1 00:00:03,300 --> 00:00:07,270 Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Corey this morning. 2 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:09,770 It is lovely to have you here this morning. 3 00:00:09,780 --> 00:00:12,430 I'm gonna try to. The space is gonna be used for 4 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:14,100 both. Here we go. 5 00:00:14,780 --> 00:00:17,170 Welcome again. That's lovely to have you here. 6 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:20,830 If you don't know who I am, my name is Lindsey Sisma. 7 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:22,750 I am a member here at court, right. 8 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,550 I get the privilege of teaching on occasion. 9 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:28,450 I am married to someone on the pastoral staff guy just leading 10 00:00:28,460 --> 00:00:33,640 worship and it is as always a pleasure to be here with you 11 00:00:33,650 --> 00:00:36,730 this morning and just to dig into the word of God together. 12 00:00:36,820 --> 00:00:39,210 So we have been walking through the book of Luke. 13 00:00:39,220 --> 00:00:42,630 If you've been around for many months, this is what it's been 14 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,100 happening. We've been looking through Luke 15 00:00:45,110 --> 00:00:49,070 section by section, really digging into the gospel of Luke 16 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:51,850 and this word gospel, it means good news. 17 00:00:51,860 --> 00:00:56,330 The Greek word is you on galleon and before it was really kind of 18 00:00:56,340 --> 00:00:58,810 a Christian word or associated with Jesus. 19 00:00:58,820 --> 00:01:02,610 Yuan Galian just meant a royal proclamation or an imperial 20 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,740 announcement, and Luke and really all of the gospel writers 21 00:01:06,790 --> 00:01:09,810 are really kind of leaning into that definition. 22 00:01:09,870 --> 00:01:13,680 They are proclaiming a good news announcement that the Kingdom of 23 00:01:13,690 --> 00:01:17,700 God is here and that it is breaking through in the person 24 00:01:17,710 --> 00:01:21,920 of Jesus and Luke by sharing the life and the teaching and the 25 00:01:21,930 --> 00:01:24,040 ministry of Jesus. What he's trying to do is paint 26 00:01:24,050 --> 00:01:28,850 a picture of what the Kingdom of God looks like with Jesus as 27 00:01:28,930 --> 00:01:33,040 king, but also how those who follow after Jesus, those who 28 00:01:33,050 --> 00:01:36,100 see themselves as citizens of the kingdoms, disciples of 29 00:01:36,110 --> 00:01:40,300 Jesus, how they should live in light of the Kingdom. 30 00:01:40,770 --> 00:01:43,340 And I'm excited to dig in this morning because Today's Passages 31 00:01:43,350 --> 00:01:46,770 is actually one of the most famous stories that is shared 32 00:01:46,780 --> 00:01:49,280 throughout the gospels. It is one of Jesus's most 33 00:01:49,350 --> 00:01:53,740 familiar miracles. And yet I think this passage 34 00:01:53,750 --> 00:01:57,840 gives us a really cool glimpse. I think in my opinion, it shows 35 00:01:58,110 --> 00:02:03,480 a really full and yet really challenging picture of what the 36 00:02:03,490 --> 00:02:07,320 Kingdom of God looks like. And if you sit consider yourself 37 00:02:07,330 --> 00:02:10,229 a follower of Jesus here, what it means to live in light of 38 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,650 this Kingdom. So we are gonna dig right into 39 00:02:12,660 --> 00:02:14,620 our text. We are in Luke 9. 40 00:02:14,630 --> 00:02:17,200 If you have a Bible with you, you can turn to Luke 9. 41 00:02:17,390 --> 00:02:19,100 You can of course, welcome to use smartphone. 42 00:02:19,110 --> 00:02:21,430 There are Bibles at the back. If you like the physical Bible, 43 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:23,140 you're always welcome to grab one. 44 00:02:23,230 --> 00:02:27,620 But here we are in Luke 9 versus 10 to 17 when the apostles 45 00:02:27,630 --> 00:02:29,320 returned. I'll stop right there. 46 00:02:29,390 --> 00:02:31,610 I know 3 words in. Don't worry, I won't be doing 47 00:02:31,620 --> 00:02:34,110 this the whole passage. But when the disciples, the 48 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:37,660 apostles returned, what has happened is if you weren't last 49 00:02:37,670 --> 00:02:41,480 week, Jesus commissioned and gave authority to the disciples 50 00:02:41,570 --> 00:02:45,620 to go out and to preach the Kingdom of God, to heal those 51 00:02:45,790 --> 00:02:50,600 that they came in contact with and that and to do ministry in 52 00:02:50,610 --> 00:02:53,140 Jesus's name. So they have done that and now 53 00:02:53,150 --> 00:02:55,220 they are returning. That's where we are right now. 54 00:02:55,230 --> 00:02:58,350 So when the disciples returned, they reported it to Jesus what 55 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:01,530 they had done. Then he took them with him and 56 00:03:01,540 --> 00:03:04,640 they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida. 57 00:03:04,850 --> 00:03:07,540 But the crowds learned about it and followed him. 58 00:03:07,590 --> 00:03:10,630 He welcomed them and spoke to them about the Kingdom of God 59 00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:12,990 and he healed those who needed healing. 60 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:16,830 Late in the afternoon the 12 came to him and said send the 61 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:19,570 crowd away so they can get go to the surrounding villages and 62 00:03:19,580 --> 00:03:23,430 countryside and find food and lodging because we are in a 63 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:26,930 remote place here. He replied will you give them 64 00:03:26,940 --> 00:03:29,730 something to eat? They answered we have only 5 65 00:03:29,740 --> 00:03:33,370 loaves of bread and two fish unless we go and buy food for 66 00:03:33,380 --> 00:03:37,660 all of this crowd. About 5000 men were there, but 67 00:03:37,670 --> 00:03:40,680 he said to the disciples have them sit down in groups of about 68 00:03:40,690 --> 00:03:43,500 50 each. The disciples did so and 69 00:03:43,510 --> 00:03:48,060 everyone sat down, taking the five loaves and two fish and 70 00:03:48,070 --> 00:03:52,560 looking up to the heaven. He gave thanks and broke them. 71 00:03:52,630 --> 00:03:55,140 Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the 72 00:03:55,150 --> 00:03:59,200 people. They all ate and were satisfied, 73 00:03:59,350 --> 00:04:04,360 and the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces that 74 00:04:04,370 --> 00:04:07,700 were left over. This is the word of the Lord. 75 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:14,590 So like I said, this is one of Jesus's, let's call it iconic 76 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:16,370 miracles that are ever performed. 