Luke's Gospel

It's always worth reminding ourselves that this is the word of god. And, as we come to it and have it read and preach god god speaks to us through his word. It's an incredible thing, isn't it, that we might be addressed, by the living god through his word? And, that's what this is, in in Luke chapter 9. So we're gonna read the first 17 verses.

When Jesus had called the 12 together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of god and to heal those who were ill. He told them Take nothing for the journey. No staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.

So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news, and healing people everywhere. Now, herod, the Tetrarch heard about all that was going on, and he was perplexed. Because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that 1 of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. But herod said, I beheaded John. Who then is this?

I hear such things about, and he tried to see him. When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to town called Beth Sader, but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them. And spoke to them about the kingdom of god and healed those who needed healing.

Late in the afternoon, the 12 came to him and said, send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging. Because we are in a remote place here. He replied, you give them something to eat. They answered, We have only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, unless we go and buy food for all this crowd, About 5000 men were there. But he said to his disciples, make them sit down in groups of about 50 each The disciples did so, and everyone sat down.

Taking the 5 loaves and the 2 fish and looking up to heaven he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the the disciples to distribute to the people. They all ate and was satisfied. And the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. Alright.

Thank you, Tom. So, lot to get through tonight. We've got these 2 incredible events going on here. And, it's it's probably worth saying, no 1 preaches these 2 passages together. I have not been able to find a single person who's done that.

So this would be a first perhaps, but, but what I hope is, that we're gonna see What Luke is trying to show us by putting these 2 things together. This is his orderly account. He's ordered it like this. For a reason. So what is he trying to show us?

The feeding of the 5000, you can find in all 4 gospels. And descending out of the 12, you can find in 3 of the gospels. In none of the gospels, do you find these 2 accounts together exactly like this? Mark comes pretty close but not in exactly the same way. So what is Luke showing us?

Well, there's a small verse that sandwich in between, these 2 accounts, which is, you know, understandably easily overlooked, But which has really particularly struck me and has been on my heart and has been niggling away during during my prep, for this and, it's first 9. And it's herod saying, well, I beheaded John. Who then is this, I hear such things about? Now, it seems a bit out of place. Why is it suddenly switched to herod?

Why are we suddenly getting the inner workings of herod's mind? In between these 2 accounts, and there is a reason for it. And I think that once we start to unpack it a bit, we'll start to see, what Luke's trying to say. We'll we'll hopefully gain a better understanding of these 2 events and some of the stuff that's going on there. So I can only guess that god has something that he wants to say to us through that tonight, quite quite how that's going to apply to each and every person in this room.

I do not know because I just can't. There's too many of you, and it will apply in a multitude of different ways I hope. But before we start, let's, let's pray. Father, this is your word. These are amazing accounts of of Jesus' life, his ministry, the disciples ministry, and the effect that it had on many people, please, give us open eyes and ears and hearts to, to receive this news.

Please help us each of us individually to be applying this, in our own lives as we, as we hear it. Okay. Versus 1 to 6 is our first point, and that's the miraculous mission. That's the first point if you're taking notes. The miraculous mission.

So, verses 1 to 2, when Jesus had called the 12 together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and secure diseases. And he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of god and to heal the sick. So Jesus calls the boys together, and he says, lads, I think you are ready to go out on a mission. In fact, I'm sending you out You're ready. It's time I want you to go out to the surrounding villages from place to place, and I want you to proclaim the kingdom of heaven.

I want you to tell them the good news that the kingdom of heaven is near and I'm going to give you some power and authority with which to do this. So I'm going to give you some power to drive out all demons. Small, large, whether there's a legion, whether there's a single demon. I'm gonna give you power to drive them all out whatever comes in your way, whatever you come across. You've got the power to drive them from before you and to cure diseases.

