All right.
I want to return to our collect of the day.
I was really moved by this.
I think the Holy Spirit's active right now here.
And I just want to pray this.
Let's pray together.
O God, whose never-failing providence
orders all things both in heaven and earth,
we humbly beseech you that during this,
the preaching of your word,
you would put away from us all hurtful things
and give us those things which are profitable for us.
May only the truth be spoken
and only the truth be heard
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
I'm just going to move this
until my mic comes out.
Then I'll have to use it.
I'm still in cottage mode.
I don't know if you can tell.
I'm just kind of like,
whew, okay, here we go.
Amy and I got back yesterday.
My head's still a little bit in the clouds.
I was crying when I put my boat away into the garage.
I'll get it out.
I swear I'll get it out again today
or this year before I have to winterize it.
There's a time in ministry to down tools.
There's a time to get away and to do the things
and just enjoy creation, enjoy our families.
But then there's also a time in ministry
to clear our heads,
slam it back down into gear,
and get to work.
And that's kind of where we are now as a church.
And it can be a little bit jarring.
I was talking actually with Gary Graber,
who's the academic dean of Ryle,
and he was saying he was kind of feeling the same thing
getting back from Phoenix, from his holidays.
It can be very jarring.
And the reason I say that is
when we look at the feeding of the 5,000,
which I'm going to be focusing on,
Luke 9, 10 to 17,
there's a Bible down here for you.
If you don't have one, it's our gift to you.
Basically, Jesus is trying to get the disciples
to shift into gear here
and to start really taking up their ministry.
And as you're going to see,
for the disciples here and after,
throughout Luke,
he's just dragging them along here,
trying to get them to get along with a program,
get along with business.
It's a little bit jarring for them.
Other than the resurrection,
the feeding of the 5,000
is the only miracle
that is found in all four Gospels.
So that says something to us.
That speaks to us of the importance of this story
for the early church
as they sought to share the Gospel
in an alien world.
So I really think it's important for us
to park there and focus on it,
especially as we get into a season
where we're revving back up for ministry
here in Ottawa.
There's a whole host of themes
from Jesus' life and ministry
that all come together here in this story.
We see compassion.
We see his control,
his sovereignty over creation.
We see how he provides for his people.
We see Old Testament themes
that actually are woven into this passage.
End times themes
that we're going to see in Revelation
when you read there.
They're actually woven through here.
Now, I can't go through all of that stuff.
We'd be here all afternoon.
But it's important for us
to realize that those are there.
That these things exist in the passage.
Because Jesus is bringing it all together
and he's trying to challenge his disciples
to up their expectations
for what is possible in ministry.
He's just trying to get them
to up those expectations.
Last week, we were in Luke 7.
Obviously, after that,
we're flashing forward a couple of chapters
and we're in Luke 9.
When we left Jesus last week,
he was ministering around the north part,
kind of the north part of the Sea of Galilee,
popping in and out of some small villages
of about a thousand people.
His miracles, though,
are getting just a little more profound.
And by the time that we come to Jesus now
in verse 9,
he's moved down to the southwest
of the Sea of Galilee.
And as he's gone there,
his message is starting to pick up momentum.
And then he's gone across the Sea of Galilee
to the east side.
So he's just,
he's surrounding that whole region
and something's starting to stir.
As I mentioned,
Amy and I were at,
and that's where we're picking him up,
Amy and I were at camp for the last while.
I love to fish.
I always try to talk about fishing in my sermons.
It's just something that I grew up doing in Halliburton.
And one of the,
you know,
where we are in Bancroft,
the water is often very serene on Faraday Lake.
There's hills all around us
so that the way,
the wind very seldom kicks up too much waves.
And so I can stand,
I'm in a little 14 foot boat with a flat bottom.
I can stand there
and I can just do my thing
and kind of have my Zen moment with the Lord,
bringing in whatever it is
that he deigns to put onto my hook.
And it's a wonderful moment
until about two o'clock in the afternoon
when the camp starts taking kids on their tubing rides
in their 300 horsepower ski natique.
And it's a big round bay.
And while I'm there,
I can hear it start up
and they start with the kids
and then they start going around.
And I don't know if you've ever seen a boat that big
and the waves that come off it,
they're pretty large.
And they don't just have one of these boats,
they have two of them.
And so the boat starts
and when this one gets here,
the next one starts.
And for two to three hours,
they're just having a blast
going around and around in that bay.
And in my little fishing boat,
I'm no longer standing.
