Want to attract young, floundering, post-high school people to a life of faith, fulfillment, and commitment? Would your first thought be to offer that age group a solid set of "divine directives" aka "Four Spiritual Laws?"
Probably not. Unless you were Bill Bright in 1952, when he offered that gleaming, golden nugget of insight to a new generation of spiritual seekers. But the "laws" Bill Bright proposed were far from rude and reactionary. Instead they were redeeming and revealing. And they have touched many new generations of searching young men and women, people seeking to find a direction and meaning for their adult lives.
If it's been awhile or never Bill Bright's "Four Spiritual Laws" are as follows:
1. God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.
2. Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life.
3. Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life.
4. We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives.
These guidelines continue to be the mainstay of the evangelical outreach of the Campus Crusade for Christ to this day.
But that doesn't mean we don't still get it wrong, everyday, everywhere, whether we are teen-aged, college-aged, middle-aged, or elder-aged. Whatever our generation, we are all completely capable of living according to "spiritual flaws" instead of "spiritual laws."
From our Scripture reading this morning, you might even say that the typical human reaction to the miraculous insertion of the divine into human life is the exercise of "spiritual flaws" instead of an embracing of "spiritual laws."
The only miracle recorded by all four gospel writers except for the crowning miracle of Jesus' resurrection is this week's extravagant, big audience, "tah-dah" of the "feeding of the five thousand." Gospel writers and biblical scholars agree to disagree about whether this was five thousand "men," and hence a potential militia, or five thousand people, with lots of women and children who were at that time considered liabilities, not legitimate combatants. Whatever the make-up of the crowd, they were convinced that they were apparently "large and in charge."
The crowd was convinced that "might equals right." They had come seeking miraculous healings and instead experienced miraculously full stomachs. Jesus did not just heal those who had the frailty of illness. He "healed" the frailty that holds all of humanity together -the need for sustenance, for food and water on a regular basis, in order to keep up life. There is no greater "weak link" that Jesus could address -the physical well-being of the human body is a concern of every living, breathing person.
1. Spiritual Flaw #1: The notion that the spiritual and the material are separate, or that the material is inconsequential to the spiritual.
It's easy to make fun of songs about the "sweet bye and bye," and the "pie in the sky bye and bye." It's easy, that is, until you're so poor that the "pie in the sky" is about all you have to eat . .
Physical life is not a be-all and end-all. But neither is it inconsequential. Jesus did become "incarnate." Jesus did take on material form. Jesus did assume a human body. Jesus felt human hunger, thirst, exhaustion, injury, aging. Every church youth group should be reminded that Jesus went through adolescence, successfully!
One of the "spiritual flaws" exhibited in today's text is the belief that faith I about the spiritual, and that we can wait for things to be better "bye-and-bye-in-the-sky." No. The feeding of the five thousand flies in the face of such "wait til heaven" ideologies. Faced with a crowd that had tracked him down because of his miracle-working abilities, Jesus is first and foremost concerned with . . . getting them something to eat.
Not impressing them with his feats of power. Not show-casing show-stopping miraculous healings. Not convincing anyone in the crowd of anything. Jesus was concerned for their shrunken bellies as much as he was for their shrunken souls. But his actions, accepted and advocated, would feed both.
Instead of "pie in the sky bye and bye" Jesus offered fish and bread in the here and now, simple and sustaining food for today.
There is a very significant difference between the biblical phrases "heavenly host" and "hosts of heaven." Humans are not part of the "heavenly hosts," but we are enjoined to be "hosts of heaven." We are to host heaven now. In this feeding of the five-thousand passage, Jesus showed us how we are to host heaven on earth in our homes everyday, not wait for some heavenly home.
2. Spiritual Flaw #2: "I can do it on my own!"
As long as the crowd remained standing, they retained control over their own destiny. They could go off on their own and get some food. They could go home. To remain standing is to say "I can feed myself. I can do it on my own."
Jesus says to all "I-can-do-it-on-my-own" types, "Sit Down." Or in other words, Trust me. Put your future in my hands.
Jesus asks Philip how the massive crowd can be fed. The overwhelmed disciple responds with mathematical figures that guarantee failure. Likewise the miniscule bit that Andrew offered as a possible "idea" for feeding the five thousand is a recipe for failure.
