Latest / Finding Jesus Again / Episode 10; Do Something
Transcript
- John Smithson: Welcome everybody to Finding Jesus Again. This is episode 10, the end of our second week together. And I hope that you have been enjoying this journey as much as I have. Please comment, shoot me a message, let me know that you're on this journey together and mean a lot to me to know that ⁓ we're not doing all this in vain. As somebody out there's listening and receiving from this. More than that, I just hope that it blesses you. And really, it's just my own personal journey. That I'm just I'm recording hoping that somebody might also maybe it would help somebody. Let's just put it that way. Well we're gonna start John chapter six today, starting with verse one. After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the sea, or Tiberius. Large crowd was following him because they were watching the signs which he was performing on those who were sick. But Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near, so Jesus, after raising his eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to him, Said to Philip, Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? Again, I'll stop here for a second. Just notice how Jesus cares about people. I mean, it wasn't his responsibility to feed all these people. These people followed him. He didn't tell them, Hey, come come with me. They just followed him because they were seeing all the things that he was doing. They were they were hungry for for that those miracles. They were hungry for God. And so they followed him out there. And he's seen that. He had compassionate he had compassion on their need to eat. I think that that just speaks volumes about who God is and who Jesus is, that he he cares about even small things like you eating, what you're gonna eat. He cares about your needs. And so, you know, if we're looking for Jesus and we're looking to understand him, I think that this is an important thing to note that he cares about your needs. He cares about what you're going through. He cares if you're hungry. He cares if you're if you're struggling, whatever you're struggling with. He cares. He genuinely where you gonna Jesus said to Philip, where Are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? But he was saying this only to test him, for he himself knew what he intended to do. He already had a plan. Philip answered him two hundred denai worth two hundred denai worth, which was about a day's wages for a laborer. Philip answered him, two hundred denai worth of bread is not enough for them, for each to receive just a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, There's a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are these for so many people? Jesus said, Have the people recline to eat. Now there was plenty of grass in the place, so the men reclined about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were reclining, likewise also the fish as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing will be lost. So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with pieces of From the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Therefore, when the people saw the sign which he had performed, they said, This is truly the prophet who has come into the world. So this is just again an amazing story about how Jesus cares for people, but also how Jesus showed his desire to minister to people, even the basic needs of people, and also how he passed on that mandate for us to care for people. I think one I think in in a in a great way the church cares about people, but also think in in a in a very sad way the church does not care about people, in that I mean that they say they care about people and the average person in the church will say that they care about people, but they don't lift their fingers to help anybody. I know it's one thing to say that the church should do this and the church should do that. And I and I got, you know, I I see people on Facebook who'll say things like the church should be doing this or the church should be doing that. And my answer to them is, well, you are the church. Go do it. Quit talking about it. But if you see that there's a need that needs to be met, instead of pointing it out to everybody else, why don't you be the leader and go lead us in that area and do something about it and quit talking about it? I think the church in general needs to do more physical action than they do need to be doing talking. And also, this is my opinion. It's my podcast, so I can say it. I think the church should be spending money on helping people and less money on grand theatrics in the church. You know, what's your big worship budget? Or let's put a hundred thousand dollar stained glass window in the foyer. That way people can see it and and somehow God'll be glorified by that beautiful stained glass. Or would God be more glorified if you took that money and started investing it into people? I was a pastor. I spent money in places probably that I shouldn't have. I've sure I made bad decisions. If I could go back, I would definitely be more people focused than I was building focused or church focused or building the church focused, but I would be more focused on the people and the needs of the people. But Jesus told Simon, have the people recline to eat. Simon said there's a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fishes. Now I I've always thought about this, and that is that how is it that out of A group of five thousand men. This isn't counting women and children. Just men were counted. So five thousand men. How is it that they only found one boy with some loaves and fishes? I just always find it interesting. I feel like there was probably some more people with food out there, but they wasn't saying anything. They wasn't sharing. They wasn't sharing because there wasn't enough to go around. They were they were kind of keeping theirs held back a little bit, I'm thinking. Of course, this is just speculation. But out of five thousand people you think someone might have a Twix or a Snicker in their pocket. This one boy had five loaves and five fishes. And he was willing to release it to Jesus. And Jesus was able to take those five loaves and fishes and he fed all those people. It's amazing what what just such a small thing can do in the hands of Jesus. It's amazing what happens when we will release what we have to Jesus or what he can do with it. You might be thinking, Man, I don't have anything. I don't have anything to give. I I s just don't believe that. I believe that everybody's got something to give. And I'm not just talking I'm not talking money here. I'm not taking up an offering, don't worry. There's not gonna be a thing at the end of this podcast where I'm asking you to give money to to help the cause or anything like that. It's this is n there's no money involved in any of this. What I'm saying is you got something to give. You got some gifts you can give. You got some friendship that you can give. You got some love that you can give. You got some joy that you can give. We've all got something to give. You might have a little extra food your refrigerator that you can give. You might have a little time that you can give to someone who needs it. But there's something that you can give. And even though you might think that what you have to give is very insignificant in the grand scheme of things, if you release what you have to give to Jesus, he will take that and he will do amazing things with it. That's what God is calling us to do. He's calling us to do something. Like here, he already knew what he was going to do. He already knew that he was going to feed all these people, but he was testing the disciples by saying, What are you going to do? Where are you going to buy bread to feed these people? What are you going to do about this situation? How are you going to be involved in this situation? How are you going to open up your heart and open up your mind and open up your abilities and help do something? And a little boy with a few loaves and a few fishes stepped up and said, Here, I can help. And Peter probably was like, Dude, really? What are we gonna do with that? But then he tells Jesus, ⁓ this kid's got some loaves and fishes. Jesus said someone stepped up to do something, and now I can take that and do something amazing with it. So don't be afraid to help someone. Don't be afraid to to leave an extra fifty cents to that waiter or that waitress. That might be all that you've got, but hey, God can take that and do something awesome with it. Don't be afraid to make that phone call. Take a little extra time, make a phone call to someone who might be lonely. Or give a hug to someone who really needs it. Take some time out for someone who who's hurting, who just needs to talk to someone. Walk over to your neighbor, take them a loaf of bread. I don't know. Just do something. If you're really hungry to find Jesus and you want to to imitate Jesus, do something for somebody who's in need. See those who are hurting the way that Jesus saw the hurting. Thank you for joining in. The end of our second week together. I hope you have an amazing weekend. We'll see you next time. On finding Jesus again.