"A Little Goes A Long Way"

(Matthew 14:13-21)

INTRODUCTION:

A little baby turtle, no bigger than a coaster, plodded over to this massive oak tree. It looked up at the daunting height of the tree for a minute, took a deep breath and then proceeded to climb the tree. It hooked its little feet in the bark of that oak tree and little by little it grunted and groaned and pushed and pulled until it reached the first limb on that tree.

It sat there for a minute catching its breath, huffing and puffing, knees shaking from the exertion; but with an obvious smile on its face, proud of its accomplishment. It had made it. The little turtle grinned in absolute delight. It walked out about three feet from the trunk, surveyed all his surroundings and then jumped. It began flapping its front feet like all get out; when all of a sudden, smack, it hit the ground.

When it stopped rolling and bouncing, the little turtle sat there dazed. It shook its head and looked up into the tree and saw two big old blue jays watching it. Little turtle picked himself up, dusted himself off and walked back over to the trunk of the tree where it began its long hard trek back up to that same limb. Again, little turtle rested and them slowly walked out about three feet from the trunk, looked around and jumped. Again he flapped his little front legs like all get out. And again, smack, he hit the ground and bounced and rolled. This went on for three or four more times. Little turtle would climb, jump and flap only to hit the ground.

Finally, little turtle landed and this time bounced onto his back. He lay there struggling to right himself but couldn't. He lay there looking up into the tree at the two blue jays sitting there watching him. About that time one of the blue jays leaned over to the other and said, "Harold, don't you think it's about time we told little turtle that he's adopted."

Last week we talked about being adopted into the Kingdom of God and made a child of God. As a child of God, we won't have to go through any of the gyrations of little turtle. We belong to God and that makes all the difference in the world. God doesn't want us to be something we aren't and can't be. God simply wants us to be everything God created us to be. God wants to live in us through Christ Jesus so that we can be a part of the family business. And that business is the business of salvation, the business of changing lives. God wants to live in us, so God can work through us, in the world.

I. THE MIRACLE:

A. That's part of what Jesus wanted the disciples to learn in this passage that tells of the feeding of the five thousand. He wanted them to have a hand in the miracle. He wanted them to feel what it was like to let God work through them.

Jesus heard the horrible news that his cousin John had been beheaded by Herod and he went away to be alone and to grieve. He took the disciples with him. At that very moment, the full weight of his Divine Purpose had to have weighed heavy on his heart. There were thoughts of praise and thanksgiving for his cousin. For the boldness of John's message. For John being his Elijah and proclaiming the coming and the presence of the Messiah. There was thankfulness for God's guidance for John. And there was grief.

Also, it had to be one of those major times of temptation in his life ministry. For the death of John pointed out the high cost of this course of ministry. The cost was high. First John. Then he would be next. God was asking the ultimate sacrifice. Could he pay that price? Was it worth it? Are we worth it?

Those are the kind of thoughts that might have been going through Jesus' mind as he tried to escape from the crowds. he tried but he wasn't very successful. The passage says they found out where he was and followed.

B. You might expect Jesus to be upset. To holler out something like, "Can't you just leave me alone for a little while?" But he didn't. In the midst of his grief. In the midst of his sorrow and temptation, Jesus looked at the crowd and was filled with compassion. He saw there need, both physical and spiritual and he had compassion.

When the disciples wanted to send the crowds away because they would be getting hungry, his compassion ruled, and he told the disciples: "You give them something to eat."

Jesus wanted the disciples to be experience what it was like to let God work through them. He wanted them to begin making that move from being observers and apprentices to becoming active participants and pilgrim leaders. He wanted them to capture and become a part of the vision, His vision for ministry and God's vision for the Church and the world.

II. THE VISION:

Jesus wants the same for us. he wants us to experience what it's like to let God work through us. He wants us to become part of His vision, part of God's vision for the world. When we claim God's vision as our own, we are filled with hope and joy. Our hearts beat with the excitement of acceptance, the excitement of purpose and meaning, the excitement of belonging to something bigger than ourselves that CAN and DOES make a difference in the world. We're empowered to envision what God would have us do and where God would have us go.

