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A man stopped his van to fill the gas tank at the local convenience store.

"Picnic--ing with Jesus" Cicero United Methodist Church Jack Keating

August 3, 2008 Pentecost 12 Matthew 14: 13 - 21

A man stopped his van to fill the gas tank at the local convenience store. In the van he had a load of restless and rowdy kids. The clerk asked him, "Are these all your kids or are you on a picnic?" And the man answered, "Yes, these are my kids and NO, it's not a picnic!"

Summer is a time of picnics and outdoor fun and activities for most people. Maybe you have some summer traditions in your family where every year you might go to a certain park or picnic grounds. When I was growing up we used to take a picnic basket and go to a local park for the day. Maybe you have a family reunion where people gather to enjoy the summer. Picnics come in all sizes and varieties. The Keating family spends a week at Sylvan Beach every summer and we enjoy a picnic atmosphere for most of the week.

Well in today's scripture, even though the people gathered outdoors in the spring, sitting on the grass, eating bread and fish, "Life was sure no picnic for them." This story is the only one told in all four of the gospel accounts. And each of these accounts gives us a little different information. Those people, like people today, face many difficulties and life was no picnic for them.

And there are some things we can apply to our lives today, from this story of long ago.

1. The first is that Jesus saw the Need and had Compassion. In the Matthew, Mark, and Luke accounts, Jesus has just heard the news about John the Baptist being beheaded. And that was sad news for him, and maybe he wanted to take a "time out" to think. The disciples were tired from being with crowds of people and ministering to need after need. Jesus wanted to get away from it all for a while to rest and pray, but the crowds tracked him down. And despite the fact that he could have been very irritated by their constant clamoring for more and more of him, the scripture reminds us that "when Jesus landed and saw the large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick." His heart went out to them. He welcomed all who came. Mark's gospel even goes so far as to say that Jesus saw them as a "sheep without a shepherd". And they had such a variety of needs. Many were sick and sought healing; some had traveled a great distance to come to the Passover. It was late in the day and they were tired and out in the middle of nowhere without food. In a crowd of this size there must have been all kinds of frustrations. They were probably wandering around like sheep without a shepherd, not knowing where they were headed. At that point life was no picnic for them. They sought out Jesus in hopes of seeing their needs met.

And today, so much of our life is made up of the routine, one problem after another. It is not the picnics or celebrations, but instead, the times when we feel the questions and problems press in on us. It is when we are uncertain about decisions, our energy level is down and we don't know what we are supposed to do. And besides all this ... we may be hungry a well.

2. Jesus then says that there is no need for them to depart. The disciples were urging Jesus to take a break late in the day and send the people out to the towns to get something to eat. Instead he tells them, "There is no need for them to depart." Why would he say this when there was no place to buy food? There is no corner Wegman's store available and the nearest town, Bethsada, was about 9 miles from there. Why would he want them to stay when there was nothing to give them to eat? In John's account Jesus asked Phillip, "Where can we buy food?" Jesus knew, you see, that if anyone knew, it would be Phillip, because he lived in Bethsada. I'm guessing what he was really asking here is, "How are we going to approach this problem?" I think he was trying to test or strengthen Phillip's faith, and also to help the disciples see their responsibility in ministry. Jesus was not accustomed to sending people away with needs. He is saying, "It is not necessary that you go away EMPTY HANDED with the same needs that you came here with.

And how many times are we just like the disciples in our thinking when it comes to the enormity of needs in the world today or in our OWN LIVES. We come to church sometimes with deep needs and problems and then go away with those same problems thinking, "It's impossible. How's he going to do this for ME?"

Jesus is not accustomed to sending people away empty handed. Jesus is saying to us today, "There is no need for you to go away the same as you came today, still burdened down with all kinds of problems."

Another disciple, Andrew, had located a small boy who had a lunch of 5 loaves and 2 fish.

But even though he brought the boy to Jesus, he said, "What is that among so many?" The need is so great and the resources are way too scarce. This doesn't amount to anything. It's only a small drop in the bucket. But you know what? I think Andrew was more HOPEFUL, in that he BROUGHT the boy to Jesus. Don't let your estimate of what can or can't be done keep you from taking on a task. We often say, "That's not much, so I won't do anything at all."

Jesus was, I think, hoping to get the disciples to start thinking about how they could provide for the people when their needs seemed impossible to meet. These disciples were looking at the need through the HUMAN EYE. ... And it never occurred to them that with Jesus things are not as impossible as they seem. "All things are possible ... only believe".