Anyone that comes up to you with a disease or an illness or an ailment whether that be physical or spiritual or mental, whether they're blind, therefore dumb, lame, anything at all, terminally ill, you are going to be able to cure that. That's some pretty heady power to be suddenly endowed with out of the blue. And the reason that I'm gonna give you that power is because you're preaching the kingdom is because I want you to give people a taste of what the kingdom is really like. Because the kingdom is incompatible with demonic activity, The kingdom is incompatible with disease and illness and death. So you're going to cure those things and give people a taste so that they can taste and see that the kingdom is good and you're gonna be inviting them to repent of their ways and come in to the kingdom.

That is what I'm sending you out to do. Brilliant. Great. The disciples go. We're we're all over this.

Sounds awesome, up for it. And you can just sort of imagine Peter like seizing the moment in his mind, he's already thinking right, Matthew, you're gonna get the logistics sorted out. John, I want you to plan out where we're going to be staying from night to night, James. Can you think about provisions, food, water, so on and so forth, Judith? We're going to need some sort of budget for this.

Wait, there's more. There's more. I don't want you to take anything with you. Take nothing for the journey says Jesus. Wait.

What? That that that wasn't what I was expecting him to say. Yeah. Yeah. Take nothing for the for the journey.

Okay, guys. I think what Jesus is saying is that he wants us to go really quickly so we don't have time to sort things out. So, Judith, make sure you bring the money because I think he's saying we're just gonna do things on the fly and buy things as we go. No. Take nothing for the journey.

No staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt, take absolutely nothing with you. Can you imagine things I want you to go around London from village to village, town to town as you are. In fact, if you've got anything in your pockets, Yeah. I know, mate. Well, you're gonna have to lose that, all of it and just go as you are.

You'll be fine. Don't worry. Yeah. No, don't worry about the shower. That would be fine.

It's taken care of. They have nothing, absolutely nothing, or do they? They don't exactly have nothing do they. They have Jesus' word. They have Jesus' word that everything else is surplus to requirement.

You have my word now go. Now fortunately, for us, this isn't the normal command or the expected behavior for ministry. Jesus gives specific instructions for this specific mission at this specific time, and he only ever does that really once or twice. He's very specific. In his instructions here.

This isn't a universal pattern for all ministry. So when we take on Safron and Ben, into into the ministry positions in the church. We're not going to say to them guys, we're not going to give you any money. We're not going to pay you. We're not going to do anything.

Fact, you've got basically what you're wearing now. Kerry, you're gonna have to get a pay rise if you wanna fund that. But you're just gonna have to go as you are. Really? That's that's not the normal pattern.

Don't worry, guys. We'll look after you. It's fine. But in this case, the specific instruction was given. Jesus was very specific.

And there's 2 main reasons that I want to draw out of that. The first 1 is so that by putting the disciples out of their comfort zone, they had no choice but to rely on Jesus' word. They weren't given a choice. They weren't given creature comforts, They're not called to a comfortable ministry. They're not called, to comfortable lives.

And it's interesting that when you look throughout the Bible, and the new testament and the gospels. Anyone who is seeking to follow Jesus really follow Jesus. None of them have a comfortable life. To some degree or other, every single follower of god loses comfort in some area to some varying degree or other. For for some of us, it's losing the comfort of time or energy or the spending of our money for others, they have to sacrifice more, their careers.

For some, even their very lives. Varying degrees, but in all cases, it's not a comfortable ministry, this. It's not for our comfort. That's pretty universal. Now, the other specific reason and 1 that we can draw draw out here is is actually quite a bit more specific to this story.

And that's by going out with nothing. They're putting themselves at people's mercy. And the people have a choice to make. They have to accept them, or they have to reject them. And they do that by how they react to them.

So you see these guys coming, you hear what they're preaching, you hear what they're saying, You see the miracles that they're working, the demons they're driving out, the people that are healed, and you you have to make a choice about that. What's going on here? What are these guys about? Now, if you reject them, then you have to leave them out in the cold with nowhere to stay, with no food to eat, with no roof over their heads. In in a way, you're leaving them out to die.

The message is dead to you. They're dead to you. Go away. Don't wanna know. But if you accept them, then you take them in.

You'd feed them. You'd look after them. You'd take care of their needs before they go on their way the next place. Now, let me say this pretty clearly. You do not want to be the 1 who hears and sees this work and rejects it.

