SunJul262009
Scripture: John 6:1-21 (New International Version)
1Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 3Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
5When 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?" 6He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages[a] would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
8Another 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?"
10Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11Jesus 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.
12When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
Jesus Walks on the Water
16When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19When they had rowed three or three and a half miles,[b] they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." 21Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
There is a story that is a major part of my childhood. A compelling, enthralling story of struggle, endurance and passion. It was part of the angst and uncertainty of the tumultuous 60’s, and everyone I knew was addicted to the drama and the intense challenge of the human spirit as the story unfolded before us.
All these years later I can still remember there way the story was introduced to me. It began with,
Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this tropic port, Aboard this tiny ship.
The mate was a mighty sailing man, The skipper brave and sure.
Five passengers set sail that day, For a three hour tour, a three hour tour.
The weather started getting rough, The tiny ship was tossed,
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The minnow would be lost, the minnow would be lost.
The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle
With Gilligan, The Skipper too, The millionaire and his wife,
The movie star, The professor and Mary Ann,
Here on Gilligan’s Isle.
Our service theme today is “Be On the Lookout!! As we get into our discussion of the scripture, this theme will become more apparent. However, Gilligan’s Island is a good place to start. For the castaways remained diligent in one combined effort as they built a community – they remained on the lookout for someone to rescue them from their calamity. And the gist of each episode became just that – someone would stumble upon them and for one reason or another, they would not rescue the islanders. Similarly, one of the castaways would come up with a fool proof solution only to have it botched at the very end of the episode. Yet, the group remained good hearted and supportive no matter how great the disappointment.
In one episode I remember well, a group of Japanese military men come upon the islanders. They were part of a remote station of troops who were to warn Japan when interlopers were near, protecting the mainland of Japan. However, during the war they lost contact with the mainland and were then forgotten. The war was long over, but not having new orders and not knowing that it had ended, the troops remained on duty. Thus, when they discovered the crew and tourists of the Minnow, they treated them as they would during war.
While this was a funny and memorable episode, I remember with great sadness reading a true story, while in high school, of this exact thing happening. I imagine that perhaps the Gilligan’s Island episode was written from this story. But it all happened. Many years after World War II, a Japanese soldier, or a group of soldiers, I cannot completely remember, were discovered on an island outpost. The details leave me, but I can remember feeling great sorrow and emotion for these soldiers who had been forgotten, likely assumed dead. What remained with me all these years later was that they remained vigilant and on duty, not losing their focus and not shirking their responsibility. They loved their country and in spite of the end of conflict, they remained poised to protect. Sadly, they lacked means of communication, so they did their duty for many years until they were accidently discovered and rescued. They were on the lookout right up to the time of their deliverance. Certainly, a sermon could be preached on these men alone.
Now turning to Jesus we have this wonderful story, actually a story and a postlude, of a loving, powerful Christ, at the peak of his popularity and ministry success, feeding the multitudes through a miracle of multiplying the loaves and fishes that a small child provided.
Jesus has assembled around him some 5000 people. After a time of healing and some other miracles, the text tells us that they followed Jesus and he sat down with his disciples. I liken this to the kind of star power we see in our time – the Madonna, Britney, Jonas Brothers watchers, who wait for hours just to glimpse their favorite star. In his day, Jesus gave lots of reason for his people to keep an eye open for what he might do next. Then we have this interesting portion in vs. 5,
5When 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?" 6He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
Then it gets interesting. Phillip says eight months salary would feed these masses. The disciples scramble for a good idea, and then it is discovered that some child has five loaves of bread and two fishes. This was the unlikely solution to the test Jesus was going to give the disciples.
But let’s back up. Why were they assembled in the first place? Because Jesus was performing miracles of healing. He was showing the power of God over the human condition and bringing hope to this people who lived under Roman captivity. The purpose of this story is to comment first on Christ’s miracles.
Then it’s feeding time and Jesus uses the occasion for a test. And, in the midst of miracles, Jesus performs another miracle and multiplies the food in hand to fill every hand and stomach. In their human condition, the disciples fail to believe that the miracles they witnessed could be so common as to feed others. The instructions from Jesus are to gather the remaining food and there is much left. Further explanation of the miraculous as Jesus demonstrates his power has no bounds. And the story seems to end here. Except, Jesus, noticing that the crowd is so enraptured by his power and presence, that they want to force him to be their king, decides to exit, stage right.