It's undeniable.
The waves are crashing off each other,
which is part of the point when you're tubing.
And everything's getting churned up.
You know, I still might be trying to relax,
but I'm not standing anymore.
In contrast to last week
where Jesus is kind of just in a small area,
his ministry and his reputation
is spreading out all around the sea.
He's just circling the Sea of Galilee here,
like those boats.
And his waves are just crashing off everything
to the point that the royal family,
if you just look back in 9-7,
you know, the royal family
is starting to take notice
of what Jesus is doing here.
There are very few people
in that entire region
that aren't aware of Jesus at this moment
and aren't trying to figure out
who it is that he is.
And his parables are starting to pick up momentum.
I just commend you from 7 to 9
to start reading some of those parables.
They're coming very pointed
at the people, at his disciples,
at the leadership.
And also his miracles
are becoming more and more astounding.
Last week he healed over a distance.
He didn't even need to see
the centurion's daughter.
He's raising people from the dead.
So things are,
his ministry is just really starting
to pick up at this moment.
And here he is across
on the east side of the sea
and his disciples are just,
you know, they're hanging on for dear life.
And then he turns to them
and he sends them out
with the same power and authority,
he says, that he's been using.
No details are given,
but we are probably,
they probably have the same experiences
of healing and ministry
that they have in Luke 10, 17.
But that's where we pick up.
That's what they're returning from
and what's going on.
When we read,
on their return,
the apostles told him
all that they had done
and he took them
and withdrew apart
to a town called Bethsaida.
Following the report,
right away,
we see the compassion of our God.
We see the compassion of Jesus.
He cares for how hard this ministry is.
And so what does he do?
He takes them to Bethsaida
to get away.
So he's on the east side,
I've said,
of the Sea of Galilee.
Now they've actually,
Mark says,
gotten into a boat
and they've crossed the 13 kilometers
to the Sea of Bethsaida
and they put in,
so they're trying to escape those crowds,
they put in
and they find themselves
a desolate place.
Somewhere quietly,
verse 12 says,
you know,
on the outside of town
in a desolate place
for some time away together.
And then we see
when the crowds learned it,
they followed him
and welcomed him
and he welcomed them
and spoke to them
of the kingdom of God
and cured those
who needed healing.
We're not sure
how long they were there,
but we get the sense,
you know,
that they were ultimately foiled.
That they ultimately,
the crowds found them.
If Mark is indeed
talking about the same instance,
Mark says,
you know,
they looked,
they saw the direction
he was going
and they must have gotten
in the bigger boat
or had more guys paddling
and they made it there
before him
and were actually waiting
for him
when he got there.
And we see some,
some heroic patience
in Jesus here
at this moment.
Now,
when I'm done preaching
and doing communion
twice
and we've,
we've enjoyed fellowship
together,
when I get home
in the afternoon,
it just goes better
for everybody
if you don't disturb
the NFL
and NASCAR for me.
You just,
it draws,
ministry can just
draw that out of you
and you just need
that time
to down tools.
And so that's
where they are
and that's the mindset
they're in
and they get there
and there's people.
And what does Jesus do?
Passage says
that Jesus
welcomes them.
And the term
that it is here,
there's a certain
kind of welcome
it's talking,
it's not,
this is not the welcome
of a teacher
on the last day of school.
This is the welcome
of a teacher
on the first day of school.
He welcomes them
gladly
with open arms.
He preaches
and He heals them.
They crossed
13 kilometers,
that's roughly
from town
out to the junction,
out to the
Bayshore Mall.
They paddled that far.
They don't have
a 300 horsepower boat,
they have 12 disciple power
on paddles.
And they went that far
to get away
and Jesus welcomed them.
That, friends,
is patience.
Thank God
that's the patience
that the Lord
has for us.
Now I might be projecting
and I probably am,
but I hear some exhaustion
in the disciples
when they say,
now the day began
to wear away
so He's been doing
this all day.
The disciples
are just standing there
and the 12 came
and said to Him,
send the crowd away
to go into the surrounding
villages and countryside
to find lodging
and get provisions
for we're here
in a desolate place
where they put in.
You know,
to be honest,
they're making sense
logistically.
They're His interns,
they're His disciples.
It's their job
basically to think
about the small stuff
so He can focus
on the big stuff.
So they're doing
their job.
There is interns
learning ministry
from the ground up
and what do they see
when they look
at the people
that are there?
What they see
are people
who aren't locals.