The responses of Philip and Andrew absolutely proved that they could not "do it on their own. Five thousand strangers. A barren wilderness. Everyone is hungry. Feed them. Only by relying on a power outside themselves could a positive answer be offered, a positive outcome be assured.
Nothing is possible until the people and the disciples listen and obey Jesus' command. It is a simple directive-tell the people to go and sit down. In sitting down, they released their future to a power outside their control. They submitted themselves to a power greater than themselves. They reclined and prepared to dine.
But with nothing except the equivalent of half a "happy meal" for five thousand people. It takes a huge leap of faith to park your posterior on the green grass and wait for what God has to offer.
3. Spiritual Flaw #3: The "straight and narrow" is the easy path.
Where did we get the notion that the "straight and narrow" path is straightforward, straight-faced and the shortest distance between two points?
In today's text Jesus' "path" takes those who would follow him across the Sea of Galilee, into the wilderness, up a mountain, to voluntarily face an evening without food or shelter. It's a course not very straight nor short. More like dissociative and discombobulated! Living according to the call of God's will, following Jesus’ pathway for your life, is definitely NOT a call to the straightforward and a life of short-cuts.
Discipleship is a winding path that will always be surprising and never be "safe." Running around the north end of the Sea of Galilee in order to get a "good seat" at the healing miracles of Jesus leads the clueless crowds to follow Jesus up a mountainside and yet then, into a moment of miracles.
Dante introduced the mid-life crisis in one of his cantos: "Midway in the journey of life, I found myself in a dark forest, and the straightforward path was lost." Every one of us here today will find that at various times in our lives the "straightforward path" is lost. Can we follow Jesus on curves and around bends even when we can't see what's ahead of us? Jesus didn't call us to follow him down easy paths. But he did promise that he would lead us every step of the way, and that our journey with him would be the most exciting adventure we could imagine.
4. Spiritual Flaw #4: "It is what it is."
This is one of the top clichés of our day: "It is what it is." And how flawed that cliché is. Life is NOT what it is. Life is what you make it. It is NOT what it is. It is what you make it.
Last weekend we were horrified at the enormity of the evil that can be born in the human heart. Who was not dumbstruck by the movie mayhem that resulted in 70+ casualties and over a dozen deaths? Who can understand the evil that lurks in the human heart?
After every volcanic eruption of evil there is the question of theodicy: Why is there evil and suffering in the world? Why doesn't God just blot out all the bad things?
But the Christian answer to the problem of evil is unlike any other answer of any other religion. Because Christians don't answer the question of theodicy, why things are the way they are, with a philosophy, or with a panacea, or with a position paper. We answer the question of "Why evil?" with a person. A person who is nailed to a cross, bearing for us and sharing with us the worst that evil can throw at us. The unspoken words from the cross of that person, the very Son of God, are these: Evil is mighty, but God is Almighty. You are not alone.
"It is what it is?" No, it is what you can make it through the power of the One who overcame death on a cross and burial in a grave.
"It is well with my soul," not because "it is what it is," but because "It is written, Christ is risen, Jesus, You are Lord of all."
[Google the Hillsong "Stronger" youtube video. It would make a great ending for your sermon.]
COMMENTARY
The miracle of the "sign" (John's preferred term) of feeding the five thousand in today's gospel text is the only wondrous work of Jesus recorded in all four of the gospels. John's version, however, contains its own unique details and nuances, along with a startling ending. Throughout this unit the subtle and not-so-subtle parallels that John draws between Moses, who was Israel's first "redeemer," and Jesus, whose ultimate act of redemption is yet to come, is evident.
The Sea of Galilee, so prominently present in Mark's gospel, has to be carefully identified in John's text, where the region of Galilee is not a focal point. Jesus crosses over the water (although he does not "part" it) and immediately ascends "the mountain" with his disciples. Yet the crowds follow them up to this wilderness retreat. The crowds are not credited with understanding Jesus' mission and message. Rather they are drawn by the powerful "sign's," the miraculous healings, that he has performed. Just in case describing Jesus as a mountain-top miracle-worker who has been followed into the wilderness by a multitude of people doesn't ring enough Mosaic bells for John's readers, the gospel writer now adds one other tidbit. It was the time of Passover the festival celebrated with a special meal and recalling the greatest redeeming event in Israel's history.