77 00:04:16,420 --> 00:04:19,130 It's one of the few stories that appears in all four of the 78 00:04:19,140 --> 00:04:23,090 gospels, and the details between those gospels line up pretty 79 00:04:23,100 --> 00:04:25,210 close, remarkably closely actually. 80 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:28,750 It is the miraculous feeding of a massive crowd. 81 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:34,270 And at its core, this is a story of supernatural abundance, mass 82 00:04:34,280 --> 00:04:38,560 multiplication of food. But it also shows Jesus concerns 83 00:04:38,620 --> 00:04:42,750 for meeting people's basic human needs, for caring for people. 84 00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:46,750 And I also think it's an invitation for the disciples to 85 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:51,450 trust in what Jesus is doing. And I love to imagine myself 86 00:04:51,460 --> 00:04:55,090 inside the story of scripture. I love reading the Bible and 87 00:04:55,100 --> 00:05:00,110 picturing how I would react, what this would look like if I 88 00:05:00,180 --> 00:05:02,440 was there. And part of me just kind of 89 00:05:02,450 --> 00:05:06,630 wants to sit in the picture of the mechanics of what happened. 90 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,290 Like is this Mary Poppins bottomless carpet bag where food 91 00:05:10,300 --> 00:05:14,170 just keeps coming out of it? Is it dropped from heaven in one 92 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:18,560 massive load? I mean you really have to ask 93 00:05:18,570 --> 00:05:21,680 yourself, my science brain goes, how does this work with the law 94 00:05:21,690 --> 00:05:24,820 of the conservation of mass? Anyone there with me? 95 00:05:26,630 --> 00:05:29,700 I love thinking about that. But here is the truth we have to 96 00:05:29,710 --> 00:05:34,070 confront today. The how is never explained and 97 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,780 the gospel writers don't ever seem interested in explaining 98 00:05:37,790 --> 00:05:41,700 it, which tells me that the how is not really the main point. 99 00:05:42,340 --> 00:05:45,270 So before we go any further, I want to kind of establish 2 100 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:48,240 truths that are going to kind of ground what we do today. 101 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:53,170 First is that with God and with Jesus, the world does not have 102 00:05:53,180 --> 00:05:56,230 to work the way it normally does. 103 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:01,270 I mean this in the very physical that he can break through the 104 00:06:01,280 --> 00:06:05,150 law of conservation of mass. And I mean this metaphorically 105 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:08,270 as well. They show us a different way to 106 00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:12,010 live and to be one that is different from this world. 107 00:06:12,980 --> 00:06:16,590 The second thing is that I believe this, this miracle is a 108 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:21,050 living picture of what the Kingdom of God looks like in 109 00:06:21,060 --> 00:06:23,430 action. The Kingdom operates by a 110 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:28,920 completely different set of rules and values and priorities. 111 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:32,060 So we are not going to focus on the how this morning. 112 00:06:32,070 --> 00:06:36,450 We are going to focus on The Who and the what and maybe a little 113 00:06:36,460 --> 00:06:40,250 bit of the So what. And while there are many ways 114 00:06:40,260 --> 00:06:43,020 that we could explore the text this morning, today I want to 115 00:06:43,030 --> 00:06:47,370 look at 5 words that are shared in this passage. 5 words that 116 00:06:47,380 --> 00:06:51,230 when we put them together, I believe they paint a vivid 117 00:06:51,300 --> 00:06:57,590 picture of Jesus, of who he is and what his Kingdom looks like. 118 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:02,110 These 5 words are going to be our window to see what the 119 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:05,430 Kingdom of God looks like as it breaks through the person of 120 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,120 Jesus Christ. So the first word that I want to 121 00:07:08,130 --> 00:07:12,880 look at is the word welcome. In verse 17 it says he welcomed 122 00:07:12,890 --> 00:07:16,270 them and he spoke to them about the Kingdom of God and he healed 123 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:21,070 those who needed healing. The word here does not mean 124 00:07:21,130 --> 00:07:25,500 polite, a polite nod or a reluctant social courtesy. 125 00:07:25,630 --> 00:07:30,680 It means to gladly receive someone or in this case lots of 126 00:07:30,690 --> 00:07:33,910 someones. It's to embrace their presence, 127 00:07:33,990 --> 00:07:39,300 to be present with them and to give them access freely and 128 00:07:39,310 --> 00:07:41,720 joyfully. Remember the context. 129 00:07:41,730 --> 00:07:44,640 Jesus and the disciples have just been out doing ministry. 130 00:07:44,650 --> 00:07:47,100 They've just returned. They might be tired. 131 00:07:47,510 --> 00:07:50,340 They have gone kind of out of their way to be in a remote 132 00:07:50,350 --> 00:07:53,220 place, to meet together, potentially to rest. 133 00:07:53,270 --> 00:07:58,980 But the crowd finds them. They wanted more of Jesus. 134 00:07:59,050 --> 00:08:02,370 And the crowd in some way interrupts this moment they are 135 00:08:02,380 --> 00:08:05,120 trying to share together. It reminds me of when Annabelle 136 00:08:05,130 --> 00:08:07,380 spoke about the woman with the chronic bleeding a few weeks 137 00:08:07,390 --> 00:08:09,860 ago. How this healing, this divine 138 00:08:09,870 --> 00:08:13,790 moment, this change in her life started with an interruption. 