That is not a camp that you want to find yourself in. If you notice in verse 5, the disciples were told Another instruction. If you, if people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off of your feet as a testimony, against them. Now, you have to understand the cultural significance of that because shaking the dust off of your feet was traditionally something that Jews would do when they were coming back from a gentile land into Jewish territory. So they're going from non Jewish territory into Jewish territory and they would symbolically signify it.

The separation between the 2, I'm not even gonna bring the dust of this place into our land. It's separate from us. We are separate. We are different. That is their land.

This is our land. I shake the dust off my feet. And move back into jurist territory. So for Jews to do this to Jews is hugely offensive. What Jesus is telling them to do is gonna stir things up a bit.

He's telling his disciples to say to anyone who doesn't accept them, not even just accept them, anyone who doesn't welcome them, that they are no longer part of god's kingdom. You are outside the kingdom. He's saying you reject the ones I send. You reject my messengers then you reject me. And you reject me, then I reject you.

And you have no part in god's kingdom. You are no child of god, and I will shake the very dust of your land off my feet as a testimony and judgment against you. Pretty clear, right? Pretty clear cut? Well, we can rub that point in more through, through the next point, through herod.

Point number 2, the confused king. So we've had a miraculous mission. These disciples have gone out into the land and they're stirring things up a bit. And it results in a bit of a confused king. So verses 7 to 9, we pick the story back up.

Now here at the Tetrock, heard about all that was going on, and he was perplexed because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead. Others that Elijah had appeared and still others that 1 of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. But herod said, I beheaded John, who then is this, I hear such things about, and he tried to see him. So word of what's going on has back to herod, not just this mission, but I'm sure all the other things that Jesus was doing have filtered back to herod's ears and it's prompted him to ask this question Who is this person? Who is this person?

He's been hearing these things, and he's confused by them. In fact, he's having a bit of deja vu. It's all sounding a little bit familiar. And he's not the only 1. The people recognize it as well.

John is back from the dead. They're saying John, the Baptist has come back from the dead. Others are saying, Elijah's back. And still others that the prophet of long ago like Moses or someone has appeared. I mean, that's the only real explanation for these things, isn't it?

I mean, did you hear about Jairus's daughter? Did you did you hear about the storm that he calmed? Did you hear about the legion of demons he drove out? And now his disciples are going around doing these things as well. He must be some kind of amazing, big, arch prophet from long ago.

For herod though, he seems to he seems to sort of glaze over these things. He he seems to dismiss the possibility of it being Elijah or some other prophet. He skipped straight to John. Now there's very good reason he skipped straight to John because for him, if John's back, it's a very, very big problem because I killed him. I chopped his head off.

If this guy's back, I am stuffed, herod's thinking, but it can't be him. So who is this that I hear such things about? Poor herod, because if he only understood The danger of the position he's already in, hearing so much, yet understanding so little. To get what is going on here, we need to delve back into the past a bit. So in Mark's account of these things, we are told that herod arrested John because his preaching ultimately became too forceful and too personal to herod.

Because John had been going around preaching repent for people's sins. You need to turn away from what you're doing. And when it came to herod, he got very specific and said, herod, you have taken your brother's wife and made her your own, herodias. That's a disgrace You must repent of this herod, and that's just 1 in a number of evil things that you are doing. You need to repent, okay, you need to change O' King.

So, herod has him locked up. Probably not the wisest move. Now, we're also told in Mark's account that herod greatly feared John because he greatly feared him as a as a prophet as a messenger of god's word. And the people held John in high regard. So herod was afraid of doing anything to John because he didn't want to upset the people.

But we're also told that he liked to hear him preach for some reason, which is weird when you think about this guy's having a go at you all the time, but you kind of like it. It's a bit masochistic, isn't it? It's it's very odd thing. And he liked to hear him preach. Yet he was greatly puzzled by what John Baptist said.

So it's almost it's a little bit weird what's going on with herod here. Hence, a confused king. He's a confused guy herod. He doesn't really know what's going on. Now, herodias, because of all of this, she, she nurses this grudge against John.

