John 6:1-21

6:1 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.

6:2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.

6:3 Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples.

6:4 Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near.

6:5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?"

6:6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.

6:7 Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little."

6:8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him,

6:9 "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?"

6:10 Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all.

6:11 Then Jesus 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.

6:12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost."

6:13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.

6:14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world."

6:15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

6:16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,

6:17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

6:18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.

6:19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified.

6:20 But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."

6:21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

NRSV (ComLec) (c) 1989 NCC

INTRODUCTION:

I want to start this morning with two stories that at first may not seem connected but as you'll see, they really are.

A young woman had just finished reading "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus." She sighed and said to her husband, "You know, sometimes women don't want men to fix their problems. Sometimes it's better if he just puts his arms around her and tells her everything will be okay."

The very next morning, the woman's car had a flat tire. Her husband looked things over. Then he put his arms around her and gave her a great big hug, reassured her that everything would be all right, and left for work. (1)

And then there's the story about the young boy who came into Sunday School late. The boy's teacher knew he was usually very prompt and asked him if anything was wrong. The boy replied no, that he had planned on going fishing but his dad told him that he needed to go to church. The teacher was very impressed and asked the boy if his father had explained to him why it was more important to go to church than to go fishing. To which the boy replied, "Yeah, he did. Dad said he didn't have enough bait for the both of us." (2)

Why those two stories? Well, if you notice, they both have something in common. Like most jokes, and like most aspects of life, it all depends on whose eyes you are looking through. Well, it's the same in today's Scripture from John. John fills in those verse that we didn't read last week in Mark. John fills in the gap, so to speak, with the stories of the feeding of the 5000, and Jesus walking on the water and calming the storm.

Mark puts it in this spot to emphasize Jesus' prayer life and the busyness of His ministry. John, on the other hand, puts it here for a completely different reason. John wants us to really begin to see the difference between Jesus and the Disciples; Jesus and the rest of us. John wants us to look at the world, the problems and blessings of life, and each other through the eyes of Jesus.

Let's take a look at all of the events and try to look through all the different participant's eyes.

I. LOAVES AND FISHES:

A. FIRST THERE'S THE LOAVES AND FISHES. Jesus and the Disciples had been followed across the lake. People came from all over not only to hear Jesus preach but to bring their sick as well. Jesus had spent all day teaching and healing and it was getting close to night fall. Everyone was hungry. Unfortunately, they were in a deserted place, a lonely place. There was no McDonald's; no Cici's all you can eat buffet; no Pancho's; no Burger King. There wasn't even a high class expensive restaurant or an el cheapo mom and pop shop. There was nothing. Nada. Zip.

It was already late evening. By the time the people gathered all their stuff and wandered into town it would be close to dark thirty. Most, if not all, of the businesses would be closed. And since they were in a lonely or deserted place, they were outside Domino's & Mr. Jim's delivery area. There was a Papa John's but they hadn't gotten their facility finished yet. So, there was no fast food delivery available.

Philip looked at the crowd, pulled out his HP Calculator (that's Hebrew Pocket not Hewlitt Packard) and ran some quick numbers. The look on his face said it all. There was no way they could stretch the mission budget to cover dinner for this many people. They didn't have a prayer of a chance to feed all these folks. Not even if they all gave up six month's wages.

Andrew, even though he was just as bumfuzzled as the rest, did remember a small boy with a sack lunch of five small barley loaves and two fish, who had offered to share.

And that's where they stood. The crowd was hungry. The Disciples were bumfuzzled and feeling hopeless. A little boy was ready to eat. Jesus looked at the generosity of that boy and just smiled. Jesus looked at that lunch of bread and fish and the smile got bigger. Why?

B. Well, if you look through the eyes of the boy and his mother: those loaves and fishes were just another sack lunch. Enough food for a day's outing or a day's journey. Two loaves and a fish for lunch. Two loaves and a fish for supper. And one loaf to snack on or to share. It was what she packed everyday.

The Disciples looked at the crowd and then at the loaves and fishes and decided that boy's lunch wasn't even enough to mess with. There wasn't enough there for one of them let alone the 5,000. Instead of being moved by the generosity of the boy, the disparity between the food and crowd nearly brought them to a panic.

Jesus smiled because when he looked at the five loaves and two fish, he realized it was just enough for the making of a miracle of Biblical proportions. Through the generosity of a young boy and the eyesight of our Savior, 5,000 were fed that day. And twelve baskets of leftovers were gathered.

The crowds were simply hungry and saw that they had nothing. And they were expecting nothing. The boy saw his own lunch and an opportunity to share. The Disciples saw the impossible. Jesus saw the makings of a miracle. You see, it all depends on "Whose Eyes" you look through.

II. WALKING THROUGH THE STORM:

A. SECOND THERE IS JESUS WALKING IN THE WATER IN THE MIDDLE OF A STORM. In this scene we see Jesus slipping off by Himself because of the crowds reaction to the miracle. He didn't want the acclaim they were going to give Him. The sun had set. Folks were beginning to go home or to settle down and set up campsites for the night.

Jesus was gone, so the Disciples decide it was time to leave, too. They all jumped in the boat to head back across the Sea of Galilee. But they don't make it. About half way there, the sea started to get rough. Not only that but before they could holler "head back to shore" or "man the bilge pumps," they were engulfed in a life threatening storm.