139 00:08:13,900 --> 00:08:17,830 She reached out and she touched Jesus as he was on his way to 140 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:21,030 perform another miracle. And this interruption became a 141 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:25,870 turning point in her life. It became this sacred moment of 142 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:27,870 miracle. And Jesus welcomed that 143 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:31,070 interruption for her. And I think we see something 144 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:35,190 similar with this crowd. They interrupt, but instead of 145 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,830 being annoyed, instead of sending them away, which he 146 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:41,840 could have done, Jesus welcomes them. 147 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:45,780 He embraces them. He just sees their desire for 148 00:08:45,790 --> 00:08:49,040 him and he meets it. He teaches them and he heals 149 00:08:49,050 --> 00:08:51,960 them. This welcome culminates in one 150 00:08:51,970 --> 00:08:56,360 of that cultures most hospitable acts, the sharing of a meal 151 00:08:56,370 --> 00:08:58,720 together. The disciples want to send the 152 00:08:58,730 --> 00:09:00,620 people away for food. And to be clear, I don't think 153 00:09:00,630 --> 00:09:02,360 the disciples are being mean in this. 154 00:09:02,370 --> 00:09:05,480 I think they genuinely are concerned that this crowd is 155 00:09:05,490 --> 00:09:09,160 hungry and that they are in a remote place. 156 00:09:09,430 --> 00:09:15,540 And yet, even in this remote place, Jesus makes sure that 157 00:09:15,550 --> 00:09:20,150 they are fed, that they have their needs met, that they eat 158 00:09:20,220 --> 00:09:23,270 together. This is the beauty of Jesus 159 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:25,650 welcome. And I think this is the first 160 00:09:25,700 --> 00:09:27,990 snapshot of the Kingdom in this story. 161 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:32,350 It is a Kingdom of welcome. It's gates, swords, doors. 162 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:34,380 However you envision it, they are open. 163 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:40,410 It is a place of hospitality, not hostility, not judgment, not 164 00:09:40,420 --> 00:09:44,050 dismissiveness. It is a Kingdom of open arms, 165 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:48,150 not a proverbial closed door. Think about the ministry of 166 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:51,290 Jesus. He welcomes children to him when 167 00:09:51,300 --> 00:09:53,260 the disciples want to shoe them away. 168 00:09:53,330 --> 00:09:56,590 He welcomes and eats with sinners and tax tax collectors 169 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,280 that the religious leaders would reject. 170 00:09:59,570 --> 00:10:03,280 He sees any ministers to the marginal, marginalized and the 171 00:10:03,290 --> 00:10:07,700 disenfranchised. He welcomes the sick, the weary, 172 00:10:07,770 --> 00:10:11,400 the spiritually lost, and those that are said to be unclean. 173 00:10:11,470 --> 00:10:14,120 And he does not tolerate these people. 174 00:10:14,190 --> 00:10:18,740 He opens himself up to them gladly. 175 00:10:18,810 --> 00:10:24,320 The Kingdom is for them. The Kingdom is a place of 176 00:10:24,330 --> 00:10:27,180 welcome. The second word I want to look 177 00:10:27,190 --> 00:10:30,100 at is the word give. It shows up twice in this 178 00:10:30,110 --> 00:10:32,470 passage in different forms. If you happen to be sitting 179 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:34,640 there reading the Greek, as I know so many of you are this 180 00:10:34,650 --> 00:10:37,900 morning, it shows up in two different ways, but I promise 181 00:10:37,910 --> 00:10:41,120 it's the same root word behind those two words. 182 00:10:41,570 --> 00:10:44,480 It shows up first in verse 13 where Jesus turns to his 183 00:10:44,490 --> 00:10:47,340 disciples and say, well, you give them something to eat. 184 00:10:47,710 --> 00:10:50,850 Then later in verse 16, after he blesses the food, after he 185 00:10:50,860 --> 00:10:55,300 breaks the food, Luke writes that he, Jesus, gives the food 186 00:10:55,310 --> 00:10:59,530 back to the disciples to distribute to the people. 2 187 00:10:59,540 --> 00:11:04,020 forms of the same word. 1 is a command, an instruction. 188 00:11:04,110 --> 00:11:09,060 The other is an action. Now just imagine this moment. 189 00:11:09,130 --> 00:11:12,200 The disciples have already pointed out what they see as an 190 00:11:12,210 --> 00:11:14,480 issue. Thousands of thousands of people 191 00:11:14,490 --> 00:11:16,400 who have been sitting here for a while. 192 00:11:16,470 --> 00:11:19,920 They are likely hungry. They are also in a remote place. 193 00:11:19,930 --> 00:11:22,840 There's not really any nearby towns, at least not ones that 194 00:11:22,850 --> 00:11:25,620 can meet their needs. There's no pop up fruit stands, 195 00:11:25,630 --> 00:11:30,530 no food trucks, no plan. I sympathize with the disciples. 196 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:33,920 I love a good plan. The disciples see their own 197 00:11:33,930 --> 00:11:36,840 supplies as meager. All they can see is the 198 00:11:36,850 --> 00:11:40,710 impossibility of this situation. And Jesus looks straight at them 199 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,160 and says, well, you give them something to eat. 200 00:11:43,910 --> 00:11:46,910 I can almost feel the calculation happening in their 201 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:48,800 head. Like for me, I'm I get like 202 00:11:48,810 --> 00:11:51,220 anxious for them. I'm actually anxious for them in 203 00:11:51,230 --> 00:11:54,240 this moment because they are doing the math in their head. 204 00:11:54,330 --> 00:11:58,100 And five loaves and two fishes equals not enough. 205 00:11:59,370 --> 00:12:00,780 But it's so interesting, isn't it? 206 00:12:00,790 --> 00:12:03,190 Because these are the same disciples that just returned 207 00:12:03,230 --> 00:12:05,600 from healing the sick and performing miracles and 208 00:12:05,610 --> 00:12:09,410 proclaiming the Kingdom of God. They have been living in the 209 00:12:09,420 --> 00:12:11,860 miraculous. They have been given the 210 00:12:11,870 --> 00:12:14,040 authority and the commissioning of Jesus. 211 00:12:14,050 --> 00:12:17,480 And yet when they're confronted with this crowd, they cannot see 212 00:12:17,490 --> 00:12:21,400 past their own scarcity. They feel the weight of the 213 00:12:21,410 --> 00:12:23,600 impossibility. Again, I do not say this as a 214 00:12:23,610 --> 00:12:26,620 judgment. I completely sympathize with 215 00:12:26,630 --> 00:12:31,500 them, but I also love what we see them do, even in the 216 00:12:31,510 --> 00:12:33,670 uncertainty. They obey. 217 00:12:33,820 --> 00:12:36,610 They hand over what little they have. 218 00:12:36,660 --> 00:12:39,380 They organize the people into groups like they've been asked 219 00:12:39,390 --> 00:12:41,910 to do. They take that step into 220 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:46,190 participation even without understanding how this is going 221 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:50,410 to possibly work. And then Jesus takes what is 222 00:12:50,420 --> 00:12:54,090 given to him by the disciples. Jesus blesses it. 223 00:12:54,300 --> 00:12:56,790 He breaks it. And here's the beautiful part, 224 00:12:56,860 --> 00:13:00,790 He gives it back to the disciples. 