Every generation and every Christian needs to learn that the Lord provides.  John's story of the loaves and fishes tells us the Lord provided a feast with a boy's lunch.  You can almost imagine the boy telling his Mom he wanted to go hear Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth.  "Go ahead," she said, "but don't stay late and take this lunch."  He ran ahead and found some friends.  They played and rolled on the grass, maybe even on the lunch.  The boy may have overheard the disciples say they needed something to eat, so he offered his well-worn lunch of bread and fish.

          And this boy's gift became the most famous sacklunch in history, because with it our Lord fed thousands.  "The people are hungry," said the disciples.  "You feed them," said Jesus.  "But all we have is a boy's lunch," they said.  "Have the people sit down," said our Lord.  Have them sit down, and I'll show you something.  Yes, the Lord provides!

          Today there are hungry people all around, but their hunger is not for lunch.  They're hungry for substance.  They're hungry for meaning and purpose.  They're hungry for life, but they're starving for eternal life.  They're all around us -- in our jobs, our neighborhoods, among our friends.  They're all around our church here in Castle Rock, and our Lord wants us to feed them.

          We modern-day disciples, see starving people, so we ask God to feed them.  We say, "Lord, let the Good News be preached all over!"  Jesus says, "You feed them."  We say, "But all we have is our two hands and feet.  Besides, we hired a preacher to do that."  Jesus says, "Have them sit down to hear My Word."  And if we obey, He will do a miracle and feed thousands through our personal witness.  But we have to feed them.  Jesus can't do this miracle alone.

          The place where Jesus probably fed those 5,000 is on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee where there's lush grass on a sloping hillside.  St. Luke's record of this miracle said the people sat down in groups of 50 and 100, like the way Moses grouped the Israelites in the wilderness next to Mt. Sinai.  God provided their needs back then in a wilderness of rocks and desert.  Today Jesus provides for our eternal needs in a wilderness of concrete and television.

          One of the five purposes of our church is "Positive Outreach."  As Epiphany Lutheran grows both internally on the Word of God and externally in members and attendance, we must always remember that our Lord's command to make disciples of all nations includes the nations right in our back yard.

          One of my goals for Epiphany this year is to put together a Master Plan for growth.  A Master Plan helps us focus our time and efforts on what's important.  A Master Plan is about our future needs, some of it bricks and mortar.  But a Master Plan is about more than buildings - it's about building the Body of Christ, the people.  It's building our congregation into a body of Christ's people who will share the faith, and an army of believers ready to defend the faith.

          Our church must have vision and direction to do this work.  If we have vision but no action, it's all hot air.  If we have action but no vision, we're fighting the wind.  Our church must continually seek to fulfill its five purposes - Joyful Worship, Faithful Service, Positive Outreach, Loving Fellowship and Biblical Nurture - and so fulfill our reason for existence.

          The bread Jesus fed them was central to life.  Today some people refer to money as bread.  When I was a kid, we used to call it dough, but somewhere along the line they baked it.  John says they were barley loaves, the bread of poor folks.  Any bread back then was a gift from God.  Even the scraps were used.  Today we value bread differently.  We're told eating too much bread is bad for us.  But it's still the staff of life.

          "Give us this day our daily bread," we pray.  Martin Luther told us, "Daily bread includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body - food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, spouse, government, weather, peace, health, friends and neighbors - everything!"  Daily bread covers all we need for life.  That list may not be all we want in life, but it is all we need.  Sometimes what we need is right in front of us and we don't know it.

          There was a young man so full of pride he was convinced he could do anything.  One day, he decided to go mountain climbing.  At first the climb was easy and he laughed at why climbing mountains was thought to be so hard.  But the mountain became steeper, and he realized how tired he was and that it taking longer than he thought.  And it was also getting dark.  A cool slippery mist settled over him and suddenly he could see nothing.  He was reaching for a hand hold when he slipped, and he fell what seemed to be a hundred feet when he somehow got caught in a safety rope that stopped his fall.  But he was dangling beside a sheer mountain wall.

          All of a sudden, a voice spoke to him out of the mist, the voice of God.  "Help me!" the man begged.  "Do you believe in me?" God said.  "Of course I do - please help me!"  "But do you really trust me?"  "Yes, I trust you," the climber said.  The Lord said, "If you really trust me, let go of the rope."  "No way - I'll fall and die," the man said holding the rope tighter.  "Very well," said God and went away.  After a painfully long time, the man somehow secured it around his waist and fell asleep.  When he awoke he saw that he had been hugging a rope just three feet above the ground.  If he'd let go, he'd have known that.  We don't always have a good perspective of our troubles.  We think it's all up to us when all we need is to let go and let God take over.

          The Lord provides us with daily bread for our earthly life, and heavenly bread for eternal life.  Most of us don't need more earthly food but heavenly food.  Like Christ gave bread and fish through His disciples, today He gives the Gospel through us modern-day disciples.  We must share this food every chance we get.

          Outreach is part of why a church exists.  Jesus said, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching all I have commanded you."  Thousands of people have poor or no clothing, so Jesus says to us, "Give them some clothes," and we do through our Orphan Grain Train.  Today there are hungry people, and Jesus says, "Give them food to eat!"  So Christian food distribution centers do just that, at least until the food runs out like it has recently.  Thousands are dying without Christ and He tells us, "Give them the Gospel!"  So we do.  We share our clothing and we share our food and we share our faith.  Outreach - that's what we're here to do.

          After feeding the 5,000, Jesus said, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."  Jesus isn't here just to give us earthly things;  He's here for eternal things.  Through shedding His precious blood, He forgave us.  Through His perfect life, He fulfilled God's Law, doing what we couldn't.  And now whoever has faith in what Jesus did has eternal life.  People need to know this.  We may know our Savior, but others don't.  They want salvation in wrong things and are going down the road to perdition.  They need to know Jesus!

          Christ came to this world, not to fix our earthly troubles, but to fix our real trouble - SIN.  The worst thing in life is not bills or stress or bad health - it's eternal death.  Physical death is nothing compared with eternal death and separation from God.  The pains of hell never go away.  You're forever in crisis.  You never get better.  You're always falling off the mountain.  For some of us, that's life right now!  But there's hope in Jesus, the Bread of Life.  Let's share our hope!  Let's feed God's people!

          But first you must come to know the Lord.  We must trust Him for everything.  When you know He's the Bread of Life, then you can feed others.  Regular worship and regular Bible study give us strength for daily life.  Let's share that hope!

          The disciples thought feeding all those people was impossible, but the Lord provided.  Twice in my life I've been flat broke with no hope of paying my bills, and both times the Lord brought me what I needed.  Several times I've made a financial commitment to God I had no idea how I'd pay, and He provided.  How about you?  What's your story?  How has He blessed you unexpectedly?  I know you have one, so be ready to share it.  May God bless us all with faith to know that He provides.  Amen

Copyright © 2003 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.