“Not a Popularity Contest”

John 6:1-15

John 6:14, 15 (The Message): The people realized that God was working among them in what Jesus had just done. They said, “This is the Prophet for sure, God’s Prophet right here in Galilee!” Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm they were about to grab him and make him king, so he slipped off and went back up the mountain by himself.

From Matthew 4:3-10 (NRSV): The tempter came and said to him,… “command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered “… One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”… “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down [from the top of the temple]; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone’.” Jesus said, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’,”… “All these [kingdoms] I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him’.”

William Barclay: We would like Christ’s gifts without his cross… to use him instead of allowing him to use us.

Reginald Fuller: It is impossible to ascertain what precisely happened in the feeding [of the 5,000], but it is clear from all [four of the] gospel accounts that it represented a crisis for the Lord’s ministry… In Mark’s [account] of the feeding we are told that Jesus packed his disciples off in a boat while he dismissed the crowd. The reason for this becomes clear in [the 14^th and 15^th verses of today’s text]: it was to prevent the disciples from being infected by the dangerous nationalistic-messianic enthusiasm of the crowd.”

[Prayer]

Hosts of people were following Jesus. Many out of curiosity. Some out of desperation. Most with absolutely no idea who Jesus really was, or what he had come to do. He was healing people. In today’s text he was feeding people – a whole lot of people. And those being healed and fed were thankful. They had a need. Jesus filled it.

However, most of those folks understood Jesus in much the way we understand Santa Claus. He was the guy with the great big bag of goodies. They translated this understanding of Jesus into two false perceptions of him. There were those who thought Jesus was the great prophet foretold by Moses, the one who would precede the Messiah. There were those who guessed correctly about the Messiah thing, but still got it wrong. They wanted a Messiah who would chase the Romans out of Israel and restore the nation to its status as the great empire of David and Solomon. They wanted a militant Jesus.

Jesus was not the long-foretold prophet. Nor was he the Messiah who went around dispensing miracles and other goodies as a way of attracting a following. He was most definitely not some conquering Messiah who had come to build a military and political empire on earth. Those were two major temptations that Jesus faced every day, temptations to which he had not succumbed during his forty-day trial in the wilderness. He would not turn stones into bread. Nor would he be the world ruler the Devil wanted him to be. He was neither a “bread and circuses” Messiah, nor an armed revolutionary Messiah.

He could heal, and he did. He could turn five small barley loaves and two sardine-sized fish into a feast that fed thousands, with leftovers galore. He was the compassionate Messiah – the compassionate Son of God – who exercised God’s power in healing, caring, and compassionate ways. He was not, however, just one more politically savvy dispenser of divine goodies, who used his powers to build up his own fan club. He was the Word made Flesh – God-with-us – who exercised his Father’s power in ways that pointed beyond himself. His miracles were primarily signs of God’s Kingdom coming to fruition, signs that the Messiah had come.

But not the Messiah the people expected. His Kingdom was not of this world - it was in the world but it was not of the world. He was neither a warrior king nor a brilliant military leader. He came not to rule the world as one more tyrant. His mission wasn’t even that of a benevolent dictator. He had come to seek and save the lost, to offer all who would place their faith in him an abundant and eternal life.

He had come to serve as the Suffering Servant; to die as a sacrificial lamb. He had come to turn everything the world considered real upside-down and inside-out. He would exhibit God’s wisdom and strength by doing foolish things, like dying on a cross, and by allowing his gentleness to be his strength.

The events in today’s text take place just before Passover. Pilgrims were flocking to Jerusalem. Hopes and dreams of national independence were on the increase as people remembered and celebrated their nation’s deliverance from Egypt. In such an atmosphere it would have been very easy stir up an armed revolt. That’s what a false Messiah would have done, but as the text tells us, “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.” He was having none of it.

Jesus refused to allow himself or his disciples to be used in the pursuit of popular or political purposes. His gifts and power were not juicy plumbs to be picked for the purpose of fanning the flames of fanatical nationalism. He was pursuing a crown that could only be received by way of the cross. Not popular sentiment - not financial or political manipulation - not by being the biggest, baddest dude on the block: But by way of the sacrificial servanthood of the cross.

That brings us to here: to this time, this place, this nation, this world. Some things we need to remember: It is okay, more than that, it is a sign of our trust in him to invoke the name of Jesus in prayers of healing or other sorts of intercession and supplication. It is okay, and then some, to thank God every day for the multitude of blessings we receive as Christians living in a free and prosperous nation. It is okay, really, really okay, for us to look forward to that day when the Lord will come again to make right everything in creation that is wrong.

What is not okay is treating Jesus like Santa Claus, as our own personal dispenser of all those goodies we want. What is not okay is treating Jesus like a trick pony who comes when we call, does what we demand, and performs up to our expectations. Jesus doesn’t owe us a thing. He gives what he gives out of an abundance of mercy and grace. We are not in control of Jesus; he’s the one in charge. We never are, never will be, and dare not assume that we somehow are.

What is not okay is the assumption that Jesus loves us more than he loves anybody else. It is perfectly legitimate for us to sing, “God Bless America.” But only as a prayer, never as a demand: as an act of humble and penitent worship and praise, not an act of selfish and misguided nationalism that assumes that the U. S. A. has been granted most-favored status by God. God blesses whom he blesses when and how he chooses to do so. Again, he’s in charge; we are not. Ancient Israel paid a steep price for ignoring that reality. It’s okay to love America, commendable, in fact. As long as we remember that our first love is Jesus.

Jesus never viewed his ministry as a popularity contest. He didn’t take polls. He wasn’t swayed by public opinion or conventional wisdom. He did not come to play Santa Claus. His mission was not to be confused with some First Century General Patton.

That brings me back to William Barclay’s words about how we want the gifts of Jesus but not his cross; we want to use him for our own purposes instead of allowing him to use us. Jesus never promised us wealth, fame, popularity, or earthly power. He was more than clear about our need to be willing to pick up our cross and follow him. He acted out the humility and servanthood he demands of us by washing dirty feet.

Being a Christian has never been about who gets the most votes or who’s the biggest, baddest dude on the block. Being a Christian is about loving and serving, sometimes sacrificially, others in the name of Jesus. It’s about forgiving people, including our enemies. It’s about blessing others as we have been blessed. It’s about putting the needs of others ahead of our wants. It’s a matter of doing the right thing even if doing so makes us unpopular – and often it will. In the end it’s about loving Jesus more than anything or anybody else even if doing so costs us everything, including our lives. Amen.