225 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:04,430 They are the ones who are going to distribute the food. 226 00:13:05,630 --> 00:13:08,750 And what's really interesting is in verse 16, this second give, 227 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,380 it actually is the word gave. He gave it back to the Sipples. 228 00:13:11,390 --> 00:13:14,640 It's written in what's called the imperfect tense. 229 00:13:14,730 --> 00:13:17,740 What that means is that this doesn't actually mean it's a one 230 00:13:17,750 --> 00:13:20,080 time handoff. It's continuous. 231 00:13:20,170 --> 00:13:24,080 The image here is of Jesus giving and giving and giving and 232 00:13:24,090 --> 00:13:25,960 giving. There is this continuous 233 00:13:26,030 --> 00:13:30,660 outpouring coming from him when the disciples. 234 00:13:30,870 --> 00:13:35,960 What the disciples gave to Jesus is given back to them in an ever 235 00:13:36,010 --> 00:13:40,590 increasing continuous measure. The little that they have 236 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:44,230 surrendered to Jesus is more than enough when it is in His 237 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:47,030 hands. That is the picture of the 238 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:50,450 Kingdom on one side. The disciples are invited into 239 00:13:50,460 --> 00:13:54,150 participation to give what they have, even when it feels 240 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:58,290 insignificant to give what they have, even with the belief that 241 00:13:58,300 --> 00:14:02,300 it is not going to be good enough. 242 00:14:03,780 --> 00:14:08,790 They are invited in this moment to share what they have so that 243 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:12,050 it can be shared with others through the act of giving. 244 00:14:12,140 --> 00:14:14,770 And on the other hand, you have Jesus. 245 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:19,410 He is this continuous source. He is multiplying, sustaining. 246 00:14:19,420 --> 00:14:23,210 He is expanding what has been placed into His hands and He is 247 00:14:23,220 --> 00:14:27,800 giving it back to the disciples to use to bless others. 248 00:14:29,300 --> 00:14:33,350 We live in a world where giving is often seen as a loss. 249 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,380 We're it's approach that all of you give, you're losing 250 00:14:36,390 --> 00:14:38,550 something. But in God's economy, the giving 251 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:42,170 is that you are joining in with His overflow of abundance. 252 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:45,890 You get to become an active part of what God is doing in this 253 00:14:45,900 --> 00:14:48,360 world. Jesus doesn't command his 254 00:14:48,370 --> 00:14:51,180 disciples to give so that they are deprived. 255 00:14:51,390 --> 00:14:54,560 The goal is not to deprive them. The goal is to draw them into 256 00:14:54,570 --> 00:14:59,420 the work that He is doing. Psalm 24 says that the earth is 257 00:14:59,430 --> 00:15:03,670 yours and everything in it. We so often think that what's in 258 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:06,520 the disciples hands in this story was first theirs, but 259 00:15:06,530 --> 00:15:11,020 really it was first Gods and then it was in the disciples 260 00:15:11,030 --> 00:15:14,020 hands to steward. They give it to Jesus. 261 00:15:14,110 --> 00:15:18,970 Jesus multiplies it, expands it, and then puts it back into the 262 00:15:18,980 --> 00:15:23,450 hands of the disciples so that they can go and share and give 263 00:15:23,540 --> 00:15:26,040 and bless those that are there with them. 264 00:15:28,060 --> 00:15:31,370 The next word I want to look at is the word everyone. 265 00:15:32,790 --> 00:15:35,540 In verse 15, it says Jesus gets the disciples to organize the 266 00:15:35,550 --> 00:15:39,100 crowd to sit down in smaller groups and it says that everyone 267 00:15:39,110 --> 00:15:43,200 sat down. In verse 17, Luke tells us that 268 00:15:43,210 --> 00:15:46,320 they all ate. Again, all is the sense of 269 00:15:46,330 --> 00:15:50,220 everyone. It's not some, it's not most, 270 00:15:50,290 --> 00:15:53,580 it's everyone. There is a togetherness in this 271 00:15:53,590 --> 00:15:55,700 passage that I don't want us to miss. 272 00:15:56,450 --> 00:15:59,480 If you opened your Bibles or maybe even depending on what 273 00:15:59,490 --> 00:16:02,260 what app you're using to read the Bible, the story is 274 00:16:02,270 --> 00:16:05,170 traditionally called the Feeding of the Five 1000. 275 00:16:05,180 --> 00:16:08,470 That's title in my Bible. I use Bible Gateway to copy and 276 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:10,990 paste this some verses into my sermon. 277 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,390 It is also called the Feeding of the 5000 at Bible Gateway NIV 278 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:16,090 version. You can look it up after if 279 00:16:16,100 --> 00:16:19,650 you're concerned about that. Some more modern translations 280 00:16:19,660 --> 00:16:23,090 have have changed this to the feeding of the multitudes, but 281 00:16:23,100 --> 00:16:25,950 we usually stick with the feeding of the 5000. 282 00:16:27,260 --> 00:16:31,590 There's a problem with that. 5000 only includes the men that 283 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:32,990 were there. It even says that in the 284 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,470 passage. OK, that's, that's not where 285 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:38,050 we're going. Calm down. 286 00:16:38,060 --> 00:16:44,680 That was my husband, by the way. I know that this number only 287 00:16:44,750 --> 00:16:47,160 counted men. The women and children are not 288 00:16:47,170 --> 00:16:49,600 included in that tally. And most scholars agree that 289 00:16:49,610 --> 00:16:52,500 women and children would have been present, likely in larger 290 00:16:52,570 --> 00:16:54,430 measure. That means that there is 291 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:59,480 probably there could have been 10,015 thousand, 20,000 people 292 00:16:59,550 --> 00:17:02,760 as part of this miracle, this miracle of abundance, what Jesus 293 00:17:02,770 --> 00:17:06,359 does here, it's actually so much greater than we sometimes think 294 00:17:06,410 --> 00:17:11,200 because of how many everyone actually includes, because it's 295 00:17:11,210 --> 00:17:14,240 not just 5000. And I'm not saying this to be 296 00:17:14,250 --> 00:17:17,290 critical of Luke, and I'm not saying this to make an angry 297 00:17:17,300 --> 00:17:18,810 statement about the ancient world. 