Okay?
These are people
who it's not going
to be easy for them
to find a place
or food
in the night.
They don't have
one of these
where they can turn
on their data,
Google,
and, you know,
there's a Best Western
with Continental Breakfast
down the road.
They don't know
anybody here.
They don't know Bob
on the other side
of the road
where they can just
kind of stop in
for the night.
It is going to take,
it takes time,
it takes effort,
it's not going to be easy
for 5,000 people
to find somewhere to be.
And so we see
Jesus responds to them
not by saying,
oh, okay, yes,
let's send them off
like, you know,
I probably would have
or you would have.
Instead,
he commissions the disciples
to take up their ministry
and provide for his sheep.
Let's see,
verse 13.
But he said to them,
you give them something.
They said,
we have no more
than five loaves
and two fish
unless we are to go
and buy food
for all these people
away from here, Lord.
You know,
he's asking the impossible
and I really,
they pointed out to him
and I have to say
I identify with this
often in ministry,
friends,
you know,
things seem impossible.
I think about Messiah here.
The Lord says,
go start a seminary.
The Lord says,
go plant a couple churches.
To us as individuals,
the Lord is calling us
to share the faith
with people
for whom Jesus' name
is a swear word.
This seems impossible.
It seems impossible.
It's supposed to.
Our ministry
and our calling
is supposed to be impossible.
It's supposed to seem that way
for one reason.
Same reason was
for the disciples
because it drives us
to Jesus.
Everything
to drive us to Jesus
and stop relying
on our own power.
Verse 14.
For there were about
five thousand men
and he said to his disciples,
have them sit down then
in groups of about
50 each.
Something's about to happen.
Now I've seen
five thousand men
on a parade square.
Every year
in Petawawa
we have a
wonderful
what we call
a gut check
which is a
twenty kilometer
ish
rucksack march
with four thousand
nine hundred and ninety
nine of your favorite
friends
and we sit there
and they
people who aren't
going to walk
twenty kilometers
are going to watch us do it.
Get up and
you know
say all kinds
of wonderful things
about how great
this is going to be
for us
and then we sit there
and we get up
and we go for a walk
and it is a mass
of humanity.
It's a feat
of logistical
wizardry
just to provision us
to stand up
with our rucksacks
and walk
just to do that
is
it's almost an impossible
if you took
took group of people
it takes them
a month
just to figure
this thing
out
it's difficult
when you start
talking about
thousands of people
we're talking about
a mass
of humanity
here
and it's pretty
obvious
that
Jesus doing that
for the disciples
he's asking
for the impossible
but in light
of just having
upped their ministry
they've been going
around
he's been
taking them around
on the leash
he seems to be
calling something
out of the disciples
that they don't know
is there
but he does
through him
and I wonder
if God is calling
you right now
he's trying to
call something
out of you
that you don't
know is there
but he does
what is that thing
this morning
at that moment
he grips the situation
he creates some
order out of it
and then we read
in taking the five
loaves
and the two fish
he does the
traditional Jewish
thing
he's offering it
there's actually
a prayer that
he would use
to offer it
to heaven
and he looked
up to heaven
said the blessing
over him
the normal
Jewish blessing
then he broke
the loaves
and he gave
the disciples
to set before
the crowd
and through
their connection
to Jesus
and because
they turned
to him
at this
impossible
moment
the disciples
have enough
more than
enough
everybody
has a full
meal
some interpreters
like to say
that you know
well this is a
ritual meal
and everybody
had just a little
bit
says like
everybody ate
to their full
and there was
baskets left
over
we actually
say read
what the text
says
everybody ate
to their full
and I think
it's a pretty
obvious and
simple message
that Jesus
meets needs
but added to
that God's
provision
comes through
his disciples
his providing
for the world
comes through
his church
and they need
to learn
to take on
the impossible
by engaging
with him
we need
to learn
to take on
the impossible
things
of ministry
in the western
world
by engaging
deeper with him
now why
does this
matter
I think
it's very
easy for us
to get settled
into a human
view of the
church
and human
view of our
ministry
in the last
few years
I've been
taking some
courses
and there's
a lot of
folks from
around the
world
that come
to Toronto
for these
courses
we have
people from
Asia
we have
people from
Africa
we have
people from
Oceania
and they
come and we
all sit
and it's just
an amazing
experience to
sit and talk
about spiritual
things within
that kind of
crucible
and one of
the things we
learn from
