The extraordinarily ordinary life of a Christian - The Christian trusts God to provide

Matthew 14:13–21 ¹³When Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed him on foot from the towns.

¹⁴When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd. He had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵When evening came, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place and the hour is already late. Send the crowds away, so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

¹⁶But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

¹⁷They told him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

¹⁸“Bring them here to me,” he replied. ¹⁹Then he instructed the people to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish. After looking up to heaven, he blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples. The disciples gave the food to the people. ²⁰They all ate and were filled. They picked up twelve basketfuls of what was left over from the broken pieces. ²¹Those who ate were about five thousand men, not even counting women and children.

“This is the day the LORD has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Ps 118:24) Amen.

The disciples were sensible. And sending the people home was the sensible thing to do. After all, it was getting late in the day and the people needed food. So dismiss them, Jesus. Tell them that’s all for today, go home and get a bite to eat.

But Jesus does not live within the boundaries of the sensible. It was not sensible to tell fishermen who had been fishing all night and caught nothing to go back out in the day when the fish went deep and try again – but Jesus did, and provided a great catch. It was not sensible to assert that a girl who had died was simply asleep – but Jesus did, and then showed it by raising her from the dead. In the same way, it was not sensible for Jesus to tell his small group of disciples when faced with a crowd of well over 5,000 hungry people: “You give them something to eat.” But Jesus did. Perhaps the disciples were getting used to that by now, as part of their continuing education, because they don’t object. They simply take what they have and give it to Jesus. Five loaves of bread and two fish. And it is enough. For anything in the hands of the Lord is always enough. And more than enough.

Jesus then says grace – a blessing God from whose hands come bread and fish. Then the bread passes from the hands of Jesus to the hands of the disciples, and from the hands of the disciples to the hands of the people. They now do as Jesus had told them, giving them all something to eat. All of them not only eat – they have their fill. Jesus is lavish with his gifts. He does not carefully measure out to each an exact portion: 2 ounces of bread and 1 ounce of fish for each adult. There you go, that’s enough, move along. No. Jesus gives and gives and keeps on giving. More than we think. More than we expect. More than we imagine.

For here in this man Jesus is our giving God in human flesh. And the flock is satisfied. In Jesus, they have everything they need. While the towns and villages the people came from were places of want and need, the desolate place had become a place of plenty. They were satisfied, which I think means much more than  their tummies were full. They were filled with more than earthly food, but with the Bread of Life. They were no longer harassed and helpless sheep, worried about John the Baptizer, Herod and death. For that day, they were no longer concerned about hunger, healing, hurting and what would happen next. For a few hours with Jesus they were sheep at peace. Sheep at the feet of their Shepherd. Sheep who did not want to be anywhere else but where they were.

You see, sometimes it takes the wilderness, the desolate times and solitary places in our lives, to get us to understand that there is no better place to be. It’s when we are weak that we find our strength in Christ. It’s when we are helpless that we find comfort in our Comforter and Counselor. It’s when we are hurting that God provides healing. It’s when we are lost and alone that our Good Shepherd calls and finds us. It’s when we are hungry that the Lord answers our prayers for daily bread. But even when things seem to be going well, when our bellies are full, our pantries are packed and we’re tucked into our warm beds, those are the times that we are just as helpless and weak and vulnerable – we just don’t realize it.

And so it is in the wilderness, in those desolate times and places, that our Good Shepherd has us right where he wants us! Not to punish, but that he may have compassion. That having no place else to turn, and no where else to go, we look to him to provide all that we need. To turn the wilderness into green pastures, and the desolate times into times of blessing. So Jesus can do what he came here to do – take care of his sheep. This is the extraordinarily ordinary life of the Christian – trusting that our God provides us with all the care and compassion, health and healing, prosperity and possessions that we need.

When we find ourselves divided on masks and mandates, Jesus unites us around the manna of his Word and Sacrament.

When we see everyone yelling at each other about race and reparations, Jesus whispers his soothing Gospel into our ears and hearts – a Gospel that unites every nation, tribe, people and language.

When we are nervous about viruses, unemployment, overdue surgeries, depression or anything else, Jesus calms our troubled hearts with his divine compassion. He sets everything else aside so he can minister directly and individually to each of us.