298 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:22,040 That is how the culture recorded numbers. 299 00:17:22,740 --> 00:17:26,130 That was the cultures general perception of women and children 300 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:31,180 that they could be overlooked, literally not counted or seen as 301 00:17:31,190 --> 00:17:34,460 insignificant. But Luke also shares a powerful 302 00:17:34,470 --> 00:17:36,560 observation because when the bread and the fish are passed 303 00:17:36,570 --> 00:17:41,840 out, it says that everyone eats, all are fed, all are satisfied, 304 00:17:41,950 --> 00:17:44,020 even those that society didn't count. 305 00:17:44,070 --> 00:17:47,540 Jesus welcomed them. He saw them, he saw all of them, 306 00:17:47,610 --> 00:17:50,990 he preached to all of them. He healed all of them or those 307 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:55,790 that he healed in that crowd and he met all of their needs in 308 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:57,960 that moment. That is the beauty of this 309 00:17:57,970 --> 00:18:00,760 moment is that the Kingdom of God is not just for the 310 00:18:00,770 --> 00:18:06,390 powerful, for the the visible, or for those who qualify, the 311 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:08,590 ones that history might remember. 312 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:12,830 In fact, the Kingdom has a bent towards the overlooked, the 313 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:18,300 discounted, the uncounted. Jesus shatters throughout his 314 00:18:18,310 --> 00:18:21,010 ministry. He shatters insider outsider 315 00:18:21,020 --> 00:18:24,400 lines. Everyone was at the same table 316 00:18:24,410 --> 00:18:26,690 with him or in this place in the same remote place. 317 00:18:26,700 --> 00:18:31,010 He loved everyone, especially those that the world tends to 318 00:18:31,020 --> 00:18:34,180 ignore. In fact, if you notice something 319 00:18:34,190 --> 00:18:36,630 really interesting about this passage, this is a slight aside, 320 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:40,050 I will admit, but Jesus has them sit in smaller groups of about 321 00:18:40,120 --> 00:18:42,370 50 people. Now there is an entire 322 00:18:42,380 --> 00:18:45,160 numerological component to this passage which we are not going 323 00:18:45,170 --> 00:18:46,630 to get into, but you can research that. 324 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:50,290 It's interesting. But 50 is an interesting number 325 00:18:50,300 --> 00:18:53,890 that Jesus chose one because 50 has ties to the concept of 326 00:18:53,900 --> 00:18:56,110 Jubilee. We've talked about that earlier 327 00:18:56,120 --> 00:18:59,000 in this series. It is God's, it's the kind of 328 00:18:59,010 --> 00:19:01,410 the Super Sabbath, it's the 50th year. 329 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:04,650 It is a Super Sabbath, a year long Sabbath where God's promise 330 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:10,340 of freedom and provision for all of His people in the wilderness. 331 00:19:10,350 --> 00:19:14,010 When Moses in the wilderness with the Israelites, he also 332 00:19:14,020 --> 00:19:18,490 divided them into smaller groups and one of those sizes was of 333 00:19:18,500 --> 00:19:21,510 about 50. And that was to ensure that 334 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:26,020 people's needs were met and that people were well cared for. 335 00:19:27,110 --> 00:19:29,680 I don't think that number is random. 336 00:19:30,650 --> 00:19:34,260 It is within the context of community, these smaller 337 00:19:34,270 --> 00:19:37,300 communities, that the illusion of scarcity that we talked about 338 00:19:37,310 --> 00:19:41,880 earlier is completely broken and where the reality of abundance 339 00:19:41,940 --> 00:19:46,260 unfolds when we sit together, when we share together what God 340 00:19:46,270 --> 00:19:49,920 provides in this image of togetherness, it is an image of 341 00:19:49,930 --> 00:19:53,730 everyone, of everyone being welcome in the Kingdom. 342 00:19:55,580 --> 00:19:58,450 Next word I want to look at is the word satisfied. 343 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:03,290 And verse 17, it says they all ate and were satisfied. 344 00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:06,280 The Greek word here means just what the English suggests. 345 00:20:06,290 --> 00:20:11,850 It means their physical hunger was filled, their need was met. 346 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,150 But it goes deeper than that as well, because to be satisfied 347 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:19,930 means to be filled to the point of contentment, to having a need 348 00:20:19,940 --> 00:20:23,600 meant so that there is no sense of lack. 349 00:20:24,060 --> 00:20:27,320 This is a miracle of abundance. Keep reading, we're going to see 350 00:20:27,330 --> 00:20:30,270 it. Soon there was too much food. 351 00:20:30,500 --> 00:20:34,660 There were 12 baskets of leftovers, and yet Luke doesn't 352 00:20:34,670 --> 00:20:36,350 say, well, they all gorged themselves. 353 00:20:36,740 --> 00:20:39,850 They all hoarded the extra. Most took some now, but they 354 00:20:39,860 --> 00:20:42,370 also snuck some in their backpacks for later. 355 00:20:42,660 --> 00:20:47,190 The word here is satisfied. It's not indulgence and it's not 356 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,150 excess, even though there is abundance. 357 00:20:50,220 --> 00:20:52,810 In fact, the point of God's abundance is that there be 358 00:20:52,820 --> 00:20:56,590 enough, even the appearance of more than enough, but that 359 00:20:56,600 --> 00:21:00,450 enough is not actually really used with the crowd that is 360 00:21:00,460 --> 00:21:03,830 there the enough. The abundance means that 361 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:08,690 everyone there was full and complete in that moment. 362 00:21:09,380 --> 00:21:13,270 It is a picture of provision that says that God meets the 363 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:17,070 needs of today without there being any anxiety for tomorrow. 364 00:21:17,180 --> 00:21:19,770 It is very much aligned with the passage of when Jesus is 365 00:21:19,780 --> 00:21:22,930 teaching his disciples how to pray and he says give us this 366 00:21:22,940 --> 00:21:27,310 day. Our daily breads give us enough 367 00:21:27,380 --> 00:21:31,050 for today. But there's also another layer 368 00:21:31,060 --> 00:21:35,030 here because Luke, as we have noted, it says that they are in 369 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:37,120 a remote place. But the Greek word here is 370 00:21:37,130 --> 00:21:40,750 actually better translated to the word wilderness. 