Like Gilligan and the Skipper, they thought the "Minnow would be lost."

And if that wasn't enough. In the middle of paddling and bailing they looked up to see what they thought was a ghost walking across the water. The wind was blowing and the waves were crashing around this apparition as if it were nothing more than a hologram, a specter or a ghost. The figure seemed totally unconcerned. At least until it heard the cries of the Disciples as they struggled to keep their fishing boat from going down.

Here was a double terror: a storm at sea with a boat load of mostly inexperienced fishers of men with a ghost walking on the water and bearing down on them. No wonder they were afraid. I think I would have been, too. But not Jesus.

B. If you look through the eyes of the people who lived around the Sea of Galilee, it was simply a source of fresh water and something they had to go around or across to get to the communities on the other side. For some of the Disciples, the Sea of Galilee was the site of their livelihood. The Sea fed and clothed them. It was their friend, harsh at times, but still their friend. For others of the Disciples, it was more like the subway or mass transit. It was a means to get away from the crowds and a way to get tot he other side.

And the storm was both friend and foe. Most of the time, the storms and the rain they brought were seen as a blessing. Unless, of course, you were camping outside like the 5,000. Or unless you were like the Disciples and caught in the middle of it on a boat you're not sure you know how to handle. For Peter, James, John and Andrew, this was probably something they had faced many times before. But they had eight other inexperienced crewmen who had never faced a storm like this. So, the storm filled them with fear. And then along comes Jesus and innocently scares the bejeebers out of them.

You see, while the people and the Disciples all thought of the lake as something to cross or go around, He thought it was the perfect place for a midnight stroll. Jesus had been trying to get away by Himself to pray and refuel with God. But even the lonely and deserted places were crowded. Jesus knew there wouldn't be anybody else out on the lake, so he took a stroll on the water.

He was so deep in thought and prayer that He didn't even notice the storm until He began to hear the cries of struggle from His Disciples. The Disciples looked at the storm as something life threatening and something to fear. Jesus looked at the storm as an opportunity to show the power of God and to teach the Disciples about faith. And with one word, Jesus calmed the storm.

III. THROUGH HIS EYES:

So, what does all of this have to do with us. Well, I think it's a lesson about life. Because all of life depends on "Whose Eyes" you look at it through. As Disciples of Jesus, we're called to look at life through His eyes. We're called to see others with the same love and compassion He sees them. We're called to look at life's situations through the eyes of Jesus. And when we do, it makes all the difference in the world.

Cliffie is a seven-year-old little boy who lives in the South Bronx section of New York City, which happens to be the poorest Congressional district in the entire nation. The South Bronx is a place where you can find drug addicts sitting naked in the street, because they sold all their clothes, even their underwear, to get their daily fix. The South Bronx is a place where people from the nice neighborhoods go to dump their broken TV sets and old refrigerators. The South Bronx is a place where you see prostitutes and used syringes just about everywhere you look.

One day a reporter was doing a story about life in that community, and at one point the reporter asked young Cliffie what his image of God was, not really knowing if Cliffie even believed in God, since head lived his whole life in this hellish environment.

But the Cliffie said: "God has long hair, and he can walk on the deep water. No one else can." (3)

Cliffie lives in the middle of suffering and pain; of misery and disaster. But even in the middle of that storm, Cliffie trusts in a God who can walk on water, who can save people from even the worst situations. Cliffie looks at life through the eyes of Jesus.

CONCLUSION:

We're called to look at life's situations through the eyes of Jesus. And when we do, it makes all the difference in the world. And we make a difference in the world.

I ran across a story of a ten year old girl from Kimball Township, Michigan, by the name of Krystal Teichow. Krystal is quite an impressive young lady. First of all, she volunteers for the Humane Society and the American Cancer Society. But that's not all. You see, she has a very generous nature. And she looks through life with different eyes, just like the boy with the loaves and fishes. Just like Jesus.

She took something most kids would prize beyond compare, her collection of Beanie Babies, and sold them. Every one of them. And the she donated all the money to the Autistic Society of Michigan.

Because of her gift, Krystal's acting coach, Ernest Werth, nominated her for the Millennium Dreamer's Awards. Krystal was one of only 2,000 children from around the world to win this honor. (4)

She truly is someone who knows how to dream and to look through different eyes. She looks through the same kind of eyes which Jesus had, eyes of compassion.

You see, it really does matter whose eyes you look through. Whose eyes are you looking through? Is there a storm in your life that has you quivering in fear? Is there a crowd sized situation in your life for which you feel you only have the most meager of supplies? Is there a lake to cross or a ghost from your past haunting you?

Believe me, all of these can be changed. All of these can be used as opportunities to glorify God.

You see, it all depends on "Whose Eyes" you look through. And upon whom you call. Call upon Jesus.

1. Clean Joke A Day @ www.joke-a-day.com

2 Clean Joke A Day @ www.joke-a-day.com

3. Adapted from, "The Storm Before The Calm," C. Edward Bowen, Crafton United Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, PA

4. Based on an article by Nathan Collins, "Kimball Township girl honored for giving time, money to charity," Port Huron (Mich.) Times Herald, March 30, 2000.

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