By Pastor Greg
The couple's young daughter had adopted a stray cat. To her mother's distress, the cat began to use the back of their new sofa as a scratching post. "Don't worry," her husband reassured her. "I'll have him trained in no time." They watched for several days as he patiently "trained" their new pet. Whenever the cat scratched, he deposited the cat outdoors to teach him a lesson. The cat learned quickly. For the next 16 years, whenever he wanted to go outside, he scratched the back of the sofa.
What do you expect? It’s only a cat. I mean did they really think it would walk to the back door and ask to go outside? That’s just impossible. Who would expect a cat to do something impossible? And yet, it seems, this is what Jesus asks of us.
Last week, as I spoke about the Kingdom of Heaven, I pointed out that it is not only something we will experience one day in the future, but it is something that we, as Christians, are a part of right now. This is something Jesus tried to get the Apostles to understand. The Kingdom had come. Christ had begun to reign. God the Son was at work among the people of this earth. The scriptures talk about how He healed the sick, helped the blind to see, and how He cast out demons. This is what we expect from the Lord. But what we don’t expect is for Jesus to ask a mere mortal to do what He had been doing. “And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil spirits. So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God. And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people, anointing them with olive oil” (Mark 6:7, 12-13).
Okay, these were the Apostles. But these twelve ordinary men accomplished God’s will. God’s will was being done on earth not just by Jesus but also through these men. But the obvious question is why. Why did Jesus feel it was necessary for these twelve men to do what He could do and was doing?
If you read closely through this part of the Gospel Story, you’ll notice that Jesus was not just helping the people of this world, but he was teaching and training these twelve men as well. He was preparing them for the day He would no longer be with them. Once gone, the work of the Kingdom would be their responsibility. If God’s will was to be done, it would be done on earth through these twelve ordinary men. So to prepare them for that day Jesus stretches their faith. He teaches them to trust. He opens their hearts and minds to the present reality of the Kingdom of God. Well, at least He tries to open their hearts and minds.
At the end of their very successful mission trip, the twelve Apostles return to Jesus amazed at what they were able to accomplish with His authority. This should have been an incredible eye opening experience. They should have learned that where Jesus sends or when He commands, great things can be accomplished by ordinary people. But unfortunately it seems they missed that point. In wasn’t more than a day later that they become shocked at what Jesus asks them to do next (read Mark 6:30-44).
Pointing out the obvious need, it seems the Apostles didn’t even expect Jesus to feed the crowd. It seems they expected Him to preach the benediction and send people down to SAL’S for pizza. But instead Jesus says “You feed them”. And truly, what Jesus asked was humanly impossible. They didn’t have the money and they didn’t have the resources. And I’m sure Jesus knew this. I’m sure He wasn’t shocked to learn they were broke. But that didn’t stop Him from giving the command.
Look closely at this story and you’ll notice a couple of details. Long before the resources were made available, Jesus tells the Apostles to have the people sit in groups. So they begin to wander through the crowd asking the people to be seated. “Why”, a curious boy would have asked. Well, what do you say to the boy, whose father is now listening closely as well? I guess you tell them the truth. “Jesus is going to feed us”. You say those words, but do you believe those words. You know quite well that back in the kitchen there is only a small sack lunch that another boy gave as an offering (no, he didn’t tithe his lunch – see John 6:9). The resources necessary for this task have not yet been supplied, but in obedience to Christ’s command you begin the work anyway; you start doing the ministry of the Kingdom before you have what you need to complete the task Jesus has just given you.
Notice as well that once the people are seated it is the Apostles who distribute the food while Jesus is the One who supplies the food, but only enough for the moment. Please notice that the Apostles had to return to Jesus to have their baskets refilled (Kept giving in verse 41). This is the Kingdom of God at work. This is God’s will being done on earth through twelve ordinary men. Jesus gave the command. The Apostles responded in faith. Jesus supplied all that they needed to fulfill that command, but only after the Apostles started doing the work of the Kingdom.
We pray Thy Will Be Done, but do we believe this? And what I mean is that when we see the needs all around us we had better be prepared for His response. His answer to our pray might catch us completely off guard. When we mention to Him the hurting, the naked, the sick, and the hungry, are we prepared to hear Him say, “You feed them”? This is a task seemingly impossible for ordinary people like you and me. And just as with the Apostles, I don’t believe our inadequacy will surprise Jesus. He knows where we are weak. He knows that our resources are limited. But still He calls us to feed them. He still calls us to do the work of the Kingdom. No, He’s not asking us to depend upon our own resources or our own abilities to accomplish His will. He is asking us to have the faith necessary to begin the task believing that He will supply all that we need in order to accomplish that task. And it is the same with our ministries. He is asking us to begin; to demonstrate faith that He will provide. But this is Christ’s way of preparing us. He stretches our faith. He teaches us to trust. He opens our hearts and minds to the Kingdom of God.
This is the Lord’s will. It is through the Church that Thy Will Be Done. Jesus has ascended to heaven but He has left the Church behind to continue His work. And He has equipped the church to do that work by the Holy Spirit. So instead of waiting for Jesus to do something or waiting for Him to provide everything we need to accomplish His will, the Church (we Christians) need to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Then, and I believe only then, will Jesus begin to supply what we need for the work of His Kingdom.
I think it’s interesting that the group of Apostles barely had enough to feed themselves at the beginning. Yet at the end there were 12 baskets of leftovers. I find it significant that at the end of their labor of faith there was more than what they started with. And I wonder if Jesus will do the same for us if we will simply exercise some faith and get to work.
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