Lessons Learned from a Lad

Introduction

Most of us cannot remember what we scored on a spelling test in the second grade. We have forgotten the quizzes, the assignments, and the report cards. But we have not forgotten the lessons that shaped our lives.

We remember the teacher who encouraged us. We remember the coach who challenged us. We remember the parent who corrected us. We remember the friend who stood by us.

The tests have been forgotten, but the lessons remain.

Scripture presents testing as a meaningful way to refine our character, strengthen our faith, and prepare believers for spiritual maturity. Tests are not punishment, nor are they meaningless experiences. But what is the significance of taking a test if you have never learned a lesson?

Lessons teach us principles. Lessons teach us what to do and what not to do. Lessons teach us about ourselves and help us place life in a perspective that, prayerfully, allows us to grow.

I remember Mrs. Dorothy Williams, my second-grade teacher. I still remember how she made me feel. She would hug us every day, and through her kindness I learned that I was special and that I mattered.

Another teacher who taught me a valuable life lessons was Mr. Gale Thrower. He was soft-spoken, yet highly respected. He taught me the importance of respecting myself and respecting others.

I was not the head of the class, but the lessons those teachers instilled in me have enabled me to pass many tests in life.

And that brings us to our text today. For just as teachers leave lessons that help us navigate life, God has left us a lesson through an unnamed lad in John chapter 6. His name is not recorded. His age is not given. Yet the Holy Spirit saw fit to preserve his story for all generations.

If God recorded this boy's actions in Scripture, then there must be some lessons that Heaven wants us to learn from a lad.

The feeding of the 5,000 men not including women and children is the fourth sign or miracle in the Gospel of John. Jesus has turned Water into Wine, healed the nobleman’s son, healed the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda, and now The greatest miracle recorded in all four Gospels, apart from the resurrection, began with the sacrifice of an unnamed boy.

Think about that. We do not know his name. We do not know his age. We do not know his parents. We do not know where he came from. We never hear from him again.

Yet God chose to place this nameless lad in the center of one of the most celebrated miracles in human history.

It is amazing to me that among a crowd of more than five thousand men—not counting women and children—God bypassed the names of kings, priests, scribes, and rulers and forever recorded the testimony of an unnamed lad.

He preached no sermon.

He wrote no book.

He held no office.

He performed no miracle.

But because he gave what he had to Jesus, his story has been told for two thousand years.

Jesus could have created bread out of nothing, just as He created the world out of nothing. Yet He deliberately chose to involve a little boy in the miracle.

He who turned water into wine and raised the dead did not need the lad's lunch.

The miracle did not require the boy, but Jesus chose to include him.

That means:

God does not need us, but in His grace, He invites us to participate in what He is doing.

Another statement that will arrest your audience:

Thousands came to receive from Jesus, but only one person in the crowd is mentioned as bringing something to Jesus.

Everybody else came with empty hands.

The lad came with a lunch.

Everybody else wanted a blessing.

The lad became a blessing.

Five thousand people experienced a miracle because one little boy overcame the fear of the crowd, the gloom of giving, and the temptation to keep what he had for himself.

That thought beautifully introduces "Lessons Learned from a Lad."

Available

The Lad is here:

To be in the crowd of folk.

The fact that Andrew, Peter’s brother, acknowledges his presence

"The lad was not intimidated by the crowd because his eyes were fixed on the Christ. His attention was centered on the glory of God rather than the size of the gathering."

Don’t overlook this point about this Lad. The disciples saw his lunch.

Meaning that the lad was not hiding behind Mama or Daddy.

If we want the LORD to use us, we first must be available. In Isaiah 6:8

Isaiah 6:8 ESV

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

Obedience (Jewish families didn’t send their kids places, they took them)

The Lad is in the crowd because his parents are in the crowd

The second commandment behind honoring God in the Jewish Law was to honor your parents. Parents should help their children grow up in the Lord.

Deuteronomy 6:7–8 ESV

7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

And because he is obedient he overcome fear of the crowd, and he was noticed.

God will notice you when you step out on faith. If the Lad had not been obedient to his parents, then the story of the feeding of the five thousand would have been just another bible passage.

Preparation

Before God can use what’s in your hand, you have to learn to overcome the fear in your heart.

David had to leave the sheepfold and walk into the valley.

Isaiah said, "Here am I; send me."

The little maid in Naaman's house spoke up.

Timothy was exhorted, "Let no man despise thy youth."

Notice that Andrew voluntarily says there is a lad here with five barley loaves and two small fishes

We find no where is scripture where the lad talks back or reluctantly submits his lunch to Jesus

Let me share this important detail that you may oversee.

Barley was Corn Flakes compared to Frosted Flakes.

Beans and Cornbread compared to Filet mignon

Vienna Sausage compared to Prime Rib

And the harvest season for barley was a short season, and this tells us that the boy and his parents prepared for the storm when there was peace.

Application:

Parents, our children will grow up to become better people when we spend time with them in church. This Lad in this lesson shows us that.

The first place they should learn how to overcome fear is in the church.

Naive (lack of worldly wisdom and experience) You don’t know what you don’t know

The Lad shows us something powerful that the Adult miss.

Philip says in John 6:7 “7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”” (years wage of work to pay for them to eat)

Andrew says in John 6:9 “9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?””

These two grown men, who were followers of Christ, were aligned with worldly limitations, and their focus was on what they lacked and it blocked their view of the blessing that was before them.

Phillip was counting the money and saying it isn’t enough

Andrew was looking in the refrigerator and saying it isn’t enough food in here

But they failed to look to Jesus who was counting on the Father, because what does Jesus say in John 6:6 “6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.”

Don't miss the contrast in the text. The adults were talking about money they didn't have and food that belonged to somebody else. Philip estimated the cost, and Andrew identified the source, but neither one offered anything of their own.

But the lad gave what he had, and it just so happened to be all that he had.

He did not have much, but he gave much because he gave all.

Be a Blessing to Others

His obedience became a blessing to others.

Jesus transformed the bread into a buffet, the fish into a feast, and the boy's sacrifice into a blessing for thousands.

Closing

When we learn

To be available to the LORD

To be obedient

To be prepared when we go out into the world

To be naive can be a blessing. (You don’t know what you don’t Know)

That being a blessing is being a blessing to others.

Galatians 6:7–10 ESV

7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Some people will give to you just to get rid of you, but this Lad was giving his little for the Glory of God

If you are here and you feel like what I do is insignificant then let me share with you some bible hero's that were young

David was the youngest of his father children and he was a shepherd boy that God anoints to be the King of Israel

The Three Hebrew Boys were young but they stood up to the King and His soldiers, saying were are not going to bow down before this golden image.

Solomon was young when he was crowned, and he asked God for understanding and wisdom. God grants him wisdom that no one has ever seen before.

We have Mary, a young woman, who accepted her role to become Jesus earthly mother. She said I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word

Then Jesus told his Father in Heaven, give me a babies body, and let me go down to earth and be born in a manger surrounded by goats, cows, chickens, and horses.

We see in this story, Jesus takes a little lad’s lunch and creates a buffet out in the desert

One day Jesus met a woman in the town of Nain, who was in a funeral processional burying her son. Jesus touch the casket and young man got up out of that casket

If Jairus was here today, he would tell you that his only daughter died and I was so heartbroken, Jesus came by my house and brought my only daughter back to life

Then Jesus went to a hill called Calvary. If you remember when he was born surrounded by animals in the stable, but he died on a cross in the middle of tow thieves.

One thief died in his sin, and the other thief died after repenting from sin, but Jesus died for sin.

But He didn’t stay died.