You Give Them Something To Eat

On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. [11] When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing. [12] Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” [13] But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” [14] For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” [15] And they did so, and had them all sit down. [16] And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. [17] And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces. (Luke 9:10-17)

Overwhelming need is all around. It’s so prevalent its easy to overlook or ignore. The world is teeming with malnourished children, war torn societies, dirty water, AIDS, poverty, sex trafficking, and that’s just for starters. The co-worker next to us has a relational crisis. The lady you met in the check out aisle has a health crisis. Your neighbor has a financial crisis. And, God be merciful, almost every single person you meet is in the midst of spiritual crisis.

Common Sense. In Luke 9 the disciples too encounter overwhelming need in the starving masses. Their solution is simple and practical. The need is simply too big, too expensive, too taxing for them to do anything. So send the people on their way, and they can get something to eat themselves. Jesus, however, has different ideas.

“You give them something to eat.” The command is ridiculous. Is Jesus simply toying with his disciples? He knows what he is capable of, what he wants to do. Why then does he command his disciples to do the feeding? What does he want them to do? The answer, I think, is fairly straight forward and for us quite shocking. When Jesus says “you give them something to eat,” he means “you give them something to eat.”

Big problem or Big Savior? When we encounter a problem, we like the disciples ask, “How big is this problem?” and “Do I have the resources available to tackle it?” If the answer is, “The problem is beyond me and my resources,” the course of action is inaction. But Jesus tells us that we begin with the wrong question. Instead of starting with, “How big is this problem?” we should start with “How big is Jesus?” In the first question we are really asking, “Are we enough?” In the second question we are asking, “Is Jesus enough?” In the common sense approach when we encounter overwhelming need, we do nothing, absolutely nothing. Shrug your shoulders, shake your head, walk away, and try to forget about it. After all, what can you do. But when we begin with our eyes on Jesus, inaction is simply not possible. He commands us to feed them, to help, to meet their need. Of course we can’t. But there is an ingredient that transforms the equation––Jesus. Jesus is enough. Jesus commands us to look at him and at the need, and when we do we act. So when need crosses your path, don’t just look at the need. Look at the need AND look at Jesus. Then get busy.

Act for the Persecuted

That is what you can do right now. Here's the situation according to J.D. Greer

Sayed Mossa is a new believer in Afghanistan who is in jail in Afghanistan because he decided, of his own free choice, to follow Jesus. In this letter he managed to smuggle out through the hands of a Westerner, he describes daily beatings, torture, and sexual molestation. He stands to be executed for his decision to follow Jesus next week. He has a wife and 6 children, one of whom is disabled.

Please visit this post by J.D. to find out what you can do to help prevent this crisis. And pass the word along.

Seek First the Kingdom of God

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? [26] Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? [27] And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [28] And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, [29] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. [30] But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? [31] Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ [32] For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. [33] But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
[34] “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
(Matthew 6:25-34 ESV)

Anxiety. It’s what Jerry Bridges would call a “respectable sin.” Notes on a planner, the hands of a clock, the nightly news cast all beckon us to it. We attribute anxiety to our noble desire to be responsible and well-organized. Perhaps we even call it love. After all, we are willing to take upon ourselves paralyzing worry in order to ensure good is done to others. But Jesus calls anxiety something else. He calls it faithless. What’s more, Jesus declares, anxiety is an enemy of the kingdom of God. We will not seek Christ’s kingdom so long as we live in anxiety.

Eyes. “Look at the birds of the field,” Ever notice how many times the Gospels describe Jesus as looking, seeing, beholding, or how often he calls his disciples to see what they don’t see. There is so much to see, but anxiety is blindness. One of the greatest advantages of eyes is that unless I am looking into a mirror they must be fixed upon something other than me. They are ever looking out on the world and not in upon myself. But anxiety renders such a gift useless, for it consumes my mind with me. Anxiety blinds us from God’s care over the worry-free flowers and birds. It blinds us because it short circuits the path between eyes and mind. In anxiety I can only see problems without solutions, bills unpaid, the ticking of the clock, the terrors of the future. Everything else my eyes take in fades into oblivion.

The Moment. Anxiety keeps from us the moment. We must think of tomorrow, always tomorrow. And when tomorrow comes we must think of tomorrow. You cannot seek first the kingdom in anxiety because you cannot see what is front of you; you can only see yourself. You cannot act in the moment; you are too consumed with tomorrow. Jesus is not calling us to abstain from food and drink, from our most basic needs, but he does call us to stop worrying about them. Jesus is simply saying, “Are you hungry, thirsty, naked, cold? If yes, then eat, drink, put on a coat. If no, then live for the kingdom.” And if you say, “But what of tomorrow. What happens when I loose my job?” Jesus replies, “What of today? Will you waste the moment for a tomorrow you cannot control, for the tomorrow that I control? Will you not do my work today because you do not trust me with tomorrow?” Besides the answers for tomorrow are quite simple to solve. If you are hungry, eat something and seek the kingdom. If you are thirsty, drink something and do righteousness. If you are cold, put on a coat and love your neighbor.

Abortion and Slavery

Here is a powerful, and for me convicting, article by Thabit Anyabwile on the comparison of the tragedy of abortion to the tragedy of slavery. For those who don't know, Thabiti is a reformed Baptist pastor ministering in the Bahamas.

The Least of These

Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. (Matthew 25:40)

As I write this a South African pastor has stirred up a heated conversation over his sermon series in which he pronounced that “Jesus had HIV.” Of course, the pastor is not seriously contending that Jesus physically contracted the HI virus, and thus his language is probably misleading. It’s much more proper to say, “Jesus has HIV.”

Many Christians are offended by such language, but it is merely taking what Jesus said seriously. “As you did it to the least of these, you did it to me.” Where does Jesus say he is? Who does he identify himself with? The hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the imprisoned, the strangers. That is, with the cast offs, the oppressed, the shameful, the least of society. A person infected with HIV gets put into “least of these” category, and to serve them is to serve Jesus.

The gospel of Luke tells us of a sinful women (probably a prostitute) who finds grace and forgiveness in Jesus. Her reaction is to throw herself at his feet, wet his feet with her tears, pour out her her perfume (her most valuable possession) and with her tears wash them. It’s a flesh and blood portrait of the worshipful gratitude all those who come to Christ experience. There is a problem with the portrait, however; Jesus doesn’t sit before us. We can’t weep and wash his feet. Or can we?

According to Jesus, “flesh and blood” worship can begin today. Jesus stands before us everywhere we turn. He is the “least of these.” As we wash the feet of the “least of these,” the poor, the hurting, the shamed, we wash the feet of Jesus. As disciples of Christ and recipients of his extravagant, blood shedding love, every morning we should wake up eager to find Jesus’ feet and start washing. We only need to look in the right places.