She's queen. John, shut up, I'm queen, Stop saying these things. I like being queen, and so she's waiting for the opportune moment to to get rid of John to off him. And it comes, doesn't it? We all, you know, most of us will know the story.

So herod holds, a banquet for all his top dogs, all the officials, all of the military guys, everyone's there. Anyone who's anyone's at this banquet. And herodias manages to instigate this situation where She gets her beautiful daughter to do a dance for herod and all of his cronies. Probably some sort of seductive sexual erotic dance, and it pleases herod so much that he just loses it and blurts out the most ridiculous thing And he goes, my girl. Ask whatever you want.

Up to half the kingdom, it will be yours. Sounds a bit like Esther and xerxes, doesn't it? It's the same thing. Full. What a foolish thing to say Now he's committed himself, and Harodius steps in, takes the girl outside and says, right, my girl.

Here's the opportunity. Go back in there, tell herod you want John the Baptist head on a plate. So in goes the girl, steps up to herod, says I'll have John the Baptist's head. Thank you very much. And herod's thinking, oh, dear.

That's a problem. What does Herrod do? Does he stand up for the messenger? He's in his power too. He takes the easy road, doesn't he?

He takes the easy way out. He doesn't wanna lose face, backed into a corner when pressure comes, the message goes out the door, and off comes John's head. So in that sense, herod knows What's going on up in galilee can't be John, but it sounds so like John. So who is this Jesus? Well, look, herod was privileged enough to be born into the time of the 2 greatest preachers that ever lived.

Jesus being the greatest, and Jesus himself said, after me, no 1 is greater than John the Baptist. And herod had personal preaching, kind of because he had him captive from John, the Baptist, time and time again. And John would have been preaching about the kingdom of god, about the lord Jesus Christ, the lamb of god, who takes away the sins of the world, about herod's need to repent of his sins. Oh, King, turn away from this course and this path that you are on you are doing these evil evil things. Turn back to the real king.

Turn back to him. But for herod, it's nonsense, puzzlement in shoes. Herrod didn't really wanna hear, so he doesn't hear And he didn't really wanna hear because he didn't really wanna change, because he had hardened his heart against that. And in the end, he'd rather sacrifice the messenger and the word so he can have a comfortable life doing whatever he decides is best. Jesus wants us to sacrifice comfort for the message.

Herrod wanted to sacrifice the message for comfort. Do you see the difference? To round this dreadful tail off, let's flick forward with me to Luke 23. For all all of you turn to Luke chapter 23, and if you get to verse 6 of that. So loop 23 versus 6 to 12, Jesus has just been arrested and he's in front of pilate.

On hearing this, pilate asked if the man was a Galileoian. When he heard or when he learned that Jesus was under herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. When herod saw Jesus, He was greatly pleased because for a long time, he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, He hoped to see him perform some miracle. He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there vehemently accusing him.

Then herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to pilots. That day, herod and pilot became friends. Before this, they had been enemies. So pilot sees Jesus is under herod and thinks, fue.

And off the hook here, he can go off to herod. He can deal with this mess. And and for herod, that ties in perfectly. Great. Is pleased to see him.

He's been wanting to see him for a very long time. Remember verse 9 of chapter 9, it says, and he tried to see him. Can't try very hard. I mean, half the country seems to be able to find Jesus and the most powerful man in the country seems to not be able to find Jesus. Clearly finding Jesus was not that much of a priority for herod.

And then it transpires that the only reason herod wanted to see him anyway, will so that Jesus might do some kind of miracle for him, like some kind of genie in a lamp, some kind of magician for herod's entertainment. Herrod in the end just wanted a little Jesus that was gonna do something for him. Something that would make his life a bit better. Just sort this out for me, Jesus. Just do this for me Jesus.

If you do this for me Jesus, then it, then life will largely be okay. He applies Jesus when they meet, doesn't he inverse in chapter 23, with all kinds of questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. Just think about that. Herrod had had his chance and he had made his choice. He had heard the preaching, the message, time and time again, And time and time again, he'd rejected that message.

