Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:05] Hey, everybody. Pastor Chuck Allen here. And today I want to talk about a very familiar passage. Most of us have heard these stories for years.
[00:00:14] And welcome to the weekday podcast.
[00:00:17] As we take a look at this familiar story. You can find it in John, chapter six and Matthew, chapter 14, in Mark, chapter six, and in Luke nine, a story about hunger, generosity, and the extraordinary power of Jesus, especially when we think about the least of things and how Jesus measures those.
[00:00:42] But it's a story about something small.
[00:00:45] A little boy having five loaves and two fish.
[00:00:49] Not 500 loaves, not a truckload of supplies.
[00:00:52] Five small loaves, the food of ordinary people and two fish. And somehow, in the hands of Jesus, that tiny offering becomes a massive blessing. Now, maybe that's exactly what you need to remember today.
[00:01:08] God is not limited by the size of what you bring.
[00:01:13] Whether it is your gifts, whether it is your talent, whether it is your thoughts, whether it is your opinions, or maybe it's a skill set that seems like it's insignificant. And yet in the hands of Jesus, it's fantastic.
[00:01:28] Because when you look at this food of ordinary people and how small it was compared to the thousands that were in the crowd and the hands of Jesus, that tiny offering became a massive blessing.
[00:01:43] Maybe that's exactly what you need to remember today.
[00:01:47] God is not limited by the size of what you bring.
[00:01:52] I just can't say that loud enough. I want to say it loud enough for the people in the back.
[00:01:56] The disciples saw this massive crowd. Now, the Bible says there's 5,000 men. Now, imagine that there are at least that many women and children. So let's just assume that you might have 8, 9, 10,000 people. Who knows? But we know there was a minimum of 5,000 men.
[00:02:17] So what we have is a massive crowd. What we have is a massive problem. They're hungry. They're starving. We need to feed them. We're about to lose them.
[00:02:26] So this could have been a significant day in which the right thing doesn't happen.
[00:02:34] They're in a remote place. The day's getting late. People are starving. The disciples did the math. They looked at the crowd, checked the resources, and then said, we don't have enough.
[00:02:48] I've been there, and I bet you have.
[00:02:51] You look at the need in front of you and you think, I don't have enough energy.
[00:02:55] I don't have enough money. I don't have enough influence. I don't have enough wisdom. I don't have enough time.
[00:03:04] Maybe the need is in your family. Maybe it's in your church.
[00:03:10] Maybe it's in a relationship that feels too broken. Maybe you're carrying concern for a child or a friend or a neighbor or a co worker, and all you can see is what you lack.
[00:03:24] Well, Andrew, one of the 12, brings up the boy's lunch and almost dismisses it as soon as he mentions it. I mean, he says, here's a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish. But how far will they go among so many? I mean, it's almost like, you know, Jesus. This is all we got. I mean, we're just kind of. We're in a mess.
[00:03:51] And the question is pretty honest and it's logical and it's understandable, but it's not the last word. Because Jesus doesn't ask the disciples to create what they don't have. He asked them to bring what they do have. The boy's lunch was just a tiny thing in the crowd's eyes. But little is not useless when it surrendered to Jesus. Can I say that one more time?
[00:04:21] Little is not useless when it is surrendered into the hands of Jesus. That's the turning point in the story. The miracle doesn't begin with abundance. It begins with availability.
[00:04:33] The bread was ordinary, the fish was ordinary, the offering was small. But the hands receiving it were the hands of Jesus. He takes the loaves, he gives thanks, he breaks them, and he distributes them. Everybody ate. Everyone had enough. And afterward, the disciples gathered 12 baskets full of leftovers. What begins as lunch becomes a feast. What looked insufficient, well, it becomes more than enough. What seemed like the least of things being became the source of a massive blessing. That's how God often works. He uses a shepherd boy named David and a stone to defeat a giant. A widow's small jar of oil to meet a desperate need. A baby placed in a basket on a river to deliver a nation. A teenage girl from Nazareth to carry the Savior of the world. He uses fishermen, tax collectors, ordinary people to carry the good news across the world. And God delights in and showing that the power was never in the size of the offering, the powers in him.
[00:05:30] Sometimes we delay obedience because we're wanting to feel better prepared. We think, when I have more money, I'll be generous. When I have more confidence, I'll speak up. When I have more time, I'll serve. When I have more clarity, I'll take the next step. But what if the next step is the miracle starting place? What if God's asking you to offer that small thing already in your hand?
[00:05:54] Things like a kind word, a meal for somebody who's struggling. A phone call, an invitation to church. An hour of serving, maybe a prayer. Prayed in faith. A small financial gift, A willingness to listen. A simple act of forgiveness.
[00:06:09] None of those things feel dramatic. I know none may seem big enough to matter, but the Kingdom of God is full of stories that began with someone offering what seemed insignificant.
[00:06:20] I would just say for all of us today, ask yourself, what's in my hands now?
[00:06:27] And then ask a better question.
[00:06:29] What might Jesus do with it? Thanks for joining me today on the weekday podcast. And remember, the least of things surrendered into the hands of Jesus can become a massive blessing. How beautiful is that? God bless you. Have an awesome day.
[00:06:45] Sam.
