Man,
do I love a good pot roast! With juicy brown gravy, mashed potatoes, green
beans w/ onions, and lest we forget the plump buttered rolls,
southern comfort at its best! You guessed it, I love to eat. I especially love
family gatherings where we all come together and eat. The food, the fun, the
laughter- always a party! Not only family meals, but the church family coming together
for a church-wide luncheon often called "Dinner on the Grounds."
Meaning everyone brings a dish for a potluck lunch on the church campus, most
likely in the fellowship hall. At this esteemed event, there are typically
several casseroles and other dishes that were deemed "mystery dishes"
because we didn't know what was in it or who made it, yet there was always
something better around the next ladle. If you were really quick, you
could get the fried chicken before it ran out. (Fried Chicken was always the
first to go.) Regardless of the dishes that lay before us, we always had a good
time and there were always leftovers.
Speaking
of leftovers, let's visit a hillside in the first century AD to witness one of
the greatest "Dinner on the Grounds" around. It had been a full day
of teaching, preaching, and healing. The people, close to 10,000 with women and
children, were extremely hungry and started letting the ushers know, aka the
disciples.
5 As
evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote
place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to
the villages and buy themselves some food.”
16 Jesus
replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 “We
have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
18 “Bring
them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit
down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to
heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the
disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They
all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of
broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who
ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Isn't it interesting that the disciples
who had just witnessed multiple miracles including healing of the sick didn't
even think about what God could do with food? They assessed the situation and
realized, "we better get these people out of here before we have a riot.
We have little food and thousands of hungry people." I don't know about
you, but when I'm hungry and my blood sugar is low, watch out because I tend
not to be myself. I love the Snickers commercial that portrays Johnny Manziel
leading aerobics instead of throwing touchdowns. At the end, the announcer
reads this line "You aren't you when you're hungry." It's so true! Therefore, I'm sure these people who were hanging on to every word of Jesus felt
the exact same way. They probably were like, "I'm thankful for the good
word, bro, but I need some eats, I mean like pronto, sir." They
had been healed, they had been taught and now they expected Jesus to feed them.
Reasonable, but ironic just the same. He had just fed them himself, the Bread
of Life and who eat of it shall never go hungry. Yet, they were hungry. But
Jesus understood that they needed spiritual food and they needed real food. God
cares about every detail of our life, every single one. If He knows how many
hairs are on our heads, He cares about the acne you can't get rid of, He cares
about the bill you can't pay, He cares about the boss that won't listen or the child that who is sick. He cares. Jesus says, "Cast your cares upon me, because
(wait for it)....I CARE FOR YOU!" Praise God for a savior who cares! He
cares so much that He challenges us....He challenges us in order to see where we are in our
trusting of His caring. If we trust He spoke the world into existence, can we not trust him with everything, great or small, in our everyday life? If we trust that He saves us from sin and for eternal redemption, can we not trust Him for grace in everyday life?
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." Proverbs 3: 5-6
Matthew A. Butter is an itinerant preacher/published writer in the San Antonio area. In addition, he is married to Sonya, who has the big job of homeschooling their three children.
Twitter: @thebutterlife
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thebutterlife
Sermons & Songs: https://soundcloud.com/thebutterlife
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/
Sermons & Songs: https://soundcloud.com/
