LIVING WITH LEFTOVERS - JOHN 6: 12-13

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 6) - JOHN 6: 12-13

12 When they were full, he told his disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.

BIG IDEA: WHEN OUR GIVING IS BLESSED, THEY’LL ALWAYS BE LEFTOVERS...

I AM CONVINCED THAT WE MISSED A MIRACLE ON LAST WEEK...

YES, WE ALL READ AND LEARNED HOW JESUS LOOKED UP AND NOTICED A HUGE CROWD...

WE RECALL HOW JESUS ASKED, “WHERE WILL WE BUY BREAD SO THAT THE PEOPLE CAN EAT?”

WE RECALL THE MEAGER COLLECTION OF TWO FISH AND FIVE BARLEY LOAVES...

YES, WE WITNESSED HOW AS JESUS (((TOOK - THANKED - & DISTRIBUTED))) THE MEAL, VS. 11 STATES THE PEOPLE HAD AS MUCH AS THEY WANTED...

YES, BELOVED THAT IS A MIRACLE...

AND I SUBMIT TO YOU THERE’S ANOTHER MIRACLE EMBEDDED WITHIN THIS PASSAGE, FOUND IN OUR VERSES FOR TODAY:

WHEN THEY WERE FULL, HE TOLD HIS DISCIPLES, “COLLECT THE LEFTOVERS...”

HERE IT IS: NOT ONLY WAS THERE SUFFICIENT FOOD FOR THE MULTITUDE TO BE FED - FULL!!!

THERE WAS ENOUGH OVERFLOW THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO COLLECT LEFTOVERS!!!

WHEN WE LIVE GENEROUS LIVES, THERE WILL ALMOST ALWAYS BE LEFTOVERS!!!

WHEN WE LIVE, UNDERSTANDING THAT WHAT WE HAVE IS THE LORDS, HE WILL ALWAYS ENSURE THAT WHAT WE HAVE IS ALWAYS MORE THAN SUFFICIENT!

NOW ONTO HIM WHO IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE CAN ASK OR IMAGINE…..

ONLY WITH THE LORD CAN A DEFICIT BECOME AN ABUNDANCE!

PERHAPS I’VE GOTTEN YOUR ATTENTION. LET’S REEXAMINE OUR NARRATIVE:

JESUS AND HIS CREW LACKED RESOURCES: VS. 7 - Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii, worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.”

THEY CHECKED THEIR LEDGER AND THEIR POUCHES, AND CONCLUDED, WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH RESOURCES TO BUY BREAD TO FEED 5,000 PEOPLE.

JESUS AND HIS CREW LACKED SUPPORT: VS. 8 - ONE OF HIS DISCIPLES, ANDREW, SIMON PETER’S BROTHER, SAID TO HIM, 9. THERE’S A BOY HERE WHO HAS FIVE BARLEY LOVES AND TWO FISH - BUT WHAT ARE THEY FOR SO MANY?

THE CROWD WAS POLLED, AND ALL THAT WAS COLLECTED WAS AN OFFERING OF ONE - A YOUNG BOY! EVERYONE WAS HUNGRY, BUT NOT EVERYONE WAS WILLING OR ABLE TO SACRIFICE FOR THE WHOLE...

SEE, ON WEDNESDAY EVENING, WE DISCUSSED THE RESPONSE OF JESUS’ DISCIPLES:

PHILIP ANSWERED (JESUS’ QUESTION ABOUT WHERE TO BUY BREAD) INCORRECTLY, BECAUSE HE BELIEVED INCORRECTLY. HE ANSWERED WITH HOW MUCH, WHEN JESUS ASKED HIM WHERE!

ANDREW, ALTHOUGH HE SEARCHED THE CROWD, SUBMITTED HIS COLLECTION WITH PESSIMISM! (BUT WHAT ARE THEY FOR SO MANY)?

PHILIP AND ANDREW WERE BATTLING NEGATIVITY!

I TOLD YOU ON WEDNESDAY, NEGATIVITY IS NOT A SPIRITUAL GIFT!

YOU CONSIDER IT “KEEPING IT REAL,” BUT I SUBMIT THAT IT’S “HOLDING THE BODY BACK!”

COME ON, PLACE YOURSELF IN OUR TEXT:

JESUS HAS NOTICED THE CROWD..

HE CAN SEE THEY’RE HUNGRY...

HE CAN SEE THAT THERE’S A SHORTAGE IN RESOURCES AND SUPPORT...

AT WHAT POINT DOES OUR FAITH KICK IN? SO THAT WE ENVISION WHAT’S POSSIBLE?

IF THE ONLY TIME YOU CAN BE POSITIVE (FAITHFUL) IS WHEN RESOURCES ARE PLENTEOUS, THEN YOUR POSITIVITY OR FAITH AIN’T REAL FAITH!

FAITH IS FAITH WHEN TIMES ARE TOUGH...

WHEN PANDEMICS ARISE...

WHEN RACIAL TENSIONS IS HIGH...

WHEN GAS IS $4.00/GALLON....