Time and time again, he'd hardened his heart against it. Time and time again, I'm not gonna change time and time again. I'm not gonna bow down. I don't want a message that I bowed down to. I want a message that makes me feel good.

He certainly didn't want a message that challenged him and told him that he needs to change in any kind of way. I don't wanna be told what to do. I don't want you to tell me what I can and can't do. And when this message gets too forceful, too confrontational, when it challenges his lifestyle and choices, What does he do then? Well, he gets a bit more violent, doesn't he?

He gets a bit more aggressive. He shows his true colors. What's that about sin? Who are you to tell me I'm wrong? Sorry.

Who are you to tell me I'm wrong? Who are you to judge my choices in the way I live my life? If I wanna get divorced, and Mario Horodius, well, hey, that's down to me. I mean, did you not see my wife? Any of you would have divorced her.

And have you not seen herodias? She's absolutely gorgeous. Any of you would want to marry her? I want my herodias. And anyway, look, it comes down to this.

I'm the king around here, not you. I make up the rules, not you. I decide what I do not you. It's my life, not yours. Who are you to tell me that I can't do what makes me happy?

That I can't have what I want. I have a right to be happy, don't I? I have a right to do these things that make me feel good. Who are you to say any different? That strikes for us, doesn't it?

Who's making the choices here? Who's making the decisions in your life? Who's authority are you under yours or god's Oh, well, I, I think having premarital sex with my boyfriend or girlfriend is okay, actually. Don't mind doing that. I mean, after all we love each other, so it's okay.

It's actually quite a good thing. But god says that sex is the most intimate part of marriage. A marriage is a covenant that shows Jesus and the church, and it's all tied up together with that. So that intimacy is for a marriage relationship. Who are you to say that that a man can't have a relationship with a man.

I mean, everybody else says it's fine. Society says it's fine. Aren't we past that? Are we beyond that? I thought we'd dealt with that.

Are you some kind of bigger? Are you intolerant? But god says that he made them male and female. He made them for each other. Adam saw even said, wow.

This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. He was taken with her and it was for them to to to come together and create more people Who are you to tell me I can't do what makes me happy? Who are you to tell me I can't make the choices in my life? Who are you to tell me that I I can't have my herodias? Who you'd say abortions wrong?

Who you'd say abortion's murder? God god says it. God values all human life. He has compassion on all human life. No matter the horror of the circumstances, but my goodness you try and stand up for that 1 today.

Who are you to tell me? You're a man anyway. You don't get a say in these things. How would you know anything about it? You reject the message in the messenger, then you reject the 1 that sent them.

You cut off the messenger's head and it's a declaration of war. You you might have seen the beginning of Gladiator. The messenger comes back from the Germanic tribes on his horse minus ahead. It's a pretty clear message back to the Roman Legion, right, lads, it's on. Talking stopped, fights on.

War begins. Do you want war? Do you wanna harden your hearts to a message? If if that describes you in any way, if it describes any part of your life. If there's any part of your life that's brick walled off from the message that's ring fenced that you're not allowing the message to settle on, that you're not allowing yourself to be changed by, then then please hear me now because you harden yourself once, and it's easier to harden yourself twice.

And even easier 3 times. And that's a pattern that can set in like rot so quickly until you have a heart that the message just bounces off of and you just want silence. Herrod wanted silence in the end, and that's what he got. And that's what we could stand in front of. If we're not open to this message because on the day that you meet Jesus, not if you meet Jesus.

When you meet Jesus, you'll get your silence that day. If that's what you want. Stony, unbearable, terrifying silence. Because the lord of all creation, the god of all love of all peace of all kindness Think about it. He's to have a conversation with Jesus, to be blessed to have a conversation face to face with him.

You're standing in front of the god who knows everything about everything. He is infinitely interesting on every single topic you can ever possibly imagine. What is it you most want to know about? What is it you most want to talk about? What is it that blows your mind, and you want some clarification on?

