"Nothing Shall Be Lost" Sermon: John 6:1-15

“Nothing Shall Be Lost”
[John 6:1-15]
March 22, 2009 Second Reformed Church

Some years ago there was a book called Your God is Too Small. The point that the author of the book was making is not that God is actually small – or unable to do anything He wants – but that we don’t believe in a big God – in a God Who can provide for us and give us all things with His Son as He is pleased to give. We tend to forget that this is the God Who raised the dead – the God Who called all things into existence by His Word. Do we really think that anything we put before Him – according to His Will – is beyond Him to accomplish?

Jesus had been in Galilee, healing the sick by His Word and His Touch. People were healed of their physical illnesses. But the Pharisees and Sadducees still wanted to kill Him, so He got into a boat and sailed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, to escape their wrath, and to also take some time to refresh Himself – to rest and relax before He did anything else.

This was not unusual, and it should be an example to us: we need to take time to rest, reflect, restore. The late musician Keith Green said, “Don’t be so caught up in the work of the Lord that you neglect the Lord of the work.” God expects us to work, but He has also designed us to need a time to stop and wait on Him for restoration. It is a good and right thing to stop and take time to pray, to read the Scripture, to wait – quietly – on the Lord. Sometimes it’s hard – when people are calling on you and you don’t want to disappoint them – but it does none of us any good to burn out. Take time in the shadow of God’s Wings.

So Jesus went across the sea, but a great crowd followed Him. They wanted more – more healing, more miracles – probably the better part of the crowd was more interested in being healed or seeing a healing than in knowing Jesus for Who He is. They wanted the benefits they could receive from Christ, but they weren’t necessarily concerned with Who He is. They wanted to see the crutches thrown away, blind peoples’ eyes opening through spit and mud – there are churches like that – lights and music and people jumping around – now understand – there are people who worship God sincerely in that way – don’t think of them – think of people who are there for the show, not for God, not for His Word, not for the preaching and sacraments.

And Jesus sat down. And John reminds us that this was at the time of the Passover feast of the Jews – and we talked about how John is telling us that the Passover is not being offered to the Lord anymore – the language tells us that something has gone wrong in the worship of Israel. Still, Jesus looked at this crowd coming toward Him – up the mountain – and He had compassion on them. He didn’t rebuke them for lacking faith – for only following Him to see what He would do next. No, Jesus looked at them and recognized that they must be hungry – after spending all that time with Him and then walking around the sea to catch up with Him.

Remember, we are to spread the Gospel of Salvation in Jesus Christ Alone throughout the whole world, but we are also called to care for those in need. Remember what James wrote, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” (James 2:15-16, ESV).

That’s why we support the food pantry here in Irvington. We don’t give food and money to the pantry to earn merit before God. No, we give food and money to the pantry because we care about those who are in need, because Jesus has changed our hearts and made us into a people who care for others – both for their Salvation and for their daily needs.

So Jesus asked Philip where they might buy bread to feed the people. And John tells us that Jesus knew exactly how Philip would respond – this was a test. And Philip answered as Jesus knew he would: “Do you see how many people there are? Even if we had two hundred days’ pay, that would not be enough to buy each of them a little bread.” How many people were there? Five thousand? No. There were about five thousand men – the women and children were not counted. So, if we suppose half of the men came with their wives, and half of the men had one child with him, we now have ten thousand people. There may have been more. “We don’t have the resources to provide even a single piece of bread for each person.”

Then Andrew answered, “There is a boy here with five barley loaves and two fish, but that probably won’t go very far.”

We have reacted like that, haven’t we? I know we have in this church. “We can’t do that. It’s not possible. There’s no hope, no future. There no point to doing anything.” Have you thought that way about your life? “I can’t do that. I’m not able. I can’t help. Nobody will help me. There’s no point in asking or trying anything.”

James tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” James 1:5-8, ESV). And John wrote, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him” (I John 5:14-15, ESV).

If we ask God for something, in faith, believing that He is able, and it is according to His Will, then we shall receive it – it shall be done. That is the promise God makes to us. He will give us everything we ask for in faith, believing in Him, that is according to His Will.

Jesus had compassion on the crowd. He desired to feed them. So, it didn’t matter that they didn’t have the money to buy food. It didn’t matter that all the food they could find was five barley loaves and two fish. What mattered is that it was Jesus’ Will that they be fed, so they would be fed, no matter what the circumstances looked like, because He is God and He is able. Do you believe He is able to provide for you according to His Will? Do you believe He is able to provide for this church according to His Will? I do. So I keep praying for this church, for you, and for me.

The disciples didn’t have faith that Jesus could feed the crowd. They were raising the objections that were before everyone’s eyes – “We don’t have the money. There isn’t enough food.” They ought to have remembered that this was not the first time that God provided food. In the days of Elisha, we read, “A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, ‘Give to the men, that they may eat.’ But his servant said, ‘How can I set this before a hundred men?’ So he repeated, ‘Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, “They shall eat and have some left.”’ So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left according to the word of the Lord” (II Kings 4:42-44, ESV). Does it excite you to know that if God is willing, anything can happen? There is no impediment that can keep God from carrying out His Will.