those elsewhere
is how they
view the
western church
and they
really see us
as powerless
friends
like when they
come and they
look at the
over and over
again I heard
you know one of
the observations
of the west
is our lack
of trust
in God's
power
we have all
kinds of
trust in our
own power
all kinds of
trust in what
I can do with
my eloquence
not a lot of
trust in God's
power
Proverbs 3
5 says
of course
trust in the
Lord with all
your heart
and do not
lean on your
own understanding
many of my
fellow students
believe very
strongly that
the Holy Spirit
is quenched
here for all
our riches
it is quenched
in North America
and we miss out
or explain away
as miracles
whereas healings
and revival
and all these
things happen
in their home
countries
happen where
they are
and we wonder
why it doesn't
happen here
and they have
very simple
explanation for it
now I'm not
saying that we
all need to
be charismaniacs
for those who
grew up in that
like I did
but what I
submit to you
is that there's
a striking
element of
truth in what
our brothers and
sisters tell us
when they come
here
and this passage
stands in
challenge of
that
Jesus has just
commissioned his
disciples
he's given them
a taste of what
can happen
but spoon
feeding time
is over for
them
in the western
church friends
spoon feeding
time in this
this culture
that's that's
going back to
normal
I mean history
the normal
thing is that
the world's
against us
as Christians
and in the
western church
spoon feeding
time is almost
over if it
isn't already
this passage
speaks to us
at this time
and this place
Jesus is
passing on
his torch
to the
disciples
and he's
passing it
on to us
and if we're
going to take
on this
impossible
ministry
in this
world
that's
turned
against
Jesus
we need
to learn
greater
trust
and as
individuals
in a
church
we need
to be
focused
on how
can we
engage
more
with
Jesus
everything
else
is
secondary
how can
we engage
as a
community
together
more
with
Jesus
do not
fear
but believe
he says
so many
times
in the
gospels
so I
have
our
to do
I
have
us
something
to
consider
I
want us
to consider
something
this week
in
engagement
with
God's
word
I
want you
to consider
whether
you're
a believer
whether
you're
just
here
as a
seeker
this
morning
wondering
about
this
God
thing
do
you
have
a
sneaky
suspicion
that
you
were
made
for
more
do
you
have
a
thought
that
maybe
you've
bought
into
a
vision
of
your
purpose
that
is
smaller
than
what
it
really
is
do
we
have
that
suspicion
together
as a
church
that
we
were
meant
for
more
we
want
to
consider
and
then
as
you
can
see
in
the
growing
in
grace
section
or
what
do
we
call
it
this
morning
growing
in
grace
section
I
want
us
to
engage
with
the
part
two
of
Luke's
gospel
is
the
book
of
Acts
and
I
commend
that
to
you
because
we
see
this
working
itself
over
and
over
and
over
again
in
the
book
of
Acts
so
for
your
devotions
this
week
while
you
to
know
to
read
the
story
of
how
the
early
church
was
just
constantly
called
to
more
and
engage
with
that
that's
our
challenge
I
just
want to
leave
that
with
you
and
commit
that
to
you
the
power
of
Jesus
changes
the
equation
of
what
is
possible
stop
this
week
consider
this
week
and
engage
and I prayed about this
and I really feel it's a particular message for us
there are a host of bold ministries
that our board is looking at right now
they've spoken about with us in the spring
they've commended it to us for prayer over the summer
and I really hope we have been
and if not that we're going to start
fervently praying for these things
we're looking at launching into
over the next year or so
ministries, new ministries we have
our ministries we're looking to continue to grow
and I really hope that as a church
we can hold things as they are
right now
because things are great
even though 417 is closed
and everybody from the west isn't here this morning
things are great
so I really hope that we can hold the way things are in our church
with an open hand though
and offer it to God
for whatever he has coming next
considering the ways
that we can take each new vision
that comes to us from our leadership with prayer
considering the ways
that Jesus is calling
each of us as individuals
to more
to more of life
and to more of him
I mean
you know the man rose from the dead
he rose from the dead
three days
in a tomb
dead
alive
anything else he asks us
as a church friends
it's just child's play
anything else he asks of you
and me
just child's play
in his power
let's pray
loving God
I give you thanks for
for the mission that you've given us as a church
I give you thanks for our leadership
for the many ministries
and interns that we have
we just pray Lord God
that you would give our board
give our leadership
a clear vision
and you would give us the boldness
that you would give us the vision
and the power
to make that dream a reality
in Jesus name we pray
Amen