371 00:21:41,100 --> 00:21:44,110 Any Jewish listener, and many Gentile listeners who are 372 00:21:44,120 --> 00:21:46,910 familiar with the story are immediately going to think back 373 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:51,510 to Moses in the wilderness and God providing manna and quail 374 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:54,720 for his people. God provided manna from heaven, 375 00:21:54,730 --> 00:21:58,720 but the people were told to gather only enough for what they 376 00:21:58,730 --> 00:22:02,420 needed in a day. If they tried to hoard it, take 377 00:22:02,430 --> 00:22:06,260 more than they needed, save it, it would spoil. 378 00:22:07,020 --> 00:22:12,510 It was a lesson in trust that God would provide enough to fill 379 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:15,290 their needs. The wilderness in the Bible is 380 00:22:15,300 --> 00:22:19,590 generally understood to be a place of testing, a place where 381 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:24,290 scarcity feels very real, but where God invites his people to 382 00:22:24,300 --> 00:22:27,390 discover. Underneath the lack they see is 383 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:29,910 the reality of God's provision and abundance. 384 00:22:30,140 --> 00:22:32,570 And that's exactly what happens here. 385 00:22:32,700 --> 00:22:35,540 The disciples look at their five loaves and their two fish and 386 00:22:35,550 --> 00:22:38,750 they say that it's not enough, but they hand it to Jesus and he 387 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:41,010 turns it into abundance. And not just an abundance in 388 00:22:41,020 --> 00:22:44,880 general, but an abundance that could be shared with everyone so 389 00:22:44,890 --> 00:22:49,250 that everyone had enough and was satisfied to the point of 390 00:22:49,260 --> 00:22:51,910 contentment. And something that I love about 391 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,450 how Luke writes this is that he writes it in the passive voice. 392 00:22:54,460 --> 00:23:00,150 He says they were satisfied. The action happened to them. 393 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,930 In this sentence, the action didn't happen from anything that 394 00:23:02,940 --> 00:23:05,180 they brought or anything that they did. 395 00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:09,850 They are satisfied because of what Jesus provided, because of 396 00:23:09,860 --> 00:23:13,860 what Jesus did. And here is where the Kingdom of 397 00:23:13,870 --> 00:23:18,560 God comes into focus. And this Kingdom abundance is 398 00:23:18,570 --> 00:23:22,360 real, but its purpose isn't indulgence or hoarding or 399 00:23:22,370 --> 00:23:25,700 stockpiling. Abundance is given so that needs 400 00:23:25,710 --> 00:23:28,440 are met. Abundance is given so that we 401 00:23:28,450 --> 00:23:32,480 can understand and learn the value of contentedness, of 402 00:23:32,490 --> 00:23:35,890 satisfaction. And it sounds easy, but that is 403 00:23:35,900 --> 00:23:41,080 a very hard lesson to learn in this world that always says you 404 00:23:41,090 --> 00:23:44,250 need to be saving, striving, and gathering more for your 405 00:23:44,260 --> 00:23:46,830 security. The lesson here is learning to 406 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:51,080 trust that God will provide. That is what the Kingdom looks 407 00:23:51,090 --> 00:23:52,580 like. It is a place where the 408 00:23:52,590 --> 00:23:57,520 abundance of God meets our hunger and our longing and our 409 00:23:57,530 --> 00:24:01,460 fear of not enough. And if we let it, it will fill 410 00:24:01,470 --> 00:24:04,380 us completely. It will teach us to live in the 411 00:24:04,390 --> 00:24:07,700 freedom of being satisfied. It will teach us the 412 00:24:07,710 --> 00:24:13,720 contentedness of enough that the excess is not necessarily For 413 00:24:13,730 --> 00:24:18,470 me, the last word I want to look at is the word broken. 414 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:20,660 And that word shows up again twice in this story. 415 00:24:20,670 --> 00:24:24,050 It says he gave thanks. Jesus gave thanks and he broke 416 00:24:24,100 --> 00:24:27,500 the loaves and the fishes. And then at the end in verse 17, 417 00:24:27,510 --> 00:24:30,680 when the disciples gathered up what was left over, it says that 418 00:24:30,690 --> 00:24:32,540 the broken pieces were left over. 419 00:24:32,550 --> 00:24:35,010 So he gathered the they gathered the broken pieces. 420 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:37,850 Usually we think of broken as a negative word. 421 00:24:38,020 --> 00:24:41,990 Broken means something needs to be thrown out or useless or it 422 00:24:42,140 --> 00:24:44,350 needs to be discarded in some way. 423 00:24:44,420 --> 00:24:48,900 But here brokenness is directly tied to the abundance in both 424 00:24:48,910 --> 00:24:51,270 places were broken in brokenness, as mentioned, It's 425 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:55,060 either mentioned before the miracle or directly after it. 426 00:24:55,130 --> 00:24:57,970 This idea of brokenness and abundance and multiplication are 427 00:24:57,980 --> 00:25:01,640 directly connected in this passage in verse 15, when Jesus 428 00:25:01,650 --> 00:25:04,380 breaks the bread, that's an unlocking moment. 429 00:25:04,590 --> 00:25:06,860 Again, breaking bread is an act of hospitality. 430 00:25:06,870 --> 00:25:09,510 It's an act of welcome. It can be an act of covenant. 431 00:25:10,180 --> 00:25:13,330 To break bread with someone is to invite them into a 432 00:25:13,340 --> 00:25:15,850 relationship. But practically speaking as 433 00:25:15,860 --> 00:25:18,910 well, the bread in the story had to be broken before it could be 434 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:22,150 shared. The act of blessing and breaking 435 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:26,050 is intrinsically connected to the miracle of provision and 436 00:25:26,060 --> 00:25:28,390 abundance. Without breaking, that abundance 437 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:32,830 is not shared. It doesn't reach everyone and 438 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:35,720 then at the end of the story, after everyone is eaten hadn't 439 00:25:35,730 --> 00:25:39,680 been satisfied, the disciples gather the leftovers, the 440 00:25:39,730 --> 00:25:44,540 overflow of this miracle, and it is called the broken pieces. 441 00:25:44,790 --> 00:25:47,230 We talked earlier about how you know this miracle abundance. 442 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:48,600 Everyone is satisfied with point enough. 