“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” 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. 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.
(John 6: 9-11 )
Last Sunday’s sermon was on the story of the feeding of the five-thousand. Actually it was likely closer to fifteen or twenty thousand, because there were 5,000 adult males there. Anyway, the guest pastor gave a great message, but a couple of points in particular struck me…
At first I didn’t know where the pastor was going with the economics law of supply and demand, especially in relation to this loaves and fishes story. But the “aha” point in this part of his message is this: without Christ, demand will always exceed supply. No matter how much we get– whether it be money, or a bigger house, or sex, or alcohol, or power and fame, or even the “perfect” spouse– it will never be enough. We’ll always want “just a little bit more.” Just think about that a minute; it’s scary how true that is.
On the other hand, with Christ, we will always have plenty. Those people on the hillside had enough; in fact, they took “as much as they wanted.” And there was even some left over! Nothing–no person, no thing, no power or fame or wealth– can fill the void we have when we don’t know Christ. As Blaise Pascal said, “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”
I know this from my own experience; I’ve tried to fill that void other ways.
The other really big “aha” moment in Sunday’s sermon was this: when that little boy packed his small lunch and left his home that morning, he had no idea that he had the potential to feed multitudes. We do that all the time. We think we don’t have much to give, so why bother. I’m sure that boy had at least a minute or two of thinking, “I’d like to help, but all I’ve got is these five little loaves and two small fish. This won’t make a difference to all this crowd.” But because that boy decided to give it to God, a miracle happened. Another thing to note: the boy gave everything he had; he didn’t just give most of it but keep a loaf and a piece of fish for himself to make sure he’d have a good lunch. He just trusted Christ and gave it all, knowing that Christ would take care of him, too.
For more on this subject, please read “my loaves and fishes” on my Rose Cottage blog.
At first I didn’t know where the pastor was going with the economics law of supply and demand, especially in relation to this loaves and fishes story. But the “aha” point in this part of his message is this: without Christ, demand will always exceed supply. No matter how much we get– whether it be money, or a bigger house, or sex, or alcohol, or power and fame, or even the “perfect” spouse– it will never be enough. We’ll always want “just a little bit more.” Just think about that a minute; it’s scary how true that is.
On the other hand, with Christ, we will always have plenty. Those people on the hillside had enough; in fact, they took “as much as they wanted.” And there was even some left over! Nothing–no person, no thing, no power or fame or wealth– can fill the void we have when we don’t know Christ. As Blaise Pascal said, “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”
I know this from my own experience; I’ve tried to fill that void other ways.
The other really big “aha” moment in Sunday’s sermon was this: when that little boy packed his small lunch and left his home that morning, he had no idea that he had the potential to feed multitudes. We do that all the time. We think we don’t have much to give, so why bother. I’m sure that boy had at least a minute or two of thinking, “I’d like to help, but all I’ve got is these five little loaves and two small fish. This won’t make a difference to all this crowd.” But because that boy decided to give it to God, a miracle happened. Another thing to note: the boy gave everything he had; he didn’t just give most of it but keep a loaf and a piece of fish for himself to make sure he’d have a good lunch. He just trusted Christ and gave it all, knowing that Christ would take care of him, too.
For more on this subject, please read “my loaves and fishes” on my Rose Cottage blog.