Well, Jesus will be the most interesting person you've ever spoken to on He knows all languages. He knows all combinations of words in poetry. He's a master of poetry. He's the master of communication. He loves to talk.

He wants to be in relationship with you. And yet you could be stood in front of him, and he would say not 1 single word. Herrod was stood in front of him, and Jesus had no words. For him. Friends, if that doesn't terrify you, then I don't know what will certainly terrifies me because I know that I harden myself sometimes, even without thinking about it.

Fortunately, it moves us on to the the third point, but I gotta warn you it gets a bit worse before it gets a bit better. Let's pick it back up in verses 10 to 11. Our third point is the sufficient savior. We've had the miraculous mission, the confused king, Now we've got a sufficient savior. When the apostles returned, They reported to Jesus what they had done.

Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Beth Sader. But the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of god and healed those who needed healing. So the apostles have just got back off of their first mission trip, really, their first mission trip out on their own, and it's been tiring hard work. It's been exhilarating.

It's been exhausting. So Jesus looks at them and he goes, okay, guys, come with me. We're going to go and get some downtime somewhere. You've earned it. Let's go and relax.

Let's go to a quiet place. And Mark, we're told that Jesus just also received the devastating news of John's death. So it ties in with the whole herod thing that's going on here as well, and he wanted to get away to grieve for a while about this. But the crowds get wind of it, don't they? And they're there.

They follow them and the downtime gets totally gate crashed. So any hope of any rest or relaxation these guys thought they were gonna get has just evaporated in front of them. Now in in my in my very very limited experience of mission work. I think I've maybe had the tiniest, most minuscule taste of what this might be like. So when me and Tom were in Belarus in March, I mean, just being around Taras is pretty hard work.

He's a high energy person and keeping up with him is is not easy at the best of times. But he he has this effect of invigorating you for a while as well, and that's great. I mean, we were only there for a week and we were going from place to place. We did 3 day mission at a university campus and we were hopping in taxis going here and there doing English lessons and testimonies and Tom was preaching and Tara was interpreting and there was lots of fun and laughter and all that sort of stuff, but it was hard work to to an extent. It was quite quite physically tiring and and to a degree sort of spiritually, spiritually tiring in a way.

And we got bundled on a night train back to minsk, and so we didn't really sleep that well, and then we had our day off the next day. And there was a much debate over what to do with our day off. And Tom was insistent that we go to Dududki, Now I was like, what on earth is that? And it's so it's basically like a traditional Bella Russian village where you get to see what they used to do a while ago. In fact, I've still got something on the sole of my shoe from Dudky.

Some nameless sludge that I can't remove from the sole of my shoe. I I have no idea what it is. 3 months later, it's still there. I dread to think. And I just vividly remember 1 point when I think we all crashed at the same time.

It was a cold day. It was a clear day. For some reason, we all dressed quite somberly in sort of dark blacks and navy blues. We were there with our shades on and we sat down on a bench, the 3 of us, and I think we just had it by that point. We must have looked like we had some humongous hangover or something ridiculous was going on.

And we were talking gibberish, just absolute nonsense. That was our day off. We were pretty tired. That's nothing compared to what these guys were experiencing. They've been walking from town to town.

They had no money. They had no extra clothes. They didn't know where they were going to be staying that night. They didn't know if they were going to be staying anywhere that night. They might have to shake their dust off their feet and move on to the next place.

They got demons to deal with. Sick people need healing. It's hard work and just at the moment when they think they're going to get some rest, Jesus looks at this crowd and starts pre about the kingdom and healing those who needed healing. Oh, no. Here we go again.

So they summon up their reserves. They grit their teeth. They go back to work and think, okay. Fine. You can just imagine they've about had their fill.

In fact, they're probably feeling fairly pleased with themselves to some degree. You know, they've they've gone above and beyond the call of duty They've gone way beyond what was required of them. They've reached the finishing line, and they've done another race after they've reached the finishing line. But at some point, enough has got to be enough, right? Please, Jesus have mercy.