A businessman who needed millions of dollars to clinch an important deal went to church to pray for the money. By chance he knelt next to a man who was praying for $100 to pay an urgent debt. The business man took out his wallet and pressed $100 into the other man's hands. Overjoyed, the man thanked him profusely, got up and left the church, praising God. The businessman watched as the man left and the door behind him completely closed, then bowed his head and prayed, "And now, Lord, that I have your undivided attention ...."

And then Jesus said, "YOU give them something to eat." And the disciples didn't have the slightest idea how to do that. Phillip protested saying, "It would take 8 months salary to buy food for this crowd even if we could find a Wegman's to get it. And the disciples were focusing on what they didn't have. But Jesus wants to show his followers that he was not only able to meet the SPIRITUAL needs of people but also their PHYSICAL needs.

When it comes to our thinking today, how often do we limit Him to meeting just a certain kind of need --- he can do this or that but I don't think He can handle anything else. When we approach the Lord in prayer, we should ask him about ALL our needs. When we come to him with a need don't you most often focus on our lacks and what we DON"T have? Most of the time I think we do. In Mark's account Jesus asks, "How many loaves do you have?" And today he asks each of us, "What are your resources?"

3. Even at the time Jesus questioned Phillip, he already knew how he was going to handle the problem, but he wanted to pull in the disciples. He wanted them to know that in spite of the enormous, overwhelming need before them, that something could be done. He wanted them to focus beyond their HUMAN understanding and see how He could handle the problem.

A Texan wanted to go ice fishing. He'd seen lots of books on the subject, and finally, after getting all the necessary "tools" together, he made for the nearest frozen lake.

After positioning his comfortable footstool, he started to make a circular cut in the ice. Suddenly - from the sky - a voice boomed, "There are no fish under the ice!" Startled, the Texan moved further down the ice, poured a cup of cappuccino from his thermos, and began to cut another hole. And again, from the heavens, the voice bellowed, "There are no fish under the ice!" The Texan, not quite worried, moved way down to the opposite end of the ice, set his stool down, and tried yet again to cut a hole in the ice. And the voice boomed once more: "There are no fish under the ice!" Finally he stopped looked upward and said, "Is that you, Lord?" The voice replied, "No, I'm the manger of this Ice Arena!"

Jesus gave them some instructions that they could understand. He told the disciples to have the people sit down on the grass and get prepared to receive the gifts. And today too we prepare ourselves to be fed here at the Table of the Lord. And, as a pastor I have the privilege of asking Jesus to bless the bread, breaking it and serving as His disciple in distributing the meal.

On that hillside the multiplication was not done with great fanfare. Jesus didn't multiply it all at once into a massive heap of bread and fish. There was not a visible difference - it still looked scarce - some fish nuggets in their hands - some little pieces of bread. But the supply never ran out like they thought it would! The disciples RECEIVED from Jesus and they GAVE it out to the hungry people. They followed his instructions.

I'm told there was this efficiency expert who concluded his lecture with a note of caution.

"You don't want to try these techniques at home." "Why not?" asked someone from the back of the room. "Well", the expert explained, "I watched my wife's routine at breakfast for years. She made lots of trips to the refrigerator, stove, table, and cabinets just carrying a single item at a time. And I suggested, Hon, why don't you try carrying several things at once?" "Did it save time?" asked the voice from the back of the room. And the expert replied, "It sure did. It used to take her 20 minutes to get breakfast ready. Now I do it in 7!"

We don't know how long it took for that meal to be served that afternoon, but what we do know is this --- the disciples DEPENDED on Jesus for a miracle. But they did what He asked them to and as a result a miracle happened.

Today, Jesus has more than enough for us. So often we limit God in our lives. We settle for "JUST BARELY" when Jesus wants us to think in terms of receiving more than enough. But it's not us who multiplies the resources - it's Jesus. We often fall into the trap of depending on our own self-sufficiency when we need to learn to depend on the Lord. There are, you know, certain things that only He can do for us and when we try to do things our own ways we end up being disappointed.

Today your life might not be a picnic. You may have lots of needs and scarce resources. I pray that you would allow Jesus to touch your situation and do a miracle. Stop trying to struggle and doing what only He can do for you. And try, instead, to position yourself to receive a wonderful blessing from Him.

There is no need for you to depart empty handed or carrying the same burdens as when you walked in. Jesus promises not just to give you crumbs but to fill you. Remember, that "they all ate and were satisfied." Bring your scarce provisions to Jesus today and allow him to do His work in your life. Amen.