LET’S MAKE A MIRACLE
Matthew 14:1-21
One day Jesus was told that John the Baptist had been executed by king Herod. Jesus loved John and regarded him as a great prophet. John was the latest in a long line of prophets who spoke truth to power and paid for it with his life. John was a man of the wilderness who had the audacity to criticize Herod. Herod was a son of privilege who was thin skinned about criticism. He grew up believing he was above the law. He didn’t care about morality or justice, or know the meaning of compassion. His priorities were his own enrichment and conspicuous consumption. Herod had barns full of bread while his subjects went hungry. We are told he celebrated his birthday by having a frolicking, kinky party. During the festivities Herod ordered John’s execution at the request of an exotic dancer. For a laugh, he had John’s head brought to the party on a silver platter for the amusement of his new wife and guests.
Jesus lived among Herods’ subjects. He said the kingdom of God belonged to them, not to Herod. People flocked to him because he listened and gave them hope. Jesus knew he might be Herod’s next victim. His disciples must be prepared to continue his work. They fled Galilee for the wilderness to rethink and regroup. They were met by a huge crowd when they arrived. He could have told them to go home, but his compassion for them was greater than his concern for personal safety. He spent the whole day among them. Finally, his disciples said, “it’s getting late. Send them home so they can get something to eat.”
Jesus had other plans. He said to his disciples, “They don’t have to leave. I want you to feed them.” They were shocked and confused. All they had were five loaves and two dried fish. But Jesus knew what he was doing. He was testing them to see what they had learned about life in the kingdom of God. The setting was perfect. They were in the wilderness. The people were hungry. Jesus said, “if you are my disciples, turn these five little loaves into enough bread to feed 5000.”
Jesus promised the people, “blessed are you who are hungry, for you will be filled.” Now he told his disciples to feed these hungry people. This was their test, their assigned task. He didn’t say, “I’ll create 5000 sandwiches out of thin air. All you have to do is hand them out.”— Not at all. Jesus simply looked up to heaven, blessed the five loaves, and sent the disciples into the crowd. After he prayed something amazing happened,—a miracle. But not what you might think. Jesus wasn’t teaching his disciples to wait for a miracle. He was teaching them to make a miracle.
The Bible doesn’t limit miracles to supernatural events that only God can do. Miracles are acts of God, but we have a hand in God’s work. When we pray, “give us this day our daily bread,” we understand that bread doesn’t just appear in our cupboards. We work for our daily bread. That’s how God provides it. If we have a hand in God’s work, then we are meant to make miracles happen. That’s what the disciples did when they walked into the crowd with only five loaves and two fish. They made a miracle happen. They turned a crowd of strangers into a community with compassionate hearts.
This Story is Full of Miracles
A Miracle of Faith: There is no Limit to what Courageous Faith can do.
Faith enabled the apostles to attempt what seemed an impossible task knowing it would take an act of God in the hearts of people to get it done. Jesus said, “if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move a mountain.” Faith works wonders.
A Miracle of Prayer: Prayer Changes Things.
Jesus’ prayer in front of the people thanking God in advance for providing this huge crowd with their daily bread made a difference. Jesus said, “whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
A Miracle of Conversion: The Greatest Miracles Happen in the Human Heart.
The hearts of those who had bread for themselves were moved to share what they had with their neighbors who had none. Converting hearts from selfishness to compassion for neighbor, is a greater wonder than making bread magically appear out of nowhere.
A Miracle of Community.
Prayer and faithfulness transformed a diverse crowd of strangers into a community united in heart and mind. The Church began as a result of the miracle of Jesus’ love, and united in the breaking of bread. “How wonderful and pleasant it is for people under God to live together in harmony,” loving their neighbor as themselves.
A Miracle of Abundance.
This story begins with worry about scarcity. It ends with a celebration of abundance. “All ate and were filled, and there were twelve baskets of leftovers.” We spend our lives worrying about scarcity. In reality there is always enough, and some to spare, if we love our neighbors who are in need, enough to share some of what we have. The earth can produce enough to satisfy our need, but not enough to satisfy our greed. The “manna principle,” has always been the biblical ideal, “The one who has much does not have too much, and the one who has little does not have too little, that there might be equality.”
Like the disciples long ago, we today are in a wilderness, and in need of a miracle. Its up to us to make it happen. Our faith is being tested. If we seize this “pandemic moment” as an opportunity for growth in unexpected ways, we just might make a miracle happen. And, when we come out on the other side of our wilderness, we could find ourselves on the border of the Promised Land.
Let’s think on these things.
Pastor Norm Erlendson