Loaves and Fishes

[00:00:08] We're going to talk this morning about the second reading, okay? This is the second. This is the reading from John, chapter six, where Jesus fed somebody. Raise your hand. How many people see here? How many people? [00:00:23] 5000 men. And probably the others as well. [00:00:28] So more than 5000 people. [00:00:32] That's a lot. That's a lot. Now, if you were going to go out into the wilderness for the day, let's say, what kinds of things would you bring with you? [00:00:46] Sabrina? [00:00:53] Right. So if you're going to go with your family or with your school or with a whole lot of people, you think you're going to think about maybe bringing a snack or maybe a meal or a couple? [00:01:06] Maverick. [00:01:11] Yeah. Yeah. Well, here's the problem with that. Maverick. That's a good idea. You could buy, but. [00:01:20] And there's no McDonald's out there in the wilderness, okay? [00:01:25] So they go out there and it's like, oops, maybe we should have brought something. Right, Declan? You can say something. [00:01:41] Yes. Couple of waters, couple sodas, couple ICE packs. Definitely. You're going to need those things, right? Okay. Yes. One more. [00:01:51] Oh, clothing. Yes. [00:01:55] Okay. So if you're going to take a trip out into the wilderness for the day, you're going to want to be prepared. [00:02:02] Okay? These people, they didn't. They weren't prepared. They went out into the wilderness following Jesus. And they didn't bring anything with them? They didn't bring any food. Well, one boy did, right? One boy had how many loaves of bread? [00:02:19] Five. And how many fish? [00:02:21] Five loaves of bread and two fish. And Jesus used that to feed everybody. [00:02:30] Now, here's the cool thing. They just followed Jesus out there and he provided for them, right? They didn't need anything else. He provided bread for them and fish. [00:02:45] That's right. [00:02:47] Okay, so let's think about this for ourselves, all right? Those people were going out into the wilderness. Why? What did they want to do? [00:02:57] They were following Jesus. What did they want to do? [00:03:01] Buddy, buddy, what did they want to do? [00:03:11] Did they just think Jesus was going on a cool hike and they just wanted to go on the same hike? So they were like, oh, look, that's the path he took. And then they're all like, beautiful. This is cool. Is that what they were doing? No, Sabrina, they were following. [00:03:35] Oh, to get. [00:03:37] Ah, to get. [00:03:40] Maybe. Maybe. I think they were looking for something else. Yeah. Hattie, they wanted to hear Jesus teach. They wanted Jesus words. [00:03:52] They went out into the wilderness going after his words. [00:03:57] They wanted to learn from him. [00:03:59] Now, there's something about hearing somebody's words. That's kind of like eating. [00:04:07] Okay? And here's what I mean. [00:04:14] Here. I want you to take my words and hold on to them. And don't forget them. Okay? [00:04:22] Here are my words. [00:04:25] Hand, tooth, water bottle. [00:04:31] Who can tell me those things? Raise your hand. Raise your hand. [00:04:38] Okay, let's hear it. Riley, you remembered them. You remembered. So listen. It's like you heard them. They came in through your ears, because that's how you hear, right? And then they stayed there, right. And then you gave them right back. Okay, so when we hear words, they actually change us. [00:05:02] It's like before, you didn't have those words in your head, but I kind of put them in there because you listened to me. [00:05:08] And then now you had them, right? And that changed it. So if your parents tell you the plan for the day, like, hey, we're going to go out into the wilderness for a picnic, well, now you know that. And that's going to change what you do that day. [00:05:23] Or your parents say, time to get ready for school. [00:05:28] And you listen to that, and that changes what you do. [00:05:31] See what I mean? Or someone says, I love you. And then you, ah, isn't that beautiful? When somebody says they love you or God loves you, that can really change you. [00:05:45] So when we hear words, they actually change us. [00:05:50] It's like this. Did you know that when you eat food, it becomes a part of you? [00:05:56] Did you know that your body is made of food? Like when you eat food and such, it's because your body needs food all the time. It needs food to build your body. Okay, so you're eating food. You're eating. Well, the same thing happens with hearing things. That's why you're in school. It's so that your teachers can speak words to you and you can hear those words and be changed, be transformed by that. And then as you go through school, you go from first to second to third to fourth to fifth to 6th to 7th to 8th grade, and then beyond. And each year, it's like you've grown. Not like. I mean, you have grown, your body's grown, but that's because you're eating food. But your mind, your memory, your knowledge and understanding, those grow because you've been eating words. [00:06:41] Right? [00:06:43] Okay, so those people, they went out into the wilderness following Jesus because they wanted to eat his words. They wanted to hear his words and be changed by. [00:06:56] Okay, Jesus said once, well, he was actually quoting something God said back in the Old Testament. He said, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God, right? There are two kinds of eating there. [00:07:16] Eating words and eating food. [00:07:19] All right? So we're here to look to Jesus who died for us and rose from the dead, and who teaches us, right? We're here to sit at Jesus'feet like he's our teacher, right? To follow him out into the wilderness and to listen to him. [00:07:38] And the cool thing is that he provides for his people, not just like food and clothes and house and home and everything that we need for our bodies, but also he provides us words that give life. [00:07:56] There are words that don't help anything or that even make things worse, but there are words that give life. And Jesus has those words. A little bit after this. In John six, where Jesus feeds 5000 people, a little bit after this, Jesus says to his disciples, are you going to come back and hear more from me? And they say, of course, Jesus. Where else would we go? You have the words of eternal life. [00:08:26] They say, your words give us eternal life. [00:08:30] So here we are in the wilderness. In Lent, we're in the wilderness to listen to Jesus. [00:08:38] That's what our minds are set on. They're set on Jesus words. We can do that listening to teachers, listening to God's word in church. [00:08:47] We can do that remembering words of God that we've heard before, like that he loves us. Or you can think of Bible verses that you're learning in school. Just remember this. Remember this. That Jesus provides. He gives the words of eternal life. In Jesus name, amen.