8/13/06 - Pentecost 10 - John 6:1-15 - The Lord is Patient with His People

THE LORD IS PATIENT WITH HIS PEOPLE
- He forgives our doubts
- He puts up with our pride

I have a quiz question for you today – so I hope you were listening to the Scripture readings a couple minutes ago: how much do you remember about the gospel lesson that serves as our sermon text today? I’ll give you a hint: the gospel lesson was: the feeding of the 5000. Don’t look! Don’t look at the back of your bulletins. How much can you tell me about that famous miracle of Jesus? Do you remember how many loaves of bread there were? Five. Do you remember how many fish there were? Two. Do you remember how many basketfuls of pieces were left over? Twelve. You see? It wasn’t all that hard. You remember a few details about the Lord’s great miracle. But what I’m really wondering is: do you remember the Lord’s patience? Did the Lord’s patience jump out at you when I read through John 6 today? Because the Feeding of the 5000 is more than just an event about Jesus supplying us with what we need. The Feeding of the 5000 is really an amazing story about the Lord’s patience with his people. We see the Lord’s patience with the disciples, the Lord’s patience with the crowd, and the Lord’s patience with us. And today, it really is the intent that we clearly see in this story that the Lord forgives our doubts and he puts up with our pride, because the Lord is forever patient with his people.
The Lord’s patience with his disciples surprises me all the time. They were with the Lord. They heard him speak. He told them things he didn’t tell anyone else. And they still doubted Jesus’ power all the time. And this story is a case in point: Our text comes from chapter 6 of the book of John. But the Feeding of the 5000 wasn’t the first miracle they had seen, of course, In chapter five, it’s recorded that the disciples saw Jesus heal a man who had been crippled for 38 years. In chapter four, John tells us that the disciples saw Jesus heal a boy he never even saw. He just said the words and the boy was healed. And in chapter two, we have Jesus changing water into wine. Jesus clearly displayed his power to the disciples on more than one occasion, but as they stood together in that field in front of that huge crowd, they still doubted what their Lord could do.
When Jesus saw the crowd coming to him, asked one of his disciples a question. Do you remember who that disciple was? Philip. He asked Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” And Scripture tells us that Jesus said this to test him. But what did Philip say? We would have liked him to say, “Lord, you can supply our needs.” But no, he doubts the Lord and responds: “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” Philip had no confidence that the Lord could and would solve the problem. He let his doubts overshadow his faith. But then Andrew, another one of Jesus’ disciples, saw a boy with a few loaves of bread and a couple fish. But Andrew didn’t have much more confidence than Philip did, even he doubted what the Lord could do. Andrew said, “but how far will they go among so many?” Again, he let his doubts overshadow his faith.
But the Lord didn’t chastise his disciples. He didn’t rebuke them for doubting his power. Instead, he performed another miracle! He showed them once again what he could do. He demonstrated that despite their doubts, he has patience with his people.
And it’s a good thing. Because I imagine that dealing with people like us requires a lot of patience. How many times have we doubted what the Lord can do? And the thing is: we’re his disciples! We’ve been with him. We’ve heard him speak. We’ve seen him demonstrate his power time and time again, but time and time again we let our doubts overshadow our faith.
Do you have doubts about a new church building in the near future? Look where we are! We’re still in a store front. We’ve been here for years. And I know some of you are thinking: “Where are we ever going to get the money? Eight years worth of paychecks wouldn’t come close to covering the cost! And look at how many people show up for services! How can so few offerings be spread so far?”
It’s true: we are nowhere close to having enough money to start building. And it’s true: it’s hard to stretch offerings into a future building when we are plenty busy paying the bills here. But have you forgotten what the Lord can do? He fed 5000 men, which means there were women and children there too, so Jesus fed probably over 10,000 people with a handful of food. Don’t you think he could put up a church building with a handful of Christians? Of course he can. He can do anything he wants because “nothing is impossible with God.” Nothing. And he has shown us that throughout Scripture. He has shown us that throughout our own lives. So how can we constantly let our doubts overshadow our faith? I’m embarrassed to say I do. I humbly fall at the feet of our Lord because I do. How could I ever doubt my Lord? How could I ever doubt my Creator, the one who made me, the one who loves me, the one who saves me? How little we remember what he has done. How little we believe what he can do.
