Without question, I can tell you what my absolute, all time, favorite meal is. It is so special that I only get to eat it once a year. It is so special, and so good, and so tasty that it is worth the wait. It is not just what I get to eat that makes it the most special meal of the year, but who I get to eat it with. It is the time of year I get to eat it and it is the occasion that brings me to the table. Can you guess what meal this is? It is Thanksgiving.
The reason why Thanksgiving is my favorite meal of the year is because it is the only time of year that I basically get everything to eat that I like. All of my favorite dishes are right in front of me: the turkey I cooked on the Big Green Egg along with the homemade dressing, Teresa’s out of this world sweet potato soufflé, my sister in-law, Yvonne’s macaroni-n-cheese, Sister Schubert’s rolls, green bean casserole, and Honey-baked Ham. More than any meal I eat all year long, I eat it in the name of Jesus and to the glory of God.
Your Thanksgiving meal may be slightly different from mine in some ways. You may have some things I have and I may have some things you don’t, but there is one thing we are all guaranteed to have once the meal is over and everyone has eaten until they waddle like penguins. Do you know what that is? Leftovers.
Do you know what leftovers are? Leftovers are a sign that everybody got all they wanted to eat, most people got more than they needed to eat, everybody was blessed, nobody went away empty, and there is still enough to do it all over again. Whether you realize it or not, there is what I call “The Law of the Leftovers.” I am not talking about food; I am talking about life. There is one other thing I didn’t tell you about my Thanksgiving meal. I not only have more food than I ever have at any other time of the year, but I feed more people than at any other time of the year. Normally, Teresa and I eat alone, because there is just the two of us, but at Thanksgiving I will feed a minimum of somewhere between 12-15 times the number of people that normally sit at my table. Even though there are always somewhere between 25-30 people at our home they don’t bring 25-30 dishes. In fact, there are some who come to eat with us that are not able to bring anything.
Yet, we always have leftovers! Though you may have not realized it and for many years I didn’t, in a way, we demonstrate the law of the leftovers. That law is stated in an ancient verse of scripture that was written over 2,500 years ago by the wisest man who ever lived named Solomon. He put the law this way, “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.” (Proverbs 11:24, ESV)
That same law was also demonstrated in the life of a little boy who witnessed a miracle that Jesus performed that he remembered all of his life. [Turn to John 6] We are in a series that we are calling “Supernatural.” When Jesus burst onto the scene there were two things that immediately got people’s attention: the truth that He taught and the miracles He performed. The central truth of His teaching that fascinated people was the Kingdom of God. That got every Jew’s attention, because that is what Jews were hungering for - for God’s Kingdom to come. Jesus did not just teach about the Kingdom of God. He demonstrated the Kingdom of God through what we call “miracles.” Before the time of Jesus there were a few miracles here and there recorded in the Old Testament, but relatively speaking not many. Then Jesus comes and there is an explosion of miracles. So much, that people would come just hoping to see Jesus perform one.
This series is answering some important questions that deserve to be answered. Why did Jesus perform miracles? Was there a meaning in a message behind the miracles? Does Jesus still perform miracles today? What do His miracles have to do with me?
We have already established that if you believe in God then the possibility of miracles automatically goes to 100%. Only a God who can do miracles is worth worshipping and believing in to begin with. I shared with you, if you were here last week, two physical medical miracles that I personally witnessed myself. Every time we see a changed life in that baptistery we witness an even greater miracle.
Today, we are going to look at one of the more famous miracles that Jesus performed, because what Jesus did in this miracle he wants to do in your life and my life today. Every one of us has in our possession things that Jesus literally can do miraculous things with. Let me give you the Law of the Leftovers: God adds to what He subtracts from me so He can multiply it and divide for maximum blessing. This is the Key Take Away: When I bless others I receive the greatest blessing. I want to show you the four steps that put this law into effect.
I. Jesus Will Ask Us For Something We Have
Of all the miracles that Jesus performed, this one may be the most special of all, because it is the only miracle that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all record. Think about that. Of all the miracles that Jesus performed and as great as they were the only miracle that every single Gospel writer felt they had to include in their gospel was this one.
It is unique in a lot of ways. It is the only time Jesus ever asked for somebody’s advice on what to do. Of all the miracles that Jesus performed this one was seen by more people than any other miracle. I have to admit of all the miracles that Jesus performed, this one would make my top three lists of the ones I wish I could have seen.
“After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.” (John 6:1-4, ESV)
Matthew tells us that it was evening time when this miracle took place. It was around 6:00 pm and the sun was about to set. They were way out in the country. They didn’t have a Kroger, a Publix and worst of all a Super Wal-Mart! A crisis is brewing. The sun is setting. Evening is coming. Stomachs are growling and the story gets interesting.
“Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?’” (John 6:5, ESV)
How large was this crowd? In verse 10 we are told the men alone numbered about 5000. Matthew tells us there were also women and children. When you take into account how large families were back in that day scholars estimate that crowd probably reached up to 25,000 people. Every one of them was holding up signs that said, “Eat more chicken!” Imagine you are Philip and Jesus turns to you and says, “Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?” If I had been
Philip and Jesus asked me that question I would have kind of felt like Tonto when he and the Long Ranger were suddenly surrounded by 20,000 Indians and the Lone Ranger looked at Tonto and said, “What are we going to do?” Tonto replied, “What do you mean ‘we’ Kemo Sabe?”