443 00:25:48,610 --> 00:25:50,280 We said that just a few minutes ago. 444 00:25:50,350 --> 00:25:53,650 But the idea here is that even though there is abundance, it is 445 00:25:53,660 --> 00:25:57,880 not wasted. The broken pieces themselves, 446 00:25:57,890 --> 00:26:01,780 the evidence of God's abundant provision, they are not wasted 447 00:26:01,830 --> 00:26:04,960 or thrown out. Even in a miracle of 448 00:26:04,970 --> 00:26:07,530 multiplication, even in a miracle where it looks like 449 00:26:07,540 --> 00:26:09,840 there is excess, nothing is wasted. 450 00:26:09,850 --> 00:26:13,140 The fragments are gathered up and we assume it's to be used 451 00:26:13,150 --> 00:26:15,180 for another time. It is not, as far as we know, 452 00:26:15,250 --> 00:26:18,350 ever used on those that have been satisfied in the crowd. 453 00:26:19,860 --> 00:26:23,410 It is being stored up for another use, another purpose. 454 00:26:24,140 --> 00:26:27,160 Maybe we distributed to people in need on their travels. 455 00:26:27,170 --> 00:26:30,920 But whatever it is, the miracle is not wasted. 456 00:26:31,740 --> 00:26:34,450 And what an interesting picture of the Kingdom that this paints, 457 00:26:34,460 --> 00:26:36,070 because it almost feels like attention. 458 00:26:36,140 --> 00:26:40,070 Like why would Jesus make too much food? 459 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:46,180 Why did he produce extra? And then also the focus on there 460 00:26:46,190 --> 00:26:48,650 being just enough. Why do we see these two things 461 00:26:48,660 --> 00:26:51,430 together? And I think again, if we go back 462 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,660 to this idea of satisfied, it's that the Kingdom is a place of 463 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:57,620 abundance without overindulgence. 464 00:26:57,980 --> 00:27:01,210 It's abundance where maybe we know that the excess is not just 465 00:27:01,220 --> 00:27:06,100 for us, it is provision. The there is provision, not only 466 00:27:06,110 --> 00:27:09,600 provision, but it's also this. Jesus can do increasingly more, 467 00:27:09,610 --> 00:27:14,060 but the excess is not wasted. The broken pieces are collected 468 00:27:14,070 --> 00:27:17,300 and used for later. Brokenness is connected to the 469 00:27:17,310 --> 00:27:20,950 idea of abundance. These are not opposite ideas. 470 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:22,940 These are connected ideas in this story. 471 00:27:23,900 --> 00:27:26,750 I mean, the promise of the Kingdom of God is 1 of 472 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:28,470 abundance. It's just not necessarily an 473 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,350 abundance. The world prizes as citizens of 474 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:35,550 the Kingdom of God with Jesus as our King, and that is available 475 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:38,410 to everyone. What becomes available to 476 00:27:38,420 --> 00:27:42,110 everyone is abundant Mercy's abundant fruitfulness, abundant 477 00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:47,610 forgiveness, abundant love, overflowing more than enough 478 00:27:47,620 --> 00:27:51,580 abundance not to be hoarded, but to be shared. 479 00:27:52,510 --> 00:27:55,980 And yet, brokenness is also an image of the Kingdom. 480 00:27:56,150 --> 00:27:59,940 It is a Kingdom full of broken and imperfect people, and not a 481 00:27:59,950 --> 00:28:02,220 brokenness that means that you have to be discarded. 482 00:28:02,230 --> 00:28:04,660 It's a brokenness that has a purpose. 483 00:28:04,810 --> 00:28:10,140 It is a brokenness that has value that is not wasted. 484 00:28:10,970 --> 00:28:15,000 I mean, after all, we worship a king who was broken for the sins 485 00:28:15,010 --> 00:28:18,100 of this world. This story of the feeding of the 486 00:28:18,110 --> 00:28:23,670 multitudes, it shows a rhythm of taking, blessing, breaking, and 487 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:27,170 giving. It's the exact same rhythm that 488 00:28:27,180 --> 00:28:31,450 we see in the Last Supper when Jesus takes the bread, he 489 00:28:31,460 --> 00:28:35,270 blesses it, he breaks it, and he gives it to the disciples 490 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:36,990 sitting around the table with him. 491 00:28:37,260 --> 00:28:39,790 Luke is creating a foreshadowing event. 492 00:28:41,090 --> 00:28:44,350 He's creating a glimpse of the Last Supper world. 493 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:48,720 Jesus will sit at a table. He takes, He blesses, he breaks, 494 00:28:48,730 --> 00:28:52,800 and he shares and he says that this is a symbol for you. 495 00:28:53,070 --> 00:28:57,720 This meal, these actions, they are pointing to what I am going 496 00:28:57,730 --> 00:29:00,860 to do for you. I am going to be taken away. 497 00:29:01,090 --> 00:29:05,600 I am going to be broken. My life will be poured out for 498 00:29:05,610 --> 00:29:10,660 you. I am giving myself away for you. 499 00:29:11,500 --> 00:29:15,850 So when Jesus feeds the multitude here in Luke 9, Luke 500 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:19,690 is preparing us. He is pointing us towards the 501 00:29:19,700 --> 00:29:23,940 culminating moment when the King himself will give his life and 502 00:29:23,950 --> 00:29:28,070 be broken on a cross. And through this breaking comes 503 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:33,120 abundance and satisfaction and life in Christ. 504 00:29:34,340 --> 00:29:40,480 Welcome, give everyone satisfied and broken. 505 00:29:41,250 --> 00:29:46,650 It is an interconnected picture of the Kingdom and the king, and 506 00:29:46,660 --> 00:29:50,150 I really wrestled with those words this week. 507 00:29:50,220 --> 00:29:56,360 Welcome give everyone satisfied and broken. 508 00:29:57,350 --> 00:29:59,700 I had a sense this week I'm going to try not to cry cause I 509 00:29:59,710 --> 00:30:02,300 cried every time I prepared this in my sermon. 510 00:30:02,810 --> 00:30:07,560 I felt a profound sense of heartbreak for how far our world 511 00:30:07,570 --> 00:30:12,860 feels from this picture and yet how desperately it needs it. 512 00:30:13,350 --> 00:30:16,260 And I am not trying to say that to be a doom and gloom. 513 00:30:16,270 --> 00:30:17,960 It is a genuine sense of mourning. 514 00:30:17,970 --> 00:30:22,020 And I know there is so much beauty in the world and that we 515 00:30:22,030 --> 00:30:26,820 need to see it and celebrate it. But sometimes even that beauty 516 00:30:26,830 --> 00:30:30,400 feels like it's being trapped in a system so very different from 517 00:30:30,410 --> 00:30:33,960 what those worlds words represent and from the picture 518 00:30:34,010 --> 00:30:36,790 of the Kingdom. And yet, in the same time as I 519 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:39,980 talk about wrestling, I recognize the tension in myself, 520 00:30:40,070 --> 00:30:43,960 how much I struggle at times to live into those Kingdom words. 