IS THERE A WITNESS IN THE HOUSE WHO CAN TESTIFY, “IT’S TIME TO BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF GOD!”

PASTOR BROWN: HOW DO WE GET TO LEFTOVERS?

THE CROWD WENT FROM BEING HUNGRY, TO BEING FULL, TO HAVING LEFTOVERS....

HOW DO WE GET THERE?

HOW DO WE GET FROM A DEFICIT TO AN ABUNDANCE?

HERE IT IS - OUR FIRST MOVEMENT:

EVERY GIFT MATTERS!

SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN THE COLLECTING, THE THANKING AND THE DISTRIBUTING, THE FIRST MIRACLE TOOK PLACE!

IF WE DON’T GIVE JESUS SOMETHING TO WORK WITH, WE LIMIT OUR ABILITY TO EVER SEE LEFTOVERS...

(((ILLUS: IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT CONCENTRATED MEANT. CONCENTRATED MEANS THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO USE MUCH OF WHATEVER IT IS TO GET A DESIRED RESULT. DISH WASHING LIQUID, LAUNDRY DETERGENT, ORANGE JUICE, BATH SOAP…CONCENTRATED MEANS THERE’S SO MUCH INSIDE THAT ALL YOU’VE GOT TO DO IS USE A LITTLE. [EVERY GIFT MATTERS]!

WHEN YOU PUT THAT CONCENTRATED DISH WASHING LIQUID IN THAT SINK, THOSE SUDS BEGIN TO OVERFLOW…YOU EVENTUALLY HAVE MORE SOAP THAN YOU HAVE WATER OR DISHES. BUT NOTHING HAPPENS UNTIL YOU SQUEEZE)))!

AND THAT’S ALL I’M TRYING TO GET YOU TO SEE, BELOVED…IT’S TIME ALL OF US BEGAN TO SQUEEZE!!! IT’S TIME ALL OF US BEGAN TO EMBRACE THE FACT THAT EVERY GIFT MATTERS!

EVERY CONTRIBUTION...

EVERY ACT OF SERVICE...

EVERY PERSON DOING WHAT HE OR SHE HAS BEEN CREATED, SAVED AND CALLED TO DO...

EVERY GIFT!!!

THAT LITTLE BOY’S LUNCHABLES MADE AN IMPACT UPON A MULTITUDE OF HUNGRY INDIVIDUALS, BECAUSE EVERY GIFT MATTERS.

GIVE TO GOD FIRST

GIVE CONSISTENTLY

GIVE CHEERFULLY

OUR FAITHFUL OBEDIENCE MATTERS.

REMEMBER, THIS IS A TEST FOR JESUS’ DISCIPLES (AND I SUBMIT FOR US)...

WHEN WE FAITHFULLY RESPOND TO JESUS’ INSTRUCTIONS, WE ALIGN OURSELVES IN THE PLACE WHERE HE IS BLESSING...

SIT DOWN.

NO, VS. 10 - JESUS SAID, “HAVE THE PEOPLE SIT DOWN.”

THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SEATED - FAITHFULLY OBEDIENT - RECEIVED THE BLESSING.

VS. 11 - THEN JESUS TOOK THE LOAVES, AND AFTER GIVING THANKS HE DISTRIBUTED THEM TO THOSE WHO WERE SEATED… SO ALSO WITH THE FISH, AS MUCH AS THEY WANTED.

BELOVED, THERE ARE BLESSING CONNECTED TO FAITHFUL OBEDIENCE.

FAITHFUL IN BELIEVING OR EXPECTING SOMETHING TO OCCUR. YOU’RE NOT SURE WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. YOU JUST WANT TO OPEN YOUR HEART AND MIND TO THE POSSIBILITIES...

OBEDIENCE IN SUBMITTING TO THE WORD ON THE MATTER. DOING WHAT THUS SAITH THE LORD, IN WHATEVER THE MATTER.

Y’ALL, THE PEOPLE WHO SAT DOWN DIDN’T JUST GET A LITTLE - THEY GOT SECONDS!

AND THEIR SECONDS DID NOT DEPLETE THE SUPPLY!

MIRACULOUS LEFTOVERS MATTER (AND CAN STILL OCCUR)!

THE COLLECTION OF THE LEFTOVERS DID NOT OCCUR UNTIL AFTER WHAT WAS COLLECTED WAS GIVEN TO JESUS (((AND))) AFTER EVERYONE WAS SEATED, FED, AND FULL.

VS. 12 - WHEN THEY WERE FULL, HE TOLD THE DISCIPLES, “COLLECT THE LEFTOVERS SO THAT NOTHING IS WASTED.”

NO WASTE!

LEFTOVERS AREN’T POSSIBLE IF WE DON’T FIRST GIVE & BELIEVE! (GIVE IT TO GOD FIRST) BELIEVE THAT HE CAN MULTIPLY!!!

LEFTOVERS AREN’T REVEALED UNTIL NEEDS ARE MET!

LEFTOVERS ARE NECESSARY, BECAUSE NOTHING IS TO BE WASTED!!!