“Just Do It!”

Mark 6:30-44

Mark 6:12, 13: So they [the disciples] went out [as Jesus commanded them] and proclaimed that all should repent. They [in the name and through the power of Christ] cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Mark 6:37: But he [Jesus] answered them, “You give them something to eat.” [Just do it!] They said to him, “Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii (about six months wages for a common laborer of that time) worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?”

[Prayer]

Jesus sent his disciples out, two-by-two, to preach the Gospel and perform miracles in his name. The disciples obeyed him. In his name and by way of his power and authority, they did his bidding. When they returned to report all they had done, Jesus called them apostles, those who had gone out and functioned as an extension of himself.

They returned to Jesus filled with energy and enthusiasm. They wanted to tell him all about what they had done in his name. Jesus wanted to hear it. He also needed some quiet time with them and his Father. He needed to rest and recharge his batteries. He needed to grieve the death of his cousin, John the Baptist.

So he and his disciples headed out for the other shore in a boat, seeking a place of retreat. That retreat, much as it was needed, was not to be. The crowds following Jesus figured out what was going on and walked around to the other shore. They were waiting on Jesus when he got there. Was Jesus annoyed with them? Did he resent their intrusion into his quiet time? No. He saw their spiritual hunger and need – their floundering through life like sheep without a shepherd – and had compassion. He also saw in them a genuine willingness to hear the Gospel. Loving them like the Good Shepherd he was, he took time to teach them. He fed them on the Word.

Then it got late. Suppertime rolled around. The disciples wanted to shoo them away. They didn’t want to have anymore responsibility for them. Tired, hungry, and maybe a little miffed that their alone time with Jesus had been spoiled, they just wanted to get rid of that annoying, smothering crowd by sending them elsewhere for supper.

They suggested this to Jesus. In response Jesus told the disciples to feed all those people, to just do it! Their response: “You’ve got to be kidding! There are five thousand men out there, with their families. We can’t earn enough money in six months to feed that hoard. There is no way that this can be done.”

Let’s back up. Were these not the same twelve men Jesus had called apostles? Had they not just returned from a time of missionary service in which great things had been accomplished? What had happened to all their confidence in the power of Jesus? By faith they had healed the sick and cast out demons, for goodness sake! Now they were whining about the impossibility of the task before them.

We know the rest of the story. Taking two sardine-sized fish and five dinner rolls, Jesus miraculously fed that crowd and had food left over. Confronted with an impossible situation, Jesus overcame it, and then some! The Good Shepherd took care of his sheep’s physical as well as spiritual needs.

I did my notes for today’s bulletin and sermon well before I went off on vacation, never dreaming just how much these words from Mark would speak to the situation confronting Grace. Just before I left I got the news of our financial situation. Boy did that push some of my deeply implanted anxiety buttons! “Not again,” I thought. “I can’t go through the pain of another’s church’s financial meltdown. Lord, I just got here. Please don’t make me move!”

All of this followed on the heels of our denomination’s recent General Assembly meeting. Decisions were made at that meeting that angered and upset many in our church’s evangelical wing. Some are threatening to pull out. Knowing that Grace is by and large an evangelical congregation, I was wondering what all that might mean here. More anxiety!

The good news is that I was on vacation and not in a position to overreact. I didn’t start updating my Personal Information Form. Nor did I start e-mailing various friends and colleagues around the denomination asking about what might be available out there. I was tempted, but I didn’t.

It’s also amazing and fortunate how new grandbabies can focus one’s attention away from vocational issues. I have, to say the least, been pleasantly preoccupied. More than that, my prayer journaling over the past few weeks led me to Paul’s words in II Corinthians about his struggle with that horrible thorn in the flesh that so afflicted him: “So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

The power of Christ. The power that heals the sick and casts out demons. The power that can feed somewhere between five and twenty thousand people with two little fishes and five dinner rolls. The power that can still a stormy sea. The power that fires a compassion in Jesus that allows him to reach beyond his tiredness and need for solitude to feed his sheep. The power to walk faithfully toward the cross. The power to say, “Not my will, but thine.” The power to die for the sins of the world. The power of resurrection that renders death toothless.

Over the years my ongoing journey with Christ has mostly cured me of a tendency overreact, to soar on the wings of emotional highs only to be devastated by emotional lows. I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist. Even though I don’t believe in fairy tales anymore, I’m also not scared of the bogeyman. I am a positive realist. I always see the glass as half-full rather than half-empty. But I’m still very much aware that half a glass is all there is.

In human terms half a glass may not always be enough. Sometimes we encounter situations that overwhelm our little half glass of whatever. On our own such situations are impossible. But as followers of Jesus we are not on our own. In the person of the Holy Spirit Christ is with us. We have been given his authority. The power of Christ is in us. But like those disciples in today’s text we often forget that. We forget the many times that our God has seen us through difficult situations. We forget whom it is that we serve. We only see the hungry crowd. We think that our resources are limited to the modern equivalent of two sardines and five biscuits. We become anxious and depressed. Sometimes we’re just plain afraid.

Odds are that we want to be delivered from such situations as much as Paul wanted to be rid of that thorn in the flesh. But reality is what it is. Situations are what they are. They cannot be denied. They do not go away if we close our eyes and pretend they’re not there. They must be faced not only with maturity, wisdom, common sense, and courage, but also with hope and faith.

Jesus didn’t panic and throw up his hands and exclaim (apologies to Gone with the Wind), “I don’t know nothin’ about feedin’ no crowd!” Jesus didn’t chase away those hungry people. He didn’t turn his back and hope they disappeared. With much less than our half a glass he fed them. And in the process taught his disciples – and hopefully us - a valuable lesson.

Grace Church is facing a financial crisis – not crunch – crisis. Income is not keeping up with outgo, and outgo is rising instead of falling. This building needs a lot of work, work that must be financed by funding above and beyond operating expenses. That’s the reality that must be faced. That’s our thorn in the flesh, so to speak. That’s the challenge presently before us. It didn’t arise overnight. It cannot be overcome overnight. We’d better be willing to be in this for the long haul.

The issues in our denomination aren’t going away either. Although some are inclined to cut and run, my personal sense is that God is calling me to stay. I will not abandon Grace in its time of crisis. In spite of my anxieties I just signed a new twelve-month lease on our apartment. Nor will I abandon the PC(USA) in this time of upheaval. But that’s a different sermon for a different day.

I don’t want to deal with the financial thorn in the flesh that afflicts us. Just like those disciples in today’s text wanted to shoo away that hungry crowd, I wish that I could so easily be rid of these anxiety-provoking situations we’re facing. I admit that I’ve been asking God, “Why did you bring me to this place knowing this was going to happen?”

And maybe the answer is that I’m here because it’s happening. There are no accidents – there are no coincidences – in the realm of God’s ultimate will. Here I am with my half glass of water. Here you are with your two fishes and five loaves. Within our midst is Christ with his miraculous power. With that power our limited resources will prove to be more than enough. To quote Johnnie C. Godwin’s commentary on today’s text, “… when we give Jesus what little we have, he is always able to make it enough.” Amen.