So as the sun is beginning to go down, they come to Jesus and they say, look, Jesus. Send him away. It's it's not a it's not a question. It's an order. Send him away Jesus.

This is a remote place. There's nothing for them to eat, nowhere for them to sleep. They need to go and get these things sorted out. Otherwise, they're gonna be in trouble tonight. Do you really want that on conscience.

And on the face of it, that sounds very reasonable, doesn't it? Even loving? You know, we're thinking about them. We just got their interests at heart. We want them to be looked after.

Oh, it's not about us. We, you know, we can go on, but we just think that they should go and sort themselves out. But when you actually think about it, it's an astonishing thing to say when you consider the mission they've just come back off. Take nothing with you. No food, no clothes, no staff, no money.

These people have just come to Jesus with nothing. They're out there with nothing. They're out there on faith. Same as the disciples went out long before, and did the disciples die? No.

They malnourished? No. Were they provided for? Yeah. Were they armed with anything?

Yeah. Jesus' word. The people are there for Jesus' word. His life giving word. It's amazing how quickly the disciples have just forgotten.

Who Jesus is, what the mission is, how sufficient he is, and what he can do. But aren't we just the same? Would we have done any different in that situation really? Question yourself. Would you?

I'm not sure I would have. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have. How quickly we go from eager Missionfield workers to doubters and skeptics. But it gets worse for them actually, because Jesus turns around and goes, you feed them. What?

Us, are you joking? Have you seen how many people there are? This 5000 men, that's probably plus women and children, 15, 20000. Have you lost your mind, Jesus? Hang on.

Hang on. I know. I know. I've got 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Feed them off of that.

Yeah. Or I know I know what we can do, we can go out to the non existent shops, and we can buy food for everyone is what they say. Have you gone nuts Jesus? This is not possible. And it's now that they really do expose themselves as no better than herod.

It's now that we are exposed with them. From eager missionaries to doubters and skeptics to mockers and jeers, herod doubted the word about Jesus. He was a skeptic it confused him at times. And when he doesn't get what he wants from Jesus, look at what he does. He starts mocking and ridiculing.

When the disciples don't get the answer they want, they doubted they didn't get the answer, and they turned to sarcasm and mockery of Jesus. Now, we might not be doing that outwardly with British. So we'll have a dialogue in our head. Going, oh, they've gone too far this time. You know, this is ridiculous.

How on earth are we gonna do that? What they want me to get up and go again? They want me to serve again twice in 1 day. That's a bit much. If you friends, if you can't see some of yourself in this to some degree.

You're probably deceiving yourself to some degree. How quickly do we forget? We forget who Jesus is. We forget what the mission is and what it's all about. We forget what Jesus has already done for us in the past so quickly.

The miracle of bringing us into the family and and we doubt what he will do for us in the future the next time. We doubt that, we wanna do a new building here. How much do we believe that he's gonna be able to provide for that? Sort of a part of you feels like, oh my goodness, I don't think that that can happen. We wanna hire more people, more gospel workers, but how are we gonna pay for them?

Can we can we hire more? Collectively, I think I think we can cover that cost. If we really bend our will to it, if we really have faith that we can do that, I don't see why not? When we're asked to be more sacrificial with our time, our energy, our our homes, with our our food, with our lives towards other people. It's hard, isn't it?

You've already run 1 race, run the first race. Now there's more. It's Jesus sufficient to give you the strength to do that as well. Or is it time to go? I think you should just send them away.

I'm a bit tired. Had enough done a lot. It's not an easy message to hear, is it? We're busy. A lot of us are very busy and we're all busy to different degrees.

I get that. I get that there's different capacities. I get that some people have more money than others, so they can't give as much money as as other people are able to do. I guess I I get that more some people have more time than others. So some people can't be as generous with their time, whereas others can.

I get all of those things, but there's an issue with the heart to address, isn't there? Of are you really giving as much as you can? Are you really? Just just be honest with yourself about it. There's no there's no shame.

I'm not trying to shame anyone here. I'm not I'm not trying to put it on you. I'm just asking you to address your heart on these issues. Because we can be cynical doubters, we can be skeptics. We can start inwardly mocking and jeering and being a little bit negative about things, can't we?