When we are angry and fearful from the anger and violence we witness in society, Jesus encourages us to see so many people acting according to their sinful natures. God says the sinful nature is only evil all the time. This reminder turns our anger to sadness and fear to courage so that we might witness to others about the calming peace that only the Prince of Peace can provide.

Though saddened by the Baptist’s death and seeking solitude, Jesus had compassion on the crowds that followed him and healed their sick. Then he turned to the training of his disciples. He told them, “You give them something to eat.” The disciples, however, saw all of the problems and none of the possibilities. They could estimate how many months’ wages it would cost; they could tally the measly resources on hand. Their math didn’t fail them, but their faith did. They did not begin to understand what kind of Lord they had in Jesus. Jesus taught them that a Christian trusts in God to provide when he said, “Bring them here to me!” They should have done immediately; it should be our first response to want or crisis. Bring it to Jesus. And look how he answered! So much food that thousands were fed and there were bushels left over. Here, the Son of God shows that he even cares for the physical needs of his people. Trust in God to provide!

We look at our Old Testament lesson and see that a Christian trusts that God will provide – even when the plan makes no sense to us. Sold as a slave by his brothers, Joseph could have despaired of God’s care and love. In faith, however, Joseph trusted in God to provide for his needs and his future. Year after year, God did just that and raised Joseph from the depths of prison to dizzying heights of power. By the age of 30 he controlled one of the greatest empires the world has ever known. And it was all so God could provide for his people. He used Joseph as his tool to fill the granaries during the seven fat years that he might give bread to the people during the seven lean years. So great was God’s blessing that they stopped counting the grain! The grace in God’s provision can be seen not only in the thousands of Egyptians saved from starvation, but most especially in the grain he provided to Jacob and his sons during the famine.

Though he was sold as a slave, God made Joseph second in command of Egypt that he might be God’s hand providing food to preserve the bloodline of the Savior. How often we look at our lives and see only problems and none of the possibilities that God would work in us and through us! Look at Joseph and learn again to trust God to provide.

We need to learn this. We need to trust this. We need to apply and live this. So, when we are stuck in the “wilderness” times in our lives; when we are in that desolate place – alone, forsaken, troubled, worried, scared or depressed. We need to trust that we are not there by accident. Nor has our Lord left us. No, it is where our Shepherd wants us to be, that we may learn of him, and his care and compassion. That we might learn to rely not on ourselves, but on his divine providence. That we may trust that wherever our Shepherd leads us, that it is good. That it is what we need. And that our Lord is in control, even when it seems as if everything is spinning out of control.

Jesus gives us all that we need. He gives and gives and keeps on giving. More than we think. More than we expect. More than we imagine.

Because the hands of Jesus that held those five loaves of bread and two fish and fed so many people, were the same hands that took the nails and wood of Calvary. The hands of your Savior, who came to provide what you need the most: the restoration of your life with God in the forgiveness of your sin. To provide this forgiveness and restoration for not just 5 thousand or 5 million or 5 billion people – but each and every person. Every person from Adam and Eve until the last little boy or girl conceived before Jesus comes again. Every person, including you and me. He came in compassion to do his saving work, shepherd, save, forgive and feed.

In Holy Baptism, the hands of Jesus have taken a person born dead in sin and raised you to a new life in Christ. In those waters his hands have made a saint out of a sinner, a son out of a rebel, and a daughter out of a delinquent.

In Holy Absolution, the hands of Jesus take a person who has again plunged back into the filth of the sin of this world, and washes you clean in forgiveness. A forgiveness that is not carefully and stingily measured out, but which is lavished upon you, with plenty to spare!

In the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus is giving you a banquet that never runs out, a feast of victory that will not end with this life, but will continue throughout eternity in heaven. Maybe, just maybe, Jesus can do more than we ever ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

Are you worried about what you will eat or how you will pay your bills or how you will recover from your surgery or what school will look like or if there will be athletics to play and sports to watch? You’re not alone.

But the extraordinarily ordinary life of the Christian is trusting that God provides all that we need – more than we need. He provides for us physically, mentally and spiritually. And he always will.

And he even has leftovers. Amen.

“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his own blood and made us a kingdom and priests to God his Father—to him be the glory and the power forever.” (Revelation 1:5–7) Amen.