Impossible Made Possible

NBA overcoming impossible with Virtual Fans

If there is one thing I have learned in my life time it is nothing is impossible if Jesus is asking us to do it.

Now before you brush this off as a Christian Cliche or blindly agree I want us to think about what that statement really means.... It means that instead of choosing only life battles that we know we can win we should be willing to take on things that we know we are more likely to fail at.

This is not something we do is it...I mean how many of us have taken on a project at work we knew we would most likely fail at? How many of us choose professions where we know we are more likely to fail than succeed? We don’t choose relationships we know are not going to pan out. That is just not what we do…at least on purpose.

In fact if given the choice we choose to focus on only things that we have at least a fraction of belief is possible for us.

Yet all of us still from time to time have an impossible task chosen for us. Things we would not have chosen for ourselves and we are forced to look for ways to make the impossible possible.

In the passage we see such moment for the disciples.

JTB had just been killed and Jesus was in mourning.....

Matthew 14:13-20 NLT

Matthew 14:13–20 NLT

13 As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns. 14 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.” 17 “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they answered. 18 “Bring them here,” he said. 19 Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people. 20 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers.

Jesus notoriety had attracted all these people and because of His compassion for them he had healed and taught them all day until evening. The disciples out of compassion and probably because they were hungry themselves asked Jesus to send them away so they could eat. The answer from Jesus was why send them away? You are going to feed them?

Obviously Jesus did not realize how many people were here…5000 men plus their families so lets just say each man had at least 1 wife and two kids…that would be at least 20, 000 people that needed to be fed by the disciples…They did not have any money they had not plan to distribute food let alone have close to enough food for them. Yet Jesus said you feed them.

As the disciples looked out at the thousands and thousands of people with Jesus words ringing in their ears they had to be filled with frustration, fear and just a bit of anxiety as they began to contemplate how they were going to feed all of these people from nothing. All we have is 5 loves and 2 fish....

This would have just barely fed the disciples and Jesus…yet Jesus did not give them an out. He sat everyone down and began breaking the bread....not just small portions but regular size portions of the bread and fish and instructed them to pass it around…at this rate the food would run our very soon....the disciples had to be planning an exit strategy for when the multitude figured out that they were not going to be left hungry...

All kinds of worst case scenarios ran through their minds…riot, beatings maybe even death awaited people who were expecting food that would be left hungry.

Yet…the portions continued to be the same size....this distribution had to have taken a long time in the early minutes the disciples were watching in fear of running out…but hours in they were wondering when Jesus was going to stop breaking bread and distributing fish…even after everyone had been fed Jesus continued to break bread and fish until 12 baskets of leftovers remained.

It defied probability, logic and let’s be honest here....reality.....

The disciples did not choose the task of feeding a multitude with 5 loaves and 2 fish…the moment was thrust upon them....by Jesus....

The Church of Jesus Christ is currently in a moment we would not have chosen…pastors are leading in a moment where many are wondering if they and their church is going to survive....Yet God is telling us to feed the multitudes....with the limited resources we have.

I believe that God is calling the church to do the impossible again…to feed the multitudes with the resources we have…to make the impossible possible.

The Church has lived through these moments before....The church survived pandemic, wars, political turmoil and even scandal not becuase of human effort but becuase in these times there have been churches that acted like the Church. They did the impossible and the world is better for it.

I am certain that the Churches that accept this call to be the Church will not only survive....but they will redirect the mission of the Church in the future…it will not be simply about filling up buildings and putting on a great show…Churches will be about Discipleship, mission, taking the message of Jesus to those who need it most. They will change the narrative that the world has of the church.

When I read this passage I think that I finally understand exactly how these disciples felt in this moment. During this pandemic I can understand that feeling of helplessness while looking at a seemingly impossible task of leading a church in a moment where the only thing I can count on is the I have no idea what the future will hold.

I have been in a time of mourning what was lost and maybe you have too…but just like the disciples in this passage Jesus is telling us not to worry....but to live in this time with a belief that God really is able to help us feed the multitude.

From time to time it is more productive to be stopped in our tracks so that we can seek God’s provision.

Jesus confidence in this impossible context was both unnerving and inspiring to the disciples.

I believe that the same can be true for us. This moment in history can be marked with turmoil, anger, ceaseless self striving…or it can be a moment of inspiration at the goodness of God?

This does not mean that we sit and doing nothing…on the contrary it means to be active in following the voice of God. Jesus told the disciples they were to distribute food. They were not responsible to make the food. They were just called to give the food to the people.

I assume that the disciples came up with a method of taking the food to the people but the source of the food was Jesus....and the source was never ending.

Jesus is the never ending provider for whatever he has called us too.

As followers of Jesus here in Broken Arrow God has called us:

Mission/Vision

Connect people to God and others by creating a space where everyone can belong by being a multiplying community developing deep, growing relationships with God, our world, and one another.

This is the impossible task we have been given…but the impossible is possible when we believe the call is from God.

This is what the Kingdom of God on earth looks like. It is our job to find a method to distribute the Hope that is found in Jesus through Community.

Here is the good news…we do not have to create a message, vision, mission, or even miracles. Jesus will be the source of these things. God is calling us to be is champions for his impossible mission not the originators of it.

I wish I had a new and invigorating action step for you and I but in the end the only thing we can do is to be tenaciously committed to the making the impossible possible.

Jacob wrestling with the angel....They wrestled all day until the angel touched his hip and put it out of socket but even the...when victory was impossible Jacob clung to the angel....desperate for a blessing.

Things may seem impossible and you and I may be tempted to give up but those who cling tenaciously to Jesus during this time will be given all you need to make the impossible possible.

Communion