Well, Jesus does have an answer for all of these things. It does have an answer for us. He says, remember who I am. I am the sufficient savior. Nothing is beyond me.

Absolutely. Nothing is beyond me. As god miraculously fed people in the wilderness back in the ministries of Moses, in exodus, 16 and elisha in 2 kings, 4. There's parallels here in what Jesus does. You can see it so clearly when you look at those accounts, don't look at them now, but you can look at them later.

You'll see what I mean. So Jesus proceeds to feed this huge crowd in front of him here to show people who he really is. He's not just another prophet from long ago, He's saying that those events from long ago way way back in time when Moses did these amazing things, when Elijah did these amazing things, and many other prophets did incredible things, or they were only possible to do these things through me, through god. Those characters and events were meant for 1 thing. They were foreshadows of me.

They were meant to point towards a time when the kingdom of god is near at hand. A time when you'll be able to have a taste of the kingdom and see that it's good, a taste, a glimpse of the land of plenty when god sends his Messiah, a place where there's no room for hunger or illness or evil. Jesus shows all of that through feeding this enormous crowd with just 2 little fish and 5 little loaves. And you can just see that as the disciples are handing out all the food, they're coming back and they're getting more. He's got more.

Where is he getting more from? Where is he is he hiding it under the ground? Did he come here before and bury it and we're not seeing it? What is going on? And they go and they give it out and they come back and they get more and they go and they give it out and they come back and get more.

And I can imagine that as the disciples were doing this, they were feeling more and more embarrassed of their doubting mocking words from a few moments ago. And more and more in awe of their lord. Trust me Jesus is saying, get on with the work, feeding the people. You get on with doing the work. I will provide more than enough to feed them all.

There was leftovers. So with that kind of backer, with that kind of organizer, with that kind of provider, you can be radical with your time. You can be radical with your energy with your food, with your money, with your house, with your spare room, with who sleeps under your under your roof, with who you share your meal times with with who you do 1 to ones with. With what you spend your money on, you can use them all to further the kingdom because you have someone in your corner who is more than sufficient to provide for all these things. You can trust him with this, and you can go forward so confidently that he's gonna keep on with that provision of spreading the kingdom message.

He hasn't called us to lives of comfort. He hasn't called us to ministries of comfort. He sends us out on a mission that is by nature, uncomfortable, where we will find ourselves in situations we probably don't wanna be in. I can remember times when I definitely didn't want to be there, I was deeply uncomfortable. But it's to feed the lost, to have a heart for people in this area, to love them, to reach them to share some of the kingdom with them, and it's only possible through Jesus.

It's only possible because he is the 1 who sacrificed everything and gives us the spirit to repent. To repent of our evil ways, our doubt skepticism are inward mockery of things that seem weak and feeble and how on earth are we gonna reach the kingdom with this? It's not very big or impressive, isn't it? Only he can save Richard disciples like us for this work. He was the 1 who took our disbelief.

He was the 1 that took our mockery and took it all from for us to the cross. Where he continued to receive mockery and died so that we might be set free of these chains that just hold us back, he is the 1 who is sufficient for everything to meet the task at hand so we can get on with proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, calling people to repentance in his strength and not our own. Let me pray. Further we do, we do thank you for these wonderful accounts and we we thank you that as we look at people's reaction to your word, we we see something of ourselves. As we look at people's reaction to your son, even to those who are closest to him, we see something of ourselves.

And we just can't deny that we can be that way. Father, please forgive us when we doubt. Please forgive us when we forget. Please forgive us when we are inwardly negative about the next thing. Please forgive us when we just lose energy for the mission.

Please forgive us when we lose love for people around us to reach them to to rescue them from the chains of hell and to bring them into your kingdom. Father, please invigorate us. Help us to know that you're sufficient. You'll provide. You'll give us what we need for this work.

Help us to go on with that at heart, help us to proclaim your name, help us to see your name glorified, do praise things for each and every person in this room. That that would be true in their lives.