While the multitude is focused on Jesus' miraculous power, Jesus himself raises a seemingly mundane matter. How is this crowd going to be fed? In John's text Jesus singles out Philip to answer this question in order to "test" ("peirazo") him. Interestingly, while the crowd is convinced enough by Jesus' abilities to follow him out into the wilderness and up a mountain, it is another story with his disciple. Philip, who has been with Jesus since the beginning of his public ministry, never considers turning to his master for the answer. Instead, Philip bemoans and bean-counts. He computes that not even "two hundred denarii" (or roughly six months of daily labor) would be enough to provide a mere mouthful for this immense crowd.
John allows his readers an insight into the events to come by revealing that Jesus already "knew what he was going to do." John's text also identifies Andrew as the disciple who offers what appears to be the lamest of suggestions. Andrew offers one little boy's dinky dinner (the cheap barley loaves and diminutive fish tidbits hardly amounted to a substantial adult meal) while at the same time admitting that the paltry amount is pointless for "so many people." Unwittingly, however, Andrew has given Jesus the means through which his next miracle will be accomplished.
Jesus now takes charge of the situation. He orders his disciples to "make the people sit down" or "recline" ("anapesein")-the traditional posture assumed by expectant diners at formal banquets. To "recline" was to prepare for a feast, not a fraction. The pre-Passover, early spring climate makes the accommodations for this crowd pleasant. The grass is lush and green, not burnt to a high summer crisp.
When the crowd settles down and sits, John offers his head count-five thousand men ("andres") which may or may not neglect counting women and children. Considering the seemingly militant mindset of this crowd as revealed in v.15, the focus on the number of "men" -that is, potential combatants against the ruling powers -may be the message behind John's gender designation.
With complete confidence Jesus takes the mini-meal of the little boy and offers thanks ("eucharistesas") for the morsels. While John's Greek would clearly have had a Eucharistic meal meaning for his later first century readers, Jesus' own prayer at this moment almost certainly was the traditional Jewish blessing offered before meals: "Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who brings froth bread from the earth."
It is not the presence of the food that is blessed. It is the presence and power of God, the One who created the fruitful world, who is thanked and blessed. Jesus himself then distributes the bread and fish, making its miraculous multiplicity intimately tied to his personal touch.
While the Mosaic connection continues, as Moses fed the people manna in the wilderness, there is also a dramatic difference in this portrayal. In Exodus 16:19-21 the people are expressly forbidden from saving the daily gift of manna, and any "leftovers" melt away. In John's text he emphasizes that the disciples are expressly ordered to gather up all the fragments left over "so that nothing may be lost" (v.12). These small remains ("klasmata") are to be carefully kept and available for future use. Significantly "twelve baskets" full of these fragments remain, echoing the number of the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus has fed five thousand, but, but clearly there is enough of this miraculous meal for all of Israel to dine upon.
This manna-connection is not lost on the now full-bellied crowd. The promise of a prophet like Moses is found in Deuteronomy 18:15-19, and it is that promise that encourages those gathered to declare that Jesus must be "the prophet who is to come into the world." But this insight is focused on the physical and political. The people assume that the miraculous power that can appease their physical hunger should also be used to fulfill their political cravings for a new national identity and freedom.
John reveals this hunger in yet another aside into Jesus' personal insight. The well-fed crowd hasn't experienced any spiritual fulfillment. Instead this meal has whetted their appetite for political power. For dessert they are planning to "force" Jesus into the role of "king." The crowd's "logic" isn't really flawed. If Moses, who miraculously fed the people in the wilderness, could deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt, why could not Jesus use his power to help the people throw off the yoke of Roman oppression?
It isn't historically based "logic" that fails this crowd. It is the astonishing breadth and depth of the new redemption Jesus' mission offers.
Jesus' foresight enables him to slip away before he is physically pressured by the crowd. As he had before, and as he will throughout his ministry, Jesus seeks solitude and singular space when a path that does not lead to the cross is dangled before him. Instead of taking the easy path, Jesus "withdrew again to the mountain by himself."