We have a vision of a new building. But I believe God is calling us to develop a vision for the future. A vision of what our ministries will look like in the next 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years? What do we want this Church to look like? What sort of ministries do we want in place? How can we be in ministry to the community around us. What sort of staff do we need? How are we going to get there?

I'm excited by what I already see going on here and what can grow here. I see a Church on fire for God, a church reaching out with the Good News of forgiveness, reconciliation and redemption. I see a Church concerned about others, about missions, and each other. I'm excited about the hopes, dreams and aspirations that I'm hearing. I see a Church of vision; "A Church on the Move."

I believe that could be our slogan, our mission statement and our vision. We are a Church not just looking to move but looking to be on the move for God. A Church on the move: reaching out to others with the Good News. A Church on the move: reaching out to youth and children and giving them a spiritual foundation for the future; providing a place for them to go and grow safely. A Church on the move: providing a place for Scouts, for parenting classes, for short term courses on any number of subjects. A Church on the move: toward solid stewardship and sacrificial giving. A Church on the move: providing inspirational brown bag lunches, a safe place to walk, quarterly concerts and any number of other ministries.

The physical move is definitely a part of God's vision for us or things wouldn't have fallen into place like they have. And I believe that if we get on board God's vision for this Church then there is nothing in the world that we can't do. All it takes is faith in God and continued focus on the vision.

III. THE MESSAGE:

A. And if you read this passage right, it doesn't even take very much faith. God takes what we offer, even if it's only a little bit, like a few loaves and a couple of fish, and multiplies it. God begins with what we have and what we give. God took a small sack lunch and multiplied it into a God sized banquet, picnic style. Everyone there was full and satisfied. Not only were they satisfied but there were twelve baskets of leftovers. There was at least a hundred times more leftovers than what they started with.

Jesus took what little faith the disciples had, and let God work through them. And to their astonishment, Jesus fed the crowds. that's the message here. God takes what we offer, even if it's only a little bit, and multiplies it beyond compare.

B. Ten years ago our Annual Conference began a month long campaign to raise money for the camp, specifically to repair the pool. The day after I made that appeal from the pulpit, Erica Arney, then nine, stopped me at her school. I was there to pick up Joshua. Erica said she wanted to give something for the camp, I thought she meant a dollar or two and was really pleased. Instead, she shocked me by giving me $100.

I started not to take it but the look on her face and the light in her eyes told me I had to. It was a sacred offering to God for this young lady. Her mother told me Erica had given a lot of thought to the gift, she had even prayed and asked God how much to give. Do you know where she got that money? That was her birthday, Christmas and good grades money as well as money she earned picking up aluminum cans.

Erica's gift gave us a fresh understanding of love and giving. And it impacted the entire Annual Conference. I couldn't help but call my friend Mike Ford, the camp administrator and tell him about Erica's gift. We were both in tears by the time I was through. He in turn told our Conference newspaper, the Methodist Reporter and they did a feature story. I had about a half a dozen calls from preachers who used the story of Erica's gift in their sermons and in their presentations about the needs of the Camp. So there is really no telling how much more money that $100 generated. It more than doubled what we were going to send off after I told the story. But no matter how much was given, there was no gift as great or as large as what Erica gave. Through her gift, through her love, through her unselfishness we heard the Master's voice.

You see, God takes what we offer, even if it's only a little bit, and multiplies it beyond compare.

CONCLUSION:

This morning we come to Lord's Table to partake of the Lord's Supper. It's very reminiscent of this miracle. We will take a small piece of bread and a little bit of wine and through the presence of Christ and the power of God's Holy Spirit, it will be multiplied into a banquet of grace and a feast of forgiveness. We will come from the wilderness and struggle of our daily lives and stand in the presence of the Son of God and feel his compassion. Then having feasted, we will rise and go into the world, filled with the Spirit of Christ and the vision of God, so that God can work through us.

We come this morning offering our faith and ourselves, and little as that may be, God will accept it and multiply for God purpose. As the children of God all we're called to do is to come and to give. And then to receive God's vision for us.

This is the Word of the Lord for this day.

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