God’s Will / Based on John 6:1-21 / Delivered on July 29,
2018 to CCH in Hudson WI
Hymns 119 Make Me a Channel of Your Peace, 90 Trust and Obey , 102 We Are Called
John 6:1-21
6:1 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of
Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.
6:2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the
signs that he was doing for the sick.
6:3 Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his
disciples.
6:4 Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near.
6:5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward
him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to
eat?"
6:6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was
going to do.
6:7 Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not
buy enough bread for each of them to get a little."6:8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him,
6:9 "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?"
6:10 Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all.
6:11 Then Jesus 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.
6:12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost."
6:13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.
6:14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world."
6:15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
6:16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,
6:17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
6:18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.
6:19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified.
6:20 But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."
6:21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
Good morning and happy Sunday to you. I am Darci Strutt McQuiston, one of the Lay
Servants from the United Methodist Church up on the hill from here. It is my joy to be with you today.
There were many great scriptures to choose from the
lectionary for this Sunday. I’m going to
pull in the Old Testament reading from 2 Kings as well. It’s obviously selected for this Sunday as a
companion for the Gospel lesson from John.
2 Kings 4:42-44
4:42 A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the
first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain
in his sack. Elisha said, "Give it to the people and let them eat."4:43 But his servant said, "How can I set this before a hundred people?" So he repeated, "Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD, 'They shall eat and have some left.'"
4:44 He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the LORD.
I don’t remember hearing that passage before so wanted to share it.
The Importance of Hospitality
Keeping your eye on the destinationFollowing Jesus’ example
The Importance of Hospitality
Jesus wasn’t at home when the people came, but he knew they
had come to visit with him. I believe their
presence gave him the opportunity to teach a lesson about hospitality. Jesus knew as Elisha knew, “They shall eat
and have some left.” God had taught the importance
of hospitality throughout the Old Testament and Jesus continued to express the
importance of both giving and receiving it throughout his ministry. When he sent out his disciples by twos to travel and do God’s will he told them;
Luke 10:4-12
Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet
anyone on the road. “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If
someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it
will return to you. Stay there, eating
and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not
move around from house to house. “When
you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them,
‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and
say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet
be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that
day for Sodom than for that town.
They were to see acts of hospitality as demonstrating respect
for God’s work. It was showing they were
willing to do God’s will.
Heb 13:2
Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so
doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
The Hebrews scripture may have been recalling Abraham’s visit
with three strangers who turned out to be angels promising his wife Sarah would
have a child.
It doesn’t say what nationality the 5,000 people were or what
religion they followed. I’m going to go
out on a limb and imagine they were very mixed.
They were brought together because of what they heard.
6:2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the
signs that he was doing for the sick.
Jesus didn’t say to separate them in any way. He told them to have them sit down in the
grass and wait. All of them were treated
like Jesus’ guests equally. Providing hospitality
was acting according to God’s will, and God’s love doesn’t judge between people.
Keeping your eye on the destination
The passage from John goes right into a second story. The people were so impressed by being all fed
that they wanted Jesus to be king. He had
just demonstrated he could provide for his people. Jesus knew that wasn’t the type of king God
called him to be so he left.
His disciples went on ahead in the boat. I’m assuming they were accustomed to storms
since many of them were fishermen. Their
fear wasn’t about the weather this time.
It was seeing Jesus walking to them.
This was not normal accepted behavior!
6:18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.
6:19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw
Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified.
They wanted him to be more normal so tried to get him into
the boat, but instead Jesus just skipped them all forward to their destination.
6:21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and
immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
Jesus didn’t attempt to meet their expectations. He focused instead on the destination.
Following Jesus’ example
As I sat with these lessons I pondered what they meant for my
life. The teachings of hospitality came
forward strongly. I’ve been experiencing
more conflict around me in recent years.
There is more separation of us and them.
That separation has been one of race, politics, socioeconomic situation,
education…you name it! It is a tension
that has separated people that otherwise loved each other.
The feeding of the five thousand reminds me of the importance
of seeing all who come into my life as worthy of my hospitality. I’ve heard this scripture before, and the
lesson brought out was to be like the little boy and bring what you have to
Jesus. This week as I meditated I felt the
lesson was instead to be like Jesus and Elisha and respect the importance of
hospitality. God gives to all. We are called to give to all. That means giving to people that disagree
with me as well as those who agree with me.
I don’t have to change my belief or stop working for my sense of what is
right, but scripture is clear on this. It
is God’s will to love and show hospitality to those that come to me.
Jesus had his eyes on the destination always. When the people tried to push him toward a
different goal he shifted away from them.
When the disciples wanted him to act more “normal” he just brought their
destination to them. People, waves,
wind, and even well-meaning disciples didn’t cause him to veer from his
destination.
He focused on following God’s will despite all distractions. I believe he knew in detail what his life
purpose was. I’m not quite as sure about
the detail of my life but I know Jesus taught to live in love.
Mat 22:36-40
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and
the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Being able to love someone you disagree with isn’t an easy
thing. The greater the emotion involved,
and the more ways you differ, the harder it is to show love and
hospitality. It isn’t an easy thing, but
I think it is God’s will. We will soon
pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We are called to care for each other in
whatever ways we can. It would be great
if being with me brought another person understanding to my way of viewing the
world, but a far better goal is to have my companion see God’s way of viewing
the world.
It may feel like any act of love or hospitality we can offer
is small compared to the needs of our troubled world, but God does amazing
things when we align with His will. Just
five barley loaves and two fish were beyond enough for over five-thousand. We have a calling to be God’s people. I pray we each offer what we can.
Amen
