Some of us need our coffee to get going in the morning. Can I get an amen? I feel like I'm always teetering right on the edge of having too little or too much... A solid cup in the morning and I'm like a finely tuned thinking machine... two cups and I get just a bit jittery. No coffee, and well, let's just not go there. I'll just let this cup picture that's been circling online speak for itself
I actually drink most of my coffee at Starbucks. I've been a gold card holder there since 2012... but my Starbucks days have hit tough times... I'm getting married this summer and as I'm talking to my fiancée the other day she slyly mentioned that maybe coffee at Starbucks several times a week isn't going to be in the cards any more... Well then.
I'll be able to make it through the day regardless of whether my coffee is Folgers, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts or whatever else. But the reality is there are things we need a bit more than coffee.
I'm speaking of physical and tangible needs. You need a reliable car to get to work. You need shelter to stay warm in sporadic Illinois winters (It's liable to be 65 and sunny or 20 and snowy any day after all). You need healthy food to maintain a general state of wellness. You need access to the right medical care to maintain your health.
Many would expand this out of course to less tangible but probably more important needs. We need love and support from a loyal community. We need to sense that our lives are full of meaning and purpose.
The question we're asking today is, does God really care about those things? And if He does, how can we know He's actually doing anything about those things? Really, does God... the God of the universe actually care about our needs?
One of the greatest barriers to humans finding God and Following Jesus is the biting reality that our needs don't always seem to be met. We're forced to take public transit to work. Forced to draw on unemployment. Forced to go into debt when our medical benefits wear out. Forced to sell our home when were tendered divorce papers, or when we can't afford the property tax. Forced to cut back at the grocery store. Really, God, do you care?
In Matthew 6, Jesus offered this on whether or not God cares... 25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew 6:25-26)
To me that passage brings about great peace. But for many of us, easier said than done, right?
To understand if God really cares about our needs we need to tip our understanding of the world upside down. We need to think about the reality of our lives (all of our met and unmet, wants, needs, and desires), and stand them up next to the way forward that Jesus offers. You are worth far more than sparrows, and God is willing to stand in the Gap with you. But Jesus is calling you to Hop on board with a new way of understanding how our needs our met. (Let's pray.)
Feel free to open your Bibles to the book of Matthew. We'll be starting in Matthew 6... but we'll be bopping around to a few spots throughout Matthew today. When it comes to having our needs provided, of course it's natural to think about praying. Praying... and specifically the part of praying where we ask God to help us.
I've gotten to a place in my life where I pray about essentially everything.
I pray about my future. I pray about the day ahead of me. I pray about my attitude. I pray for my family. I pray for our Church. I even pray for my favorite sports team... But for whatever reason it seems like God isn't listening to my prayers for the Cardinals this offseason...
Sometimes that looks like a private time of solitude. But most of the time it's like mental tweets back and forth to God while I'm driving... or while I'm in a meeting. Or while I'm in my office.
God providing for our needs starts with knowing that God is available.
This is why we pray. This was Jesus' prescription for prayer according to the Gospel of Matthew. This is from Matthew 6:7FF. 7 "When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.9 "Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. (Matthew 6:8-11, NRSV)
Want to tip your understanding of God upside down? How about this: God already knows everything we need. Does this mean that we should stop praying? Of course not. But it does mean that we out to treat our relationship with God differently.
I was actually asking Brad (Our Youth Minister) for marriage advice the other day. He's actually doing Allie and I's premarital counseling. So I asked him how I could get off on the best foot in my marriage, especially when I made it home from work every evening. And you know what He told me... He said "When you get home, immediately ask Allie if the laundry is done, if dinner is made, and if she could turn on the TV to SportsCenter."
I would rather be caught dead than saying something like that. Additionally, Brad did not give me that advice...
So instead of being so presumptuous as to demanding God to provide... We tip our understanding of our needs being provided upside down. First things First... He is God, and we are not... So we praise Him saying"God you're great, and loving and oh so willing to provide more than we could ask for or imagine! You're the awesome one God! You're the reason I'm alive." Instead of demanding anything, we humbly bow before Him trusting that His will (whatever that may be) is better than ours. Then and only then do we ask for the bread.
What would your faith be like if you didn't have a pantry? Most of us do, but the people hearing this prayer were encouraged... Before you pray for your needs... praise God for who He is from a place of trust.
When relationships are transactional they hurt our souls. No matter how much the other person gives, we never get what we actually need if we are only using the other. If we know that doesn't work with our families, why would we expect that the please God?
If we demand God to give us stuff, and to provide our needs before we praise Him and Thank Him (no matter how great those needs are) we're unable to see the way that God is already providing. And it's hard for us to be open to the blessings that God is trying to show us.
If we want to realize God's provision for us, we have to be willing to say thank you first.
Consider for a moment... how often does God truly and tangibly provide for you?
Go ahead and take a deep breath. No seriously. (Gift from God)
Go ahead and tap your shoes on the ground. (Gift from God)
When you walk into the parking lot you leave today to your car... even if that ignition makes a weird sound at first remember... (Gift from God)
When you sit down to whatever restaurant this afternoon... (Gift from God)
Aren't you more valuable than sparrows? Hasn't God provided us with so much more than we could ever recognize? If we humble ourselves first, we'll know how much we've blessed, and we'll actually begin to ask for the things we need the most.