But the disciples weren’t so sure. They lacked the faith to believe Jesus has the power and the authority to feed all those people. But they were obedient: when Jesus told them to have everyone sit down, they got everyone to sit down.

Then Jesus took the bread and gave thanks, broke it, and distributed it. And then He did the same thing with the fish. Do you give God thanks for what you have? Or are you always complaining that you don’t have more or have this or that? Paul said, “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21, ESV). God is always deserving of thanks – He provides all our needs – and if we do not give Him thanks, we’re ruining ourselves.

And everyone ate as much as they wanted – until they were filled. And Jesus told the disciples to go pick up all the pieces of bread and fish – to collect them together that nothing would be lost. And they gathered twelve baskets full of bread and fish.

Jesus was able to provide lunch for everyone there – He brought the food into existence out of the little bit that was there – and each of the twelve disciples had a VIP basket to take home with them. Do you understand that Jesus is able to provide for us everything that is according to His Will? Be we must ask in faith, believing that He is able. And we must ask and ask and ask until we have an answer, whether He grants our request or says, “No.”

Bishop Ryle, in his commentary on John, makes an interesting observation at this point: there are only two miracles recorded in the Gospels where Jesus caused something to exist when it did not. One of those times is this morning’s Scripture, where Jesus multiplies the bread and the fish. Do you remember the other time? It’s just four chapters earlier, where Jesus was at the wedding in Cana, and the host ran out of wine. Mary asked Jesus to do something about it, and He gives in to her and changes one hundred and eighty gallons of water into the best wine they had ever tasted: “When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who drew the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him” (John 2:9-11, ESV).

Ryle asks whether we are to think it a coincidence that the two times Jesus causes something to exist are times when He calls bread and wine and fish into existence. Could it be that Jesus did these miracles in part to impress upon those in His day and we, the readers of the Gospel, the bread and the wine – the signs of Jesus’ sacrifice in the Lord’s Supper and the fish, the first sign used by Christians to identify themselves? Surely Jesus did everything for a purpose. Here, in these two miracles, we see that Jesus provides the bread and the wine – His Body, broken for us; His Blood, shed for us – and the fish – salvation through Him Alone.

We are given the Scripture to teach us, to remind us, to educate us, to lead us in the Ways of God. But God does not always explain Himself. He does not always tells us why things occur or how things will come to pass. The disciples didn’t know how the crowd could be fed, but they believed in Jesus enough to do what He told them to do. And Jesus calls us to have faith in Him.

What is faith? Archie Bunker once described faith as “believing in something that no one in their right mind would believe in.” And some people think that way. But that is not faith. The author of Hebrews defines faith for us: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1, ESV). Faith is believing with steadfast assurance in something that we do not have yet – or were not around to receive, but believe in without a doubt because of Him Who has promised it to us. We believe that God created everything that is out of nothing by His Word, not because any of us were there, but by faith, because we believe in God. We believe that Jesus will return and restore all things, not because it has happened yet, but because we believe Him Who has made this promise to us.

Solomon told his son, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, turn away from evil. It will be a healing to your flesh and a refreshment to your bones. Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats bursting with wine” (Proverbs 3:5-10, ESV).

By faith we believe “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32, ESV). That’s not my promise. It’s not Paul’s promise. It’s God’s Promise. God has already given us the greatest gift in His Son, so how can we doubt that He will give us everything that we ask for according to His Will?

Again, notice that Jesus gave enough food for everyone to be filled and for there to be leftovers to take home. Isn’t that our experience? God has promised to give us everything we need, plus more to give to others who are in need. Sometimes we’re on the giving end; sometimes we’re on the receiving end. But God has provided, and He will continue to provide. Believe Him. Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33, ESV). What things? In the context: food, drink, clothes, and a place to live. Seek Him. Believe Him.

When the people saw how Jesus caused bread and fish to exist where there had been none, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is come into the world ” They recognized Jesus as the Savior, the Messiah, the Christ, but they misunderstood what that meant. They thought the Savior would come and overthrown the Romans and set up and earthly kingdom. So John tells us that they would ready to forcibly anoint Jesus as king of Israel. But that was not what Jesus came to do in His First Coming, so He disappeared up into the mountain by Himself, where the crowd didn’t find Him.

Understand, Jesus was not denying that He is King – it was just not to be in the way that they thought and at the time that they thought. Jesus said to Pilate, “‘My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from this world.’ Then Pilate said to him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world – to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice’” (John 18:36-37, ESV).

This is the Truth: our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, is able to do anything and everything that we ask Him according to His Will. Nothing is too great for Him. So let us know Him, obey Him, and ask great things of Him, believing that He is able.

Let us pray:
Almighty God, You Who called all things into existence by Your Word, without Whose Will a sparrow cannot fall from the sky, increase our faith and trust in You. Keep us from regarding You as too small. Keep us from merely relying on our own abilities to accomplish the work You have set before us. Inspire us by Your Word, and cause us to ask great things, according to Your Will, believing that You will accomplish them, because You are able. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.