They are the chapters of life that all of us experience at one time or another. You know them - when it feels like we're standing in waist-deep water, trying to keep our balance on a rocky bottom, with meter-high waves pounding at us one after another. Knocking us first this way. Then that.

They are experiences we didn't expect, and aren't sure how to respond to. Hitting us first from this side. Stumble. Think we're regaining our footing and along comes another one.
You're given notice at work that because of downsizing and poor profit margins there will have to be wage rolebacks. After getting home you discover that the furnace needs replacing.
You've just come back from visiting your ailing father. Doctor has told him that he's got cancer and it's beginning to sink in that you time together is limited. Two days later, a phone call from the police about your child.
School is really tough - failed the last two history tests, and really struggling with chemistry. Worried about making it through the year. And then you discover your boyfriend has been cheating on you.
Wham!
Wham!

How do you respond in situations like that?
What do you feel like doing?

Please think about that as we read of a chapter in Jesus' life, a chapter where the waves were coming fast and heavy trying to knock Him down.
Let's look at His response.
Perhaps there's something in there for us. What do you think?

I said that these pages contain hard times for Jesus; unsettling, hurtful experiences. Starts with the visit to His hometown, where the very people that you'd think He'd be able to count on - the ones He grew up with, and played with, and went to church with - turned their backs on Him.
Result being that He simply is unable to do much for them and leaves.

Unwelcome at home, rejected by those closest to Him, He gets news that His cousin and close ministry associate, John the Baptist, has been murdered in cold blood.
Wham!
Wham!

And Jesus heads off into the countryside for some time alone. He's been bashed around and needs a bit of space, some time to think and pray, a chance to shed a few tears - quiet.
I think we all understand that. Right? We've all had those times when we've had to put the answering machine on. Or not go to the social gathering or meeting, but stay home with the curtains drawn.
Because we needed a bit of space.
But you know what happens. We read the story. No sooner does He drag His grieving self out of the boat then a tidal wave of humanity approaches. And - says Matthew in v.14 - our holy Lord has a very different reaction to this group of people than to those with whom He mingled in His hometown.
Those who treated Jesus with contempt and indifference found themselves staring at His back as he walked away.
But these people, sick and needy.......
"When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick." (v.14)

Compassion - not indignation or disgust. No contempt. He doesn't jump back in the boat and head back to the other side again.
Compassion.
Which comes from root words meaning "To walk with".
Jesus doesn't look down on these people milling around, wanting to lean on Him, hoping to draw from Him - what a cynic might look at and say, "They're just leaching off Him."
He falls in step beside them and walks with them.
Together - the Son of God and humanity, working through their struggles.

All day Jesus moves through the crowds. He reaches out with His touch, power flowing from Him into broken hearts and battered bodies.
Restoring.
All day Jesus moves through the crowds. A word of encouragement here. Correction there. Teaching in truth, with authority. Giving a sense of solid direction and hope into their lives.

I'd like you to see that, my friends.
If you're able, please sit back and try to paint this scene in your imagination.
Jesus - never too distracted, too tired, too self-absorbed - NEVER too much so that He sends needy people away.

Please burn that picture into your mind. Nail it up somewhere that you will be reminded of it regularly. Then when the times come that we find ourselves tired, discouraged, uncertain, frustrated, sick;
when the times come that we pull ourselves up short and say, "Hey, what's this all about anyway? Why am I on this crazy treadmill?"
when THOSE times come we can be reminded of the Christ of Compassion who has all the time in the world for those who come to Him with empty hands.
Including us.

The disciples watch. And they understand. For Jesus had given them, too, much time and love and direction.
But time ticks on and they're checking their watches. Time to go. Jesus - time to send them home. Which is something he'd often done - dismissing the crowd. Maybe now they'll get time to recharge. At least, that is what they think.
Till Jesus throws them a mighty curve ball - "YOU feed them."
"What? Lord, we have nothing here but five loaves and two fish. And that is not enough for anything!"
They're right - would have cost about 8 months wages to feed that kind of a crowd. No KFC or Harvey's nearby. Loblaws was closed.

What an overwhelming situation!
And, as the story shows, these disciples have to learn through hands-on experience, that in the hands of Jesus even the most overwhelming of circumstances, the most impossible challenges, become conquerable.
And then some!

12 people faced with a situation that swamps them; totally overwhelming. Their resources totally inadequate.
They acknowledge that to Jesus.
And He responds as He did to the crowds all day - "Bring them to me."
"We've only got 5 loaves and 2 fish. What can we possibly do with only this?"
"Bring them to me." And everyone is fed. There's even 12 huge doggie bags, one for each disciple, serving as reminders to them of the overwhelming power to provide that resides in the Heavenly Hands of Jesus.

"What can we possibly do with only this?" That is the response of the ages when people feel overwhelmed by the world around them.

It is the response of the parent worried about her child. So many influences so many temptations to face. The parent hungry for answers asks "What am I to do? I have nothing here but five loaves and two fish."

It is the response of the employee working in questionable surroundings. There are things going on around the office that just ought not to be. "Business ethics" has become an oxymoron. Should you blow the whistle? Feel free...if you do not want the job anymore. What then? A worker desiring to honour Christ at work sees only five loaves and two fish.

