and winds in our lives, he comes and by
his very presence gets us through the storm. Jesus is the
lord of Bread…and of Water. He’s the Lord
of Everything.
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