521 00:30:44,030 --> 00:30:46,390 And I sometimes think it's because I don't live in the 522 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:51,750 wilderness of nothing. I live in a world of privilege, 523 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:56,210 and privilege can make me want to close the door instead of 524 00:30:56,220 --> 00:31:00,410 offer a welcome, and it can make me hold tightly and be concerned 525 00:31:00,420 --> 00:31:04,310 about my own self preservation when I am called to give and be 526 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:07,770 generous. It can make me count some people 527 00:31:07,780 --> 00:31:10,770 as more valuable than others, even though I really, really 528 00:31:10,780 --> 00:31:15,210 hate to admit that. It can make me restless, never 529 00:31:15,220 --> 00:31:17,250 satisfied, even when I have enough. 530 00:31:17,260 --> 00:31:20,990 It can make me want more and more and more. 531 00:31:21,990 --> 00:31:24,720 It can make me want to hide or discard the broken pieces of 532 00:31:24,730 --> 00:31:28,680 myself instead, or and the broken pieces and other people 533 00:31:28,690 --> 00:31:31,900 for that matter, rather than looking on them with value and 534 00:31:31,910 --> 00:31:34,840 gathering them with care. I live in this conflict. 535 00:31:34,890 --> 00:31:37,280 I think we live in this conflict. 536 00:31:37,370 --> 00:31:42,380 I love the vision of the Kingdom and yet I know how hard it is to 537 00:31:42,390 --> 00:31:47,840 live that out in the middle of this world and yet that is what 538 00:31:47,850 --> 00:31:50,880 we are called to do. Leonard Sweet in his book The 539 00:31:50,890 --> 00:31:53,540 Bad Habits of Jesus, Don't let the title be off putting to you. 540 00:31:53,550 --> 00:31:56,940 It's a good book. He talks about the abundance of 541 00:31:56,950 --> 00:32:00,900 Jesus and he says this Jesus expects his followers to 542 00:32:00,910 --> 00:32:05,180 surrender their all to him to put at his disposal and that at 543 00:32:05,190 --> 00:32:08,630 the disposal of the Kingdom all of their possessions, all of 544 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:12,780 their time, all of their abilities, even their very 545 00:32:12,790 --> 00:32:16,660 lives. The world will say what a waste, 546 00:32:17,050 --> 00:32:21,670 but Jesus will say well done and he's right. 547 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:24,710 Living like this will look upside down to this world. 548 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:27,150 It will look impractical at times. 549 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:31,330 It might even look a little bit foolish, but that is the way of 550 00:32:31,340 --> 00:32:34,330 the Kingdom. So the challenge maybe just for 551 00:32:34,340 --> 00:32:37,870 me this morning, maybe for us, maybe for us as a worldwide, as 552 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,310 part of the worldwide church and for the worldwide church, it's 553 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:44,470 to not walk out here and try harder to create the Kingdom and 554 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:48,630 our own image to find a way to reconcile how we want to live 555 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:52,390 and force the Kingdom into alignment with that image. 556 00:32:52,700 --> 00:32:57,450 Maybe the challenge for us is to surrender what we have, to put 557 00:32:57,500 --> 00:33:02,490 ourselves in the hands of Jesus and to trust Him to do what He 558 00:33:02,500 --> 00:33:08,130 did with those lobes and fishes, to bless it, to break it, and to 559 00:33:08,140 --> 00:33:11,790 multiply it so that it can be given away for the benefit of 560 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:15,840 others. The world does not need a church 561 00:33:15,910 --> 00:33:19,560 that reflects itself. The world need a church that 562 00:33:19,570 --> 00:33:25,390 reflects Jesus, a church and its people who welcome, embrace 563 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:29,650 everyone, live satisfied in Jesus, and see the value in 564 00:33:29,660 --> 00:33:31,890 things even when they appear broken. 565 00:33:33,090 --> 00:33:42,570 I feel about your heads with me. Jesus, we thank you that you our 566 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:47,550 of abundance, that you are a God of abundance, that you give in 567 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:52,740 our overflowing measure, that you do more than we could ever 568 00:33:52,750 --> 00:33:57,950 ask or imagine. We think of the times where we 569 00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:00,670 have felt only scarcity and lack and we repent and ask 570 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:05,390 forgiveness for those times and and know that you call us into 571 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:07,010 greater things. That you call us into this 572 00:34:07,020 --> 00:34:11,679 Kingdom, That you call us into welcoming people, all people. 573 00:34:13,639 --> 00:34:17,230 That you call us to give ourselves and that which you 574 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:20,969 have blessed us with away so that we can help others. 575 00:34:23,710 --> 00:34:27,320 God, we pray for the courage to live lives of contented 576 00:34:27,330 --> 00:34:31,860 satisfaction. To know when to say is enough to 577 00:34:31,870 --> 00:34:35,330 know that sometimes the excess is not for us, that you bless 578 00:34:35,380 --> 00:34:38,159 and you bless and you bless, but that we so that we can be a 579 00:34:38,170 --> 00:34:41,020 blessing to others. God, it is hard. 580 00:34:42,679 --> 00:34:45,210 Would you give us the strength, the courage, and the calling? 581 00:34:45,219 --> 00:34:48,350 Would you have your spirit prompt us to see how we might 582 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:50,590 live more in alignment with this picture of the Kingdom? 583 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:59,160 God, may we have the courage to surrender our lives to you, to 584 00:34:59,170 --> 00:35:03,000 give our all to You, knowing that when we give that you can 585 00:35:03,010 --> 00:35:07,950 do so much more than what we think that you can do, that you 586 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:12,130 can turn even what we see is not enough into magnificent 587 00:35:12,140 --> 00:35:15,210 abundance. We thank you, Jesus. 588 00:35:15,220 --> 00:35:21,580 We thank you for for being broken, for us, for our sins, 589 00:35:21,590 --> 00:35:25,410 for the sins of this world. God, we thank you for that. 590 00:35:26,300 --> 00:35:31,280 May we not be afraid of that. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.