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HOUSMAIL HM013
23
October 1998 SOUP KITCHENS AND THE GOSPEL It
was one of those times when just one thing after another piled up, draining
energy and emotions. Jesus
had just received the news of the death of John the Baptist. (Matthew 14:12-13) The twelve had just
arrived back, excited by the results of their first "two by two"
preaching mission. (Mark 6:30) Many visitors were coming and going, and they hadn't had a
break ..... not even time to eat. (Mark 6:31) So Jesus simply took the disciples and left! They got into a
boat, and sailed away from there to a lonely place, hoping to be by
themselves. But
the crowds followed on foot. A great crowd was already there waiting when the
boat arrived! (Matthew 14:13)
They were milling around like sheep without a shepherd. There were many sick
amongst them. When Jesus saw them, his heart went out to them, and He had
compassion on them. The need of the crowd was far more important than His
personal feelings of grief for John the Baptist. His fatigue and hunger were
set aside. He began instead to minister to THEIR many needs. Mark
tells us that He began to teach them many things. Luke tells us that He spoke
to them of the Kingdom of God. Matthew and Luke both add that He healed the
sick amongst them. It
must have been a truly amazing spectacle. (And a long sermon!) It was an
astounding demonstration of the power and love of God. It was an
extraordinary confirmation from God that Jesus was the Messiah. The
teaching and healing had occupied most of the day. Nightfall was closing in
and the people needed to eat. (So did the twelve!) The apostles wanted Jesus
to send the crowd away to the nearby villages and countryside, to buy food.
But for that crowd, on that day, God wasn't yet finished. There was still one
more thing to be done, to confirm God's approval of Jesus' teaching about the
coming Kingdom of God. That led to the miracle of the feeding of the five
thousand men. (plus, women and children!) But
it seems that most of the people present, missed the important point. John
puts his finger on the problem. The crowds were NOT there for the preaching!
John tells us that the reason they gathered, was to see the miracles. (John 6:2) And alas, both the
teaching and the miracles were easily forgotten. As we shall see from the
events of the next day, it was that FREE MEAL, more than anything else, that
really got the attention of the crowd. When
the day was over; when compassion, and love, and power had run their course;
When there was no more that could be done; it was time to leave again. Back
to the boat and across the lake once more. But again, the crowd followed and
found them. This
time Jesus challenged them about their real motives for being there. They
were certainly not there for the teaching. They were not there, even for the
miracles. They were there, Jesus said, because they expected the next FREE
MEAL! (John 6:26-27)
However, all they got that day, was a sermon designed to satisfy a different
kind of hunger and GUARANTEED to eliminate the "freeloaders" from
the scene! Of
course, Jesus DID have the power to repeat the miracle of the loaves and
fishes. But it is also clear that He was unwilling to use either miracles, or
free meals, to attract audiences who were not in the least interested in the
message of the Kingdom of God. His preaching that day, was deliberately
designed to drive away all but those with hearts searching for God. To hear
the WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE required a decision to stay with Him, without
promise of either miracles or free food. (John
6:66-69) So it is still, today! There
is an important lesson in this for us. Of course, we are NOT saying that we
should ignore our need to learn and exercise compassion. Nor are we saying
that it is permissible to withhold the necessities of life, when the need is
genuine, and we have the resources to meet that need. But
we are saying that our primary calling is to proclaim the Kingdom of God,
with its demanding call to repentance and obedience. If people will not spend
time amongst us to hear THAT teaching, we are under no more compulsion than
Jesus felt that day, to attempt to attract or retain an audience by offering
free food, or miracles, .... or any other "bait" of a similar kind. When
an audience hears the TEACHING OF JESUS from our lips, rejects it, and
leaves, we need feel no guilt that we have nothing more "appealing"
to offer. The
message entrusted to us is NOT for those whose ears are closed. (Matthew 13:13) It is designed by
God to speak ONLY to those who search for God with ALL their heart. For
those, we need no clever "gimmicks", or "advertising
techniques", or human psychology, or entertainment as "bait"
to draw the crowds. We are not to embellish it, disguise it, hide it, water
it down, or change it! If we do any of those things, it will no longer appeal
to ears that are open to listen to God. Instead, it will attract those others
whose spiritual blindness and deafness prevents them from seeing, and hearing,
and understanding the REAL message of the Kingdom of Heaven. We
are to prayerfully search out this message correctly for ourselves. We are to
have no fear of those who reject it, and us with it. We are not to be
embarrassed by ridicule, or any accusations that the message is outdated, or
lacking in "political correctness". What we have learned as it was
whispered to us by Jesus in the secret place, is to be shouted from the
housetops ..... for: "How shall they hear without a preacher?" Allon |