But “the Lord is gracious and compassionate. Slow to anger, abounding in love.” These beautiful words from Psalm 103 are really found throughout the OT. And what comforting words they are of the Lord’s patience with his people. He is slow to anger, abounding in love. So when we don’t remember what he’s done, he reminds us again in his Word, and when we doubt what he can do, he does more than we can ask or imagine. He does not condemn us because of our doubts – he forgives us. Because he was patient enough to send his Son to this earth for the people who didn’t want him at all. Christ forgave those who doubted he would ever come. He forgave those who doubted who he really was. He forgave those who doubted what he would accomplish. He forgave those whose doubts sometimes overshadow their faith. Because of our doubts, we sometimes fall. Because of God’s patience, he always forgives.
It is a great comfort to know that Jesus always forgives our doubts, but it’s very comforting to know that he also puts up with our pride. He puts up with us for thinking we know better than he does – which is exactly what happened during the Feeding of the 5000. After Jesus had performed that great miracle and had given that entire crowd as much as they wanted to eat – do you remember what the crowd wanted to do? “Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again into the hills by himself.” After the Lord’s incredible display of power, the people were thinking, “Hey, let’s make this guy king whether he likes it or not. If we need food, he can get it. If we need water, he can get it. If we need clothes, he can get it. In fact, we’re not going to need anything for the rest of our lives! He says his kingdom is in heaven? Hey, his kingdom is going to be a lot better for us here on earth.”
What a haughty attitude that crowd had. They had an attitude that was filled with pride. An attitude that really said: our idea is better than what the Lord has come up with. But is that such a surprising attitude? Don’t you think the same things and say those same words? And, unfortunately, it usually happens during prayer, doesn’t it? You’ll sit down to pray tonight and you’ll say, “Here’s the problem, Lord. This is the way I need you to fix it. And the sooner the better. Amen.” Now you might not be that blunt, but that’s the outline of a lot of your prayers, isn’t it? And wow. How can we be so arrogant in our prayers as to think that we actually know what we’re talking about? God may not even see that “problem” as a problem because it’s good for your faith. There may be 127 different ways to fix it and he knows a better one than “the only way” you suggested. Or maybe his timetable is a little different than yours, and he knows that now is not the best time to do what you want him to do. God knows how to how to oversee your life. He doesn’t need help, he doesn’t need suggestions, and he certainly doesn’t need his children acting as if they know better than he does.
It’s a good thing that the Lord is patient, and that he puts up with our pride. Because how many times have we been wrong? Think back to certain times in your life and what you prayed for. You absolutely needed this, or things had to turn out this way, or there was no way you could go on without this problem disappearing. Now how many of those things happened exactly the way you wanted them to at exactly the time you had planned? I can’t answer for you, but I know that my opinions have rarely matched up with what God knew was best for me at the time. And thank the Lord that he still puts up with my pride because I still do it! I still pray to him like that and narrow-mindedly think that the only way something can work is the way I suggest to him. Who do we think we are, that we know better than God?
Thank the Lord that he puts up with our pride and doesn’t immediately cut us off from his love because he would have every right to do it. And thank the Lord that he forgives our doubts and doesn’t give up on us. And the only reason the Lord does that is because he is patient with his people. “Our Lord’s patience means salvation,” Peter says in his second letter. Because of the Lord’s patience, we have a chance to repent. Because of the Lord’s patience, we have an opportunity to see his amazing love for us over time. Because of the Lord’s patience, we have salvation. What a great God we have. And may he always grant us the patience to remember that.

Amen.

“May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”

- 2 Thessalonians 3:5