After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
Christ, who was the King of Kings, was not interested in the ruling that presided over the actions and affairs of humans; he wanted to accomplish his wonders from the inside out. So he slips away to prevent their attempt to force him to be king.
Then the disciples, who grew tired of waiting for him, decide to shove off. I can imagine that the crowds had broken up after the Lord left the gathering. It was getting late. The disciples wanted to get back to wherever they were staying, so they wait by the lake and then, as it gets darker, they leave. They are three and a half miles from shore, we are told, when the weather changes and the lake gets choppy and rough.
What was the day like for them up to this point? The disciples were quite the popular lads, hanging out with Jesus. They were, each one, a followers of Jesus, and selected to be a disciple, or student, of the most popular and influential rabbi to come along in quite some time. They were part of the “in” crowd. They had influence and they had Jesus’ ear. It was cool to be with Jesus. They were learning lots and they witnessed incredible proofs that God was real and still present in the lives of the Jewish people.
And on this day, if they were really watching, they saw miracles of many kinds. Before the loaves and fishes, they saw bodies healed, lived restored to vitality, and circumstances changed. I imagine that if they were paying attention, on the lookout, they may have seen such miracles as we cannot imagine. It was a day to remember.
Now they are alone on a swiftly changing sea, and they feel threatened. The weather has replaced the awe of the miraculous and they are now thinking of their own lives, not the lives they saw changed just hours before. The miraculous has fallen to desperation, and it strikes them that the person that perhaps could have done something had gone off to the mountains and they had decided to return home. Holding the sides of the boat, and rowing for their lives, they could only see the swirling waters around them and the dark, cold waves as they splashed and began filling the boat. They lost their vision and could no longer see beyond the circumstances of the moment. They had ceased to be on the lookout and only saw doom.
Then they saw something even more terrifying. Someone was walking on the water near them. A ghost? An illusion caused by the storm? And the scared disciples melted in fear. So much so that the water walker has to calm them down.
“Guys, guys! Don’t be afraid. It’s me, Jesus. Jesus. Here – let me come a little closer to the boat so you can see me clearly. How’s it going?”
And he enters the boat and delivers them immediately to the shore of their destination.
By my count, there are four groups of miracles here – the healing, the feeding, the walking on water and calming the storm, and the delivery to the destination. And it seems to fit the kind of walk that most of us have with Jesus over the span of our lives. Being drawn to him by some miracles of his presence that makes us realize we are incomplete without him, so we have a conversion experience. Whether we call it being saved or being born again, becoming a follower of Jesus or being confirmed into faith in him, we accept Christ into our lives and pledge to serve him. We are healed of the death that comes through sin, and our sins are forgiven. We are then fed and we learn more and more about Jesus and the ways of God. Along the way we encounter storms and face difficulties. We are fearful and clutch the sinking boat as if a stronger hold will somehow rescue us – only to realize that Jesus is with us in that storm, ready to stand with us in the midst of our trauma. Finally, with his help and presence, Jesus delivers us to the shores of our intended destination.
I love the book, The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. It is the story of a young shepherd who set out to find his purpose in life. Early in the book Paulo introduces the journey of this young man by describing that in life, the core secret is to fall down seven times, but to get up eight times.
That is part of what it means to be on the lookout.
Be on the lookout:
• For the presence of Christ in the midst of every moment of your life.
• For the presence of community, both Christian and non-Christian; sacred and secular.
• For solutions and new answers to the problems that life brings our way.
• For what Paulo Coelho call our personal omens, our hunches, our signs that spark our intuitions – these, believes Coelho, are the nudges God gives us to direct us in life.
• For storms that can help to define you, trials that give you character and depth in your soul.
• For God is always there – Always.
As I was reading my Bible one morning this week, I was quite blessed to find our theme phrase used in the Message translation of the Bible. The story is of a prophet, Hanani, who rebukes the King of Judah, Asa, for going to another kingdom for assistance, rather than asking God who had always helped he people of Judah in the past.
To make his point, Hanani says in 2 Chronicles 16:7-9
But (in the past, when) you asked GOD for help and God gave you the victory. GOD is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him.