Bring me the Left Overs
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Bring me the Left Overs!
Bring me the Left Overs!
After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”
Intro:
Quote:
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced!”
- James Baldwin
(pause and expound)
And one of the things I love most about Jesus........
..........is the fact that Jesus never struggles in facing boldly what needs facing!
(pause)
And......
.......i believe that one of the reasons we hold back when it comes to facing what needs changing, is because we are afraid that something may get broken!
(pause)
But........
.........if we are ever going to experience the extravagance of God’s freedom for our lives
........we are going to have to learn how to face our fears of possible “Breaking Moments!”
with a mindset that susggests....
.........what remains after a breaking moment is going to be greater than the beginning anyway!
(pause)
[[Summarize instead of reading]]
After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.
According to the text......
Christ has gathered the attention of the masses, and as Jesus and the disciples are going up this mountain the crowd is following them closely...
And the bible says that......
Jesus looks up and sees this large crowd coming towards him.....
........and this is where I notice the heart of Jesus recognizing those around him.
........and this may sound small to many of us, but there is a lot that can be said about those who never notice anybody around them.
......and I believe this natural action of Jesus to notice those who are walking towards them in this mountain is a lesson to be learned that we as followers of Jesus never get too self consumed that we fail to notice that we are not the only ones in the room........or the relationship.......... or the route of our journey.
(pause)
Then the text says......
Jesus faces the needs of these people when he asks the question....
“Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”
And we really do not understand the boldness of Jesus facing this problem until we read Philips response in verse 7.....
Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?”
And so basically......
Jesus is facing a need that to the natural eye looks insurmountable!
(pause)
Freedom family,
You have not faced anything boldly until everyone else around you is scratching their head and saying,
“This can’t be done......”
(pause)
Now here’s the phenomenal thing about Philip’s statement.....
The facts support his logic......
.......the numbers don’t add up as it relates to what Jesus is asking to be done.
And believe it or not,
.....you are going to encounter life scenarios where all of the facts that you are facing will tell you,
It’s broken and it cannot be fixed!
(pause)
And I don’t know about you......
.......but those are the types of battles that I have learned to fight even if the facts are against me
.......and the reason those are the battles that have to be fought no matter what
.....is because the first fact is what Jesus notices when he says,
“Where will we buy bread?”
In other words........
When you know what you are fighting for......
And.....
When you understand how great the need is......
Even though........
........the odds are stacked up against you
......you still got to FACE what you got to FACE!
(pause)
And watch this....
Because every time the Philips of your life have told you why
......something can not be done
God always places an Andrew next to your Philip to say,
(slight pause)
“There is a boy here........(slight pause)
.......who has five barley loaves and two fish.
(pause and expound)
Let me help somebody.......
Philip just said,
It would take 6 months of wages in order to feed this many people.......
And Andrew comes right behind him and says,
There is a boy who here who has a small amount...........
(pause)
Now.........
Andrew does qualify his statement by saying.......
But what are they among so many people?”
Meaning,
He isn’t completely sold on the idea that they have enough even though he has identified their capacity.
(pause)
But here is what I want to point out....
Philip is pointing out their capacity in relation to insufficiency
Andrew is pointing out their capacity in relation to a small resource
(pause)
And...
You would think that Jesus would take this information provided and say.......
Oh well I tried!
.......I did the best I could
.......at least I did ask if we could do something
(pause)
But Jesus is getting ready to teach us that small capacity does not limit purposeful activity....
(pause and expound)
Look at it now......
Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all.
According to the text
Jesus says..
“......Tell the people to sit down”
(pause)
Jesus tells the disciples to “Organize” 5,000 people in the grass
........and the significance for me in the text is that this is the first step towards More!
But here’s the challenge......
Jesus is telling them to Organize their lives for more......
.........but he’s only holding a small amount!
And in my spiritual imagination.......
I am watching over 5,000 people sitting around the hillside of a mountain
........and Jesus is holding 5 loaves of bread.
(pause)
And the bible says....
Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.
Jesus takes the loaves and expresses gratitude for what he has.......
And then the bible says,
“He distributed them to those who were seated”
And this phrase......
“to distribute them” means that Jesus is now “BREAKING the bread apart” in order to give it out to the 5,000!
(pause)
But hold up Pastor.......
because we have already concluded that Jesus is only holding a small amount.....
....... so how is it that Jesus is breaking this small amount with great expectation......
And I believe that the key to great expectation.....
........rests in the custody of gratitude!
....because whenever we thank God for what we have
It promotes our portion!
(pause and expound)
And.........
I wonder if any of you have been experiencing this over your lives as we have been sheltered in the last few months......
.......because some of us have a testimony that says,
God has been redefining what we call “ESSENTIAL” in this season.........
Because........
......as God is distributing
........you are getting as much as you ever wanted!
.........and some of the stuff you thought you needed.....
.........you aint even thought about!
And the more thankful you are for what you have........
God is increasing your PORTION!
(pause and expound)
Look at it now....
When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.”
.....Gather the “fragments” that remain (left overs) so nothing is lost
Now.......
When I think about fragments.......
......I imagine small pieces of something that has been broken
And usually......
..........fragments are looked at as if they are insignificant
But Jesus says something that shifted my perspective here....
(pause)
Because Jesus says.......
“Gather what is left over!”
And that’s when it hit me.....
(pause)
What are we doing with “LEFT OVERS in the first place!”
And then God started dropping majorly in my spirit........
And I started seeing this “LEFT Overs” experience as a metaphor
And in my spiritual imagination.......
I started hearing God explain that there are some people who are broken......
.........people who felt like they were the “Left OVERS”
(pause)
and whenever your mindset has been trained to see......
.........fragments as small insignificant pieces
........if you have ever felt broken, you now view yourself as insignificant!
(pause)
But look at what Jesus says here in the text......
Jesus says......
“Gather what is left over!”
Meaning......
Go and get this OVER ABUNDANCE
...........that I produced when I BROKE the bread.....
And the reason Jesus says this is because.......
.......he does not want the fragments to be lost!
(pause and expound)
Look at this now......
So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.
According to the text....
Key/Main Point:
The remainder was greater than the beginning.
5 loaves is lesser than 12 baskets
Pastor.......
How do you go from 5 to 12 when I thought we were beaking and dividing..........?
and......
How do you go from loaves of bread......
.......to fragments of bread
.....and end of with baskets of bread?
(pause)
And not only that but.....
A breaking moment is supposed to end up in DECREASE.......
But.....
Not with Jesus........
.....because this BReaking moment is PRODUCING MORE than what we started with!
And Jesus says.....
I don’t want anything WASTED that comes out of this BREAKING MOMENT!!
(pause)
And so......
Freedom family!
I need you to go get the “Left OVERS!”
Everything Broken!
ALL of the fragments
All of those so call INSIGNIFICANT pieces
And tell them Baker is calling for the BROKEN!
Because.....
I got a funny feeling that God is getting ready to flip the script again........
........and everybody that thought “LEFT OVER” meant throw away..
Are getting ready to find out......
“LEFT OVERS”
means............
Blessing
Abundance
Purpose
Life changing
And......
I know it looks impossible,
........but there is a BOY!!!!
…that God has ANNOINTED for such a time as this!!!
(pause)
.......The spirit of the Lord is upon me
....because He has anointed me to proclaim Good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering
of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed.