Lent 4 – John 6:1-15 – March
30th, 2014
In the Name of Christ the
Crucified +
The fourth week of Lent is known sometimes known as
“refreshment Sunday”. It’s a week where
we ease up a bit on the intensity of our self-examination and penance in Lent –
where we take a slight breather. If we
wanted to be really prim and proper, and if we actually had them – we’d have
the pink, the rose colored altar cloths on the altar, just like the 3rd
week of Advent. It is the final rest
stop, the final breather before Lent takes us through its intense push towards Golgotha, towards Good Friday. This is a relaxing, refreshing day. And so, our Gospel text is the feeding of the
5000. It’s a familiar text, a great
text, a refreshing text. So, let us look
at the text, and see what we learn about how God refreshes us.
After this Jesus
went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberius. And a large crowd was following Him, because
they saw the signs that He was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He
sat down with His disciples. So that is the setting. People following Christ, people wishing to
hear His Word, listening to Him, all gathered.
They’ve been there all day. They
are tired. They are worn out. They are hungry. Imagine yourself there. If I go over 15 minutes on the sermon, how
many of your eyelids get heavy? Now
imagine a sermon that lasted all day. By
the end of our hour here, how many of you are sore from sitting in the pew for
that long? Now imagine 12 hours walking
after Jesus, or at best sitting on the ground looking up hill. We can imagine how sore and tired those
people must have been.
But we also see and understand how tired we ourselves
are. It is hard to be a Christian, isn’t
it? It is tiring work. All around us we see people taking the easy
way, the wide path that leads to hell.
We see people backbite and stab each other – but we strive to show
respect as instructed in the 4th Commandment. We see everyone else simply look out for themselves,
but we strive to support our neighbor in his bodily needs, as instructed in the
5th Commandment. We see
people jump from person to person in pursuit of pleasure, but we strive to be
faithful, to show love to our spouses even when that can be quite difficult, as
instructed in the 6th Commandment.
We see people get ahead by hook or by crook – but we strive to do things
honestly, as instructed in the 7th Commandment. We see people attack and speak cruelly of
others, but we strive to defend them, speak well of them, put the best
construction on everything, as instructed in the 8th
Commandment. And all this we do – while
trying not to covet, while trying not to look over the fence and see what our
neighbor has and think, “Boy, they’ve got it so good.” Dear friends, I would suggest that our lives
as Christians are more wearying than simply sitting, more painful than the
hunger after a day without food. The
Christian life is hard – God sets a high standard for us and we strive to do
His Will – we strive – it is hard work, hard and tiring work.
Lifting up His
eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward Him, Jesus said to
Phillip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for He Himself knew
what He would do. Phillip answered Him,
“Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a
little.” One of His disciples, Andrew,
Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a boy here who has five barely
loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” We strive to do God’s will – and it’s hard,
and oftentimes we stumble. Look at poor
Phillip. Jesus lays out the Commandments
to him – ah – how are we to care for these people’s bodies and lives,
Phillip? And Phillip draws a complete
blank. Um, I don’t know Jesus, I hadn’t
really thought about it. Phillip falls
flat on his face. And Andrew, well, he’s
a little bit better. Uh, here’s what we
have Jesus – but it won’t do any good.
Do you hear the despair, the resignation in Andrew’s voice? Well, it can’t get done. The life of a disciple was hard, and Phillip
and Andrew, with this task before them, fail.
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? How often at the end of the day, when
thinking back on something from the day, do you look at it and think, “I messed
that up royally. I completely blew
it”? One of the most amusing things in
the catechism is what Luther writes after the evening prayer – “Then go to
sleep at once and in good cheer.” I find
that hard to do quite often. The folly,
the wickedness I have done this day gnaws at me, and the burdens of the morrow
hang in front of me. It’s hard, seeing
your sin. It’s hard when you have
something in front of you, and afterwards you realize you handled it completely
poorly. Often times we don’t handle the
challenges in our life the right way. We
stay silent when we should speak up and defend our neighbor – or we speak up
and gossip when we should stay silent.
We work and work when we should be paying attention to the Word – or we see
our neighbor, the stranger in need, and we sit back and lift nary a
finger. We look with disdain upon the
blessings we have and look with lust at what our neighbor has. And then we kick ourselves. I knew better than that! We see our lives for what they are – chances
to do good where we do wickedness instead – chances to show the love of God
where we simply show our own hate and indifference. Sometimes, we even despair, like Andrew here. Oh well, what good it is – no matter what I
do I will mess up. We are beaten and
broken down quite often.
Jesus said, “Have
the people sit down.” Now there was much
grass in the place. So the men sat down,
about 5000 in number. Jesus then 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. And when they had eaten
their fill, He told His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that
nothing may be lost.” So they gathered
them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barely loaves,
left by those who had eaten. It’s
not a problem for Jesus. Phillip – he
doesn’t know what to do. Andrew – eh,
what good are these few loaves, these two fish.
It’s not a problem for Jesus. He
takes care of things. He sees that
people need to be fed – and so He feeds them.
He sees that Phillip and Andrew cannot, so He does for them. It’s not a problem for Jesus.
This is what we are to remember in our lives as well. It’s not a problem for Jesus. Do you see your own sin – does it weigh
heavily upon you? It’s not a problem for
Jesus. He stretches His arms out upon
the Cross and says, “Let me take that for you.”
Your sin isn’t your own any more – Christ Jesus has taken it from
you. The burden of it – He has taken
it. Yes, your sin is great. It’s horrible and wicked. There are probably things you are still
kicking yourself for from long ago.
Christ died for that sin, and He has taken it from you. It’s not a problem for Jesus. Flee to Him for refuge, confess your sin, and
He is faithful and just, and will cleanse you from all, all your
unrighteousness – even the big, dark, scary skeleton in the closet ones. That is why He calls you to His house, week
after week – to give you forgiveness – so that you know that the flaws and
follies of the past week are done away with – put to death upon the Cross. So that you receive His forgiveness and the
confidence in His love that comes from forgiveness.
It’s not a problem for Jesus. This is what we are to remember when we think
about the things that will come – the challenges that we will face, the
seemingly insurmountable difficulties that will come. It’s not a problem for Jesus. He has claimed us in the waters of Baptism,
He has joined Himself to us, we are His now.
Do you see and understand what this means? You’ve sung since you were little. Little ones to Him belong, they are weak but
He is strong. It is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The Holy Spirit has made you His dwelling
place – do you see what that means? Likewise
the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For
we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes
for us with groanings too deep for words. It’s not a problem for God. He knows our lack, better than we do, in fact
– and He is the one who provides us strength.
Consider what God gives to us in the supper. This meal isn’t just symbolic play time –
it’s not just us sitting back wistfully and thinking about good old Jesus. Christ supports and sustains us in this life
– He strengthens our weak, tired bodies with His own Holy Body and precious
Blood. In this sacrament forgiveness of
sins, life, and salvation are given. We
are forgiven. We are given life – life
for today, life for tomorrow – Christ’s own strength to thrive. All these things in our life that cause us
consternation – they aren’t problems for Jesus.
Jesus looked upon the 5000 with compassion and fed
them. Likewise, Christ looks upon you
with compassion, and He takes up your burden and gives you His forgiveness. “Hence all fear and sadness! For the Lord of gladness, Jesus enters in. .
. . Thou art still my purest pleasure,
Jesus, priceless treasure.” In the Name
of Christ the Crucified + Amen