Saying thank you first turns out understanding of how God provides upside down. But there's an even more radical shift that God wants to reveal to us. Ready? God wants to use us to provide for others. The feeding of the 5,000 is a story I've run across countless times in my life, but until here recently I feel like I may have missed a huge part of it.
Turn with me to Matthew 14 if you'd like. Right before this passage in Matthew 14 Jesus has just caught the news that John that Baptist has been beheaded. From the Bible we know John had gone ahead of Jesus preaching that the people should repent because the Messiah was coming soon. In Matthew 11 Jesus even said... "among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist..." So after the news Jesus journeys off on boat to the sea of Galilee to pray and be alone. But immediately on the other shore we find a great crowd of people waiting on Him. This is where the scene picks up à
14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." 16 Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." (Matthew 14:14-16, NRSV)
It's incredible to me that even in the midst of the huge crowd, Jesus doesn't balk at the task of providing for them. Instead, He heals their sick. In the midst of the chaos of John's recent beheading Jesus doesn't seek to fill his own emotional needs but rather He has compassion on the crowd. And instead of listening to the disciples recommendation to send the people home, Jesus says "you give them something to eat."
Has it ever struck you that in the midst of us crying out for our needs to be filled (and legitimately so) that God wants to use us to care for His people? If we could gather together the thought bank of legitimate needs within this church even, I'm sure the number of needs would reach into the thousands. That's a lot of needs. How could we ever fill those needs? I'm willing to say that Jesus would still look at us and say "You give them something to eat."
It is vitally important that you invest in real relationships in the Church, because God wants us to build up the Church up then bless the world through us. God wants us to love each other, and bless each other as the Church. Even though the entire crowd (5,000 men... but thousands of women and children as well) needed to eat, Jesus provided. His command remains... "You give them something to eat."
This week our community groups won't have a study guide for traditional study, but in your bulletin is a study guide replacement with ideas on how you can share the love of Jesus within your groups here at Lakeside. Regardless of whether you use this week to rest, or whether you're serving together or simply hanging out together... I want you to begin to consider how God wants to use you to build up the Church and bless to world.
(Group Pitch) If you're not in a group, this is the perfect week to join. We still have 2 months of groups left for this winter/spring session and we want you to experience what it's like to invest into growing relationships in the Church. Our groups meet weekly to study the bible together, pray for one another, and support one another through the ins and outs of life.
The backside of that group insert in your bulletin has a list of all 18 groups that meet at Lakeside. All these groups are open to new members. Will you take a step of faith and commit to the second half of our winter/spring group session? If you're already in a group there is no need to sign up again, but if you aren't already, take out your green communication out and write down the number of the group you'd like to get plugged into. When the ushers come by at the end of service for offering you can drop those cards in the bucket. This week we'll make sure to get you connected to your group leader, so you can be ready to join when groups start up again after next Sunday.
Back to our scene in Matthew 14... Jesus didn't just tell the disciples to solve an impossible problem... He didn't leave them alone after saying "you give them something to eat." He showed them that they had resources that they hadn't tapped into yet. From verse 17 we read... 17 They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." 18 And he said, "Bring them here to me." 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.
It's time to offer what we have to Jesus (where we have little to offer or a lot), so He can build up the Church and bless the world THROUGH us. What little are you willing to offer? Join a group. Or Join a serving team.
If you're in a group... invest into your group. Making your relationships in the Church chief priority, and consider how you can serve those you are doing life together with. We want you to experience the life and joy of relationships in the Church. And we want God to multiply your impact for his sake. Take that next step.
God shows us His provision when we strive to be thankful first.
And God actually uses us to provide for others if we are willing.
When we trust God. Live Thankfully, and Seek to provide for others... God shows us that He really does have everything taken care of.
From Matthew 10 there is one more snapshot where Jesus is about to send his twelve apostles to preach the good news. But He has very specific orders... So he says... "7 As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.' 8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment." (Matthew 10:7-8, NRSV)
So cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast of demons... and don't accept any payment... Jesus even says that the apostles shouldn't take any money with them, or extra clothes, or even shoes. The only thing they should do is stay with the people who welcome them, proclaim the good news... and head to the next town if their message is not welcome.
Sounds like a lot honestly.
But near the end of His instructions Jesus shares some words very similar to what He said in Mathew we heard already in Matthew 6. Jesus says to his apostles... "29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows." (Matthew 10:29-31, NRSV)
Jesus makes it clear to his disciples: God cares for you! But this time, instead of speaking to a larger crowd as Jesus was during the Sermon on The Mount, Jesus is speaking to an intimate group of His followers: the 12 apostles. So Jesus makes it clear to His disciples the closer we follow Jesus... the more our understanding of God providing get's turned upside down.
Jesus said it this way to his disciples:
"39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:39, NRSV)
Jesus flips the way we view our needs being fulfilled upset down. Following Jesus gives us permission to stop worrying about our own needs (as legitimate as they are), and to start trusting that God already knows what we need. Yes, God is willing to provide. But The point is God sets us free from having to provide for ourselves.
When we realize that God has storehouses big enough to feed 5,000, we don't have to go looking for food. When we realize the real way to experience life is to give ours away, we live boldly and freely, instead of living in fear.
God is willing to give us this full life. But we have to be willing to lose our life first. Then we'll truly understand what it means for God to provide.