This really wasn’t a question; it was a test.
“He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.” (John 6:6, ESV)
Remember this. Any time Jesus ever ask you for anything that you have it is never just a request; it is always a test. He is simply asking you this question, “Do you trust Me or not?” Jesus is about to reveal the biggest problem that Philip and the rest of the disciples were facing. The biggest problem was not that the crowd didn’t have enough food. The biggest problem was Philip didn’t have enough faith. Now we come to the second part of the Law of the Leftovers –
II. We Should Give Jesus What He Asks
Philip did what we so often do when God asks us for something that we don’t think we can do. We come up with all kinds of reasons why we can’t do it.
“Philip answered him, ‘Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.’” (John 6:7, ESV)
Jesus didn’t ask “How?” He simply asked, “Where?” Here is another thing to remember whenever Jesus asks you for something. Jesus knows it already can be done and how it can be done. Philip gets out his calculator and figures out that it would take about eight month’s wages of an average worker to buy that much food. He thinks he is off the hook.
He has every reason in the world why he cannot give what Jesus is asking for. First of all, there was no place to buy that much food. Second, even if there was a place to buy it they didn’t have enough money to pay for it. Third, even if there was a place to buy it and they had the money to pay for it there wasn’t enough time to get it. Fourth, even if there was enough time everybody would only get a little bit of food.
Philip is thinking for the first time in your life, Buddy, I have stumped you!
How many times have we all figured out a reason why we can’t give God what He is asking for? Tithe? I can’t afford to tithe. I can’t even afford to pay my bills. Me go on a mission trip? I can’t do that. I’ve got a wife and children to look after and I might get eaten by a giant mosquito. Share my story with someone? I can’t share Jesus with anybody. I might mess it up. I am too shy. I don’t know enough.
I am convinced that Jesus’ heart was just shattered. What bothered Jesus was not the lack of food, but the lack of faith. A lack of food never stops God, but a lack of faith can stop Him dead in His tracks.
It is amazing that Jesus did many miracles in many places, but there is one place He didn’t do hardly any miracles and it was of all places in His own hometown. Do you know why? “And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.” (Matthew 13:58, ESV)
Just think about what Philip had already seen. He had already seen Jesus turn water into wine, heal a man’s sick son, give a paralytic man the ability to walk, and raise people from the dead and he still didn’t get it! He was still using his calculator. He was still pinching pennies and counting nickels when all the time he didn’t understand that he was not to be the source of provision. When Jesus asks us for bread remember this. We don’t make the bread; we serve it. We are the waiters and He is the baker. Philip flunks his test. It looks like all is lost and then this happens…
“One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?’” (John 6:8-9, ESV)
Andrew, overhearing this conversation, finds a little boy who has brought his own dinner, but it is just enough for him to eat or at least that is what it looks like. Let’s focus on this little boy for just a moment.
Even though all four gospels include this miracle only John tells us about the little boy who gave this sack lunch. He had done what everybody else in that crowd should have done. He had brought enough to feed himself. Five loaves of bread and two fish may sound like a lot to you, but this was actually the meal of not just a little boy, but a poor little boy. Five loaves may sound like a lot, but it wasn’t actually a loaf. It was actually a small wafer that was flat, hard and brittle about the size of a mini-pancake. The word for “fish” refers to “small fish like sardines.” Andrew was right. What that little boy had was just a little lunch. But, what made that little lunch, a big lunch, is what that little boy did with that lunch when Jesus asked for it. He gave it to Him.
This is where the miracle really starts. At that moment the most valuable thing to 25,000 people and twelve disciples was a little boy’s lunch, because that is all the food that there was. What made that little boy’s lunch so valuable was one thing - it was available. It was available for one reason, because that little boy was willing to give what Jesus asked. Somehow that little boy understood what the disciples didn’t get. This wasn’t a request to this little boy. It was a test to this little boy. Where the disciples flunked the test he got an A+.
I remember as a little boy sitting in church and whenever the offering plate was passed, I always asked my dad if I could put the money in the offering plate. It was a big thrill to me! I’ve often wondered why it is so hard for adults to give and yet so easy for children to give? The answer is simple. We’ve got the money, but they’ve got the faith.
There was a little boy who got into a big argument with his sister about who was going to get the last brownie. His mother heard them fussing and she came to resolve the argument. They were both upset and about to come to blows, because they both wanted that last brownie.
This wise mother seeing an opportunity to teach her kids a deep spiritual lesson looked at her kids and simply said, “What would Jesus do?” The little boy said, “Mom, that is easy. Jesus would just break that brownie and make 5,000 more!”
Before we go any further think about this. Did Jesus really need that little boy’s lunch to feed those people? Absolutely not! If Jesus had wanted to He could have turned rocks into bread. He could have made fish jump out of the sea into the laps of every person there.