It is the response of the spouse who is desperately trying to make a go of a troubled marriage, and who grows weary of being the only partner working at the relationship. He is still around...some. And even when he IS there, his mind is somewhere else. Hungry for a rekindling of the passion, she is left saying sadly, "There is nothing here but five loaves and two fish."

It is the response of the youngster who finds life at school so demanding that he or she no longer knows how to cope. I was intrigued by a teenager's letter to Ann Landers. It was a response to someone who lived through the Depression and had described how hard it was to be a teenager in the 1930's, and how easy kids have it today. Listen to the student's response:
"Let me ask your generation a few questions: Are your parents divorced? Almost every one of my friends comes from a broken home. Were you thinking about suicide when you were 12? Did you have an ulcer when you were 16? You may have had to worry about VD, but did you have to worry about AIDS? Did your classmates carry guns and knives? How many kids in your class came to school regularly drunk, stoned, or high on drugs? What percentage of your graduating class also graduated from a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre? Did your school have armed security guards in the halls? Did you ever live in a neighbourhood where the sound of gunfire at night was "normal"? You talk a lot about being dirt poor and having no money. Since when does money mean happiness? The kids at school who have the expensive cars and designer clothes are the most miserable. When I am your age, I won't do much looking back, I'll just thank God that I survived."
Hmm. What is a youngster to do these days? "Lord, we have nothing here but five loaves and two fish."

It might be the response any of us offer when life seems overwhelming and we just KNOW our resources are not enough to deal with it. "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." What are we to do?

There is the good news for you moms and dads who find yourselves wondering, "Do I have what it takes to handle these kids today, not to be a GOOD parent, but just one that is adequate?" The answer is no, we do not have what it takes. At best, in the face of overwhelming odds, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." But we have a friend who whispers "Bring them to me."
"Bring them to me - your skills and weaknesses as parents, your strengths and fears, your children and their futures. Bring them to me, and I will make you adequate for the task at hand."

That is the good news for for people of conscience who feel called to take a risky stance on some issue; for spouses in troubled marriages faced with tough decisions; for students who always feel as though they are swimming up stream.

What is one person, anyway?
When accompanied by Jesus, one person can be a majority.

Christ says to all: "Bring them to me" - your hopes, your dreams, your convictions. "Bring them to me" - your burdens, your challenges, your responsibilities. For He who took a paltry lunch bag from a little boy and fed the multitude near Bethsaida can do it again, even with the meagre resources in OUR lunch bags.

When life gets the best of us, perhaps it is often because we focus too much on how little we can do, and too little on how much Christ can do.

What I have, and what you have, what anyone hungry for help has, is this: an the invitation to call on someone who knows what to do. When life seems too big and we feel too small, someone is close who can do what we cannot - someone who sees us with the eyes of compassion. Jesus can right the wrongs and heal the hurts and love the unlovely and scale the mountains.

Jesus can take our paltry little handful of loaves and fish and turn them into a feast. However little we may possess in terms of talent or resources, Jesus whispers: "Bring them to me," and with him, our little becomes a lot.

The prophet Isaiah spoke to over-stretched, overwhelmed people:
"Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is an everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint" (Isaiah 40:28-31).

Five loaves and two fish. In the end, this is more than a story of miraculously multiplied groceries.

There is always more with Jesus.

The Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Freedom once wrote a book entitled "There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch". That's true, except for one.

We are invited to the banquet where Jesus sits at the head of the table, where Jesus presides at the meal. It's a banquet bought without money, but with great cost.
Utterly free, undeserved grace to us;
Utterly costly to Jesus.

We don't merit this meal, any more than the crowd in the wilderness deserved a free dinner that evening on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. But we eat and drink as Jesus' guests. Out of His compassion for us, we eat a meal He died to provide. He is our compassionate host who extravagantly lays out a banquet of grace and mercy. He invites us to eat, and then to share this meal with others. We will eat our fill, and there will be baskets full to collect.
Come then, all of you who feel you only have five loaves and two fish - Come and He will feed you until you are satisfied.

Come, you who have nothing to give to God but a broken heart and a tired life, you who have no merit or worthiness in yourself - come and be filled to overflowing by Jesus, the Bread of Life. Jesus says, "Bring them to me! I will satisfy you and give you rest."
 
 
 

Let us pray.
O God, there is no way we could ever offer proper thanks for the knowledge that we are not simply left with our own inadequate resources. We know that you are with us and ready to help us and then enable us to serve your saving bread to the world. We confess that we have too often relied on our own meagre resources. Forgive us, we pray. Descend upon us with your mercy and fill us to overflowing with your Holy Spirit so that we might be encouraged to share that good news with a whole world of hungry people. This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
 
 

Sources:
Bruner, F.D "Matthew" - a commentary
Tasker, R.V.D. "Matthew" - a commentary
Hildebrand, Gerry A sermon on Matthew 14.14-21 (1999)
Leininger, David E. A Sermon on Matthew 14:14-21. (1996).
Russett, Brent A sermon on Matthew 14.14-21 (1999)