When Jesus asks for something it is not because He needs what we have, it is because we need to give what He asks so we can learn to trust Him. Watch this! When you take that step of faith and you give Him what he asks, you do what He wants you to do even when you can think of many reasons why you cannot or you should not then you will see the third part of this law go into effect.
III. Jesus Will Use What You Give Him
“Jesus said, ‘Have the people sit down.’ Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.” (John 6:10-11, ESV)
The disciples are already thinking that Jesus has totally lost His mind. Then He does something really outrageous. He gives thanks! I don’t know what He said in that thanksgiving prayer, but I am sure He thanked God for that little boy. I am sure He thanked God for that little boy’s faith. I am sure He thanked God for that little boy’s food and I am sure He thanked God for the opportunity to demonstrate the law of the leftovers.
What you are seeing is the way that God operates. Jesus asks for what He wants. We should give to Jesus what He asks. Jesus will then use what we give. Are you ready for this? God loves to use the little things. It is not that God can’t use big things, but He loves to use the little things, because that is when He gets the greatest glory and that is when He grows the greatest faith.
You may think what you have to give to God is small. You may think it is insignificant. You may think it really doesn’t matter. Some of the greatest things that God ever uses are little things. Think of all the little things that God used in the Bible to accomplish unbelievable things: a sling-shot of a shepherd boy, a widow’s mite, a teenage, poverty-stricken, virgin girl, and faith the size of a mustard seed.
Think about this. Do you know what really determines the value of something? Whose hands it is put in. You can buy a major-league baseball on Amazon for about $12. If you bought that baseball and put it in my hands it would be worth about $12. If you put it into the hands of a top-shelf major-league pitcher that baseball is worth millions. What made that little boy’s lunch so valuable was not how big it was, but what he did with it. I want you to hear this clearly. The only thing you have that is of any value is what you are willing to give to God.
Now we are about to see how the law of the leftovers always works. Jesus asks what He wants, and we give Him what He asks. He uses what we give Him and then…
IV. Jesus Blesses What He Uses
“And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.” (John 6:12-13, ESV)
This is just amazing! Nobody could eat another bite! Although no one had moved away from the table, somehow the table had gotten three inches closer to their stomach. Yet, there were still twelve baskets left over. These were not small baskets. The word for “basket” gives us the English word “coffin.” It means a “large, heavy basket.” This boy had enough left over to start a Super Wal-Mart.
Do you know why this miracle is so important to you and me? That little boy is you and me. We all have lunches in our possession. We all have talents, abilities, time, and resources that God asks for. That little boy could have kept that lunch to himself and fed himself, but everybody else would have gone hungry. Because that little boy trusted Jesus and gave Him what He asked for, Jesus used what He gave and Jesus blessed what He used.
There is one detail you cannot miss. That little boy gave all of his lunch to the Lord, because Jesus obviously asked for all of his lunch. He didn’t say, “Lord you can have one of the fish, but I’ll keep the other one. You take three of the loaves and I’ll keep the other two.” No, he gave Jesus everything Jesus asked for.
What is the lesson? If you want to experience the law of the leftovers, if you want God to add to what He subtracts from you and multiple it and divide it so it can be a blessing to so many others you’ve got to give Him everything.
Do you want to experience life to the fullest? You want to know what it is like to benefit from the law of the leftovers? Then quit hiding your lunch or quit acting like your lunch is too small. The only thing that gives life meaning and purpose is what we give to Jesus. Think about how many men were on that hillside – 5000. Can you name even one of those men? No. Here we are 2000 years later and we are still talking about that one little boy.
You know who really got blessed that day? It wasn’t the crowd, because as soon as they ate all their food their food was gone. No, the one that got the blessing was that little boy. Wouldn’t you have loved to be there when he walked into his house that evening and his mom said, “How did it go with Jesus?” He said, “Mom, you should have been there. He took my lunch and fed 25,000 people.” His mom looked at him and said, “Son, I am sorry I know you are hungry, but we don’t have anything to eat.” The little boy opened the door and said, “Mom, don’t worry. I’ve got plenty of leftovers.”
That little boy gave his entire lunch to Jesus, but did he go away hungry? That little boy wound up with more to eat by giving Jesus everything he had than he would have eaten if he kept it all to himself. How do you explain that? It is the law of the leftovers. Jesus asks what He wants. We give Him what He asks. He uses what we give Him and He blesses what He uses.
Why do you think this miracle is in the Bible? Why do you think all four gospel writers made sure they included this story in their book? Why do you think we are told clearly there were twelve baskets left over? When you give everything to Jesus and you trust Him to meet your needs you will find that Jesus is not only all that you need, but He is more than you need.
There is not a problem that you have that Jesus can’t solve. There is not a hunger you have that Jesus can’t satisfy. There is not a need you have that Jesus cannot meet. There is not a hurt you have that Jesus cannot heal. There is not a question you have that Jesus cannot answer. Give Him your money. Give Him your marriage. Give Him your time. Give Him your talents. Give Him your love. Give Him your life. When you do you will find so many others will